PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Armad Bates (ranked 747 p4p, 650 weight class) and Aleks Nik (ranked 98 p4p, 86 weight class). Armad Bates has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Bates
vs
Nik

190 cm
30
183
12 - 11 - 3

178 cm
29
171
8 - 4 - 1

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 11 - 3, fighting out of Las Vegas, Armad Bates!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Aleks Nik!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Ben Watson and Darius Henderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nik swings for the body but Bates moves out of range.
Nice body punch from Nik.

Bates closes the distance and clinches.
Nik blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Nik manages to break the clinch.
Nik ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

Bates instigates a clinch.
Bates blocks an uppercut.
Nik has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Bates after a bit of a struggle.
Nik has Bates pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Bates manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Bates.
Nik misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nik prevents a body shot from Bates.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nik is trying to drag Bates to the mat but Bates just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Armad Bates has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aleks Nik.

Bates pulls Nik into guard.
Bates pulls Nik in to control the position.
Bates wants to sweep here but Nik controlling him for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates being controlled here, momentarily.
Bates will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

Bates throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Nik wants to control from the top but Bates keeps moving.
Nik is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Bates manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nik manages to get himself to full guard.

Nik looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bates postures up.
Nik trying to control the position here.
Bates won't allow Nik to sweep him here.
Bates in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Bates postures up.
Nik wants to sweep but no luck.
Bates trying to control but Nik is working from the bottom.
Nik manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Bates manages to get himself to full guard.

Bates keeping moving, preventing Nik from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nik sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Bates's guard.
Bates regains full guard. Nicely done.
Bates trying to keep a closed guard but Nik is proving a slippery customer.

Bates looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Bates seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Bates working a defensive guard but Nik passes into half guard.
Nik missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Bates actively working from the bottom here.
Nik is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Bates looking for submissions off his back.
Bates is looking to improve his position.
Bates has hold of Nik's hands but Nik slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Bates is trying to control but can't.
Bates wants to improve his position but Nik is controlling well.
Bates is working hard here to advance position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bates is not content to let Nik control the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Aleks Nik will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Bates doesn't manage to clinch there - Nik circles away.
Bates tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Nik paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Bates on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Nik has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Bates is landing a low percentage of strikes.

Bates closes the distance and pushes Nik back into the cage.
Bates tries to throw a body punch but Nik avoids it by throwing Bates back against the cage.
A left hand lands to the body for Bates.
Bates misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Bates pushes Nik back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Bates lands a left hand.
Nik misses with a punch on the inside.
Bates lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Nik has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Bates avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bates can't find room to land a body shot as Nik controls the action.
Come on Nik - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Bates blocks an uppercut.
Nik lands a shoulder strike.
Bates misses with a body punch.
Bates tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Nik tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Nik has a couple of punches blocked by Bates.
Nik is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Bates blocking some punches.
Bates misses with the head strike.
Bates lands a right hand.
Nik stalling in the clinch.
Bates pushes Nik back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Armad Bates has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Bates tries a body shot but Nik blocks it.

Nik breaks from the clinch.
Nik misses with a jab, cross combination.
A little feinted left hand from Bates on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Bates walks into a stiff left hand from Nik.
Bates tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nik looks like he wants to counter punch here.

Bates clinches up with Nik and pushes him back against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Nik.
Nik tries to throw a body punch but Bates avoids it by throwing Nik back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nik tries a body shot but Bates blocks it.
Nik misses with some punches.
Bates struggles to land a body shot inside as Nik controls his hands.
Bates misses with a punch on the inside.
Nik tries to work over Bates's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Bates blocking some punches.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nik lands with a right to the head.
Bates misses with a body punch.
Nik goes for a takedown in the clinch but Bates prevents it.
Bates misses with a short punch on the inside.
Nik tries to break free but Bates pushes him back against the cage.
Nik tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Bates's elbow.
Nik tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Nik lands a left hand.
Nik goes for a takedown attempt but Bates pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Armad Bates has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aleks Nik.
Bates tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Nik manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Bates tries to clinch but Nik is having none of it.
Nik dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nik moves out of range as Bates strikes.
Bates blocks a jab.
Nik swats away the attempt to clinch by Bates.
Bates moves in looking to clinch but Nik pushes him off.
Bates stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Bates tries to clinch but Nik is having none of it.
Bates tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Nik paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Bates tries to clinch but Nik is having none of it.
Nik misses with a body shot.
Bates takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Bates blocks a jab.
Nik takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Bates wants to clinch
and Nik counters with a one-two to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bates tries to clinch up
and Nik counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Bates thinking.
Nik circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nik looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A swing and a miss from Nik.
Bates tries to clinch but Nik moves out of range.
Nik feints the counter takedown.
Bates looks to clinch

and Nik counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Nik.

Nik avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Bates looking for a sweep. Not yet Bates, not yet.
Nik trying to control the position from guard on top but Bates is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Nik is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Aleks Nik showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Nik misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
An attempted straight right counter from Bates misses the target.

Bates gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Bates throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Nik blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Bates lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Nik backwards.
Bates's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Nik misses with a punch on the inside.
Bates is defending well against a takedown attempt.
A right hand to the body from Bates.
Bates tries to work over Nik's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nik wants to stall.
Bates lands a nice uppercut.
Nik scores with a shoulder strike.
Bates lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Nik blocks an uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bates misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nik gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Bates.
Bates tries to throw a body punch but Nik avoids it by throwing Bates back against the cage.
Bates throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Niks head.
Bates lands a right hand that snaps the head of Nik backwards.
Nik takes a shot to the head.
Nik blocks an uppercut.
Bates lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Still in the clinch, Bates scores with a nice short uppercut.
Nice body punch from Bates.
A short body shot lands from Bates as the two fighters clinch.
Nik lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Nik tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Nik has a couple of punches blocked by Bates.
Nik is trying to maintain a safe position but Bates gets an underhook and turns Nik into the cage.
Bates swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nik managing to block the knees to the body from Bates.
Aleks Nik is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bates struggles to land a body shot inside as Nik controls his hands.
Bates tries to throw a body punch but Nik avoids it by throwing Bates back against the cage.
Bates blocks an uppercut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bates can't find room to land a body shot as Nik controls the action.
Nik makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Nik prevents a body shot from Bates.
Bates throws a punch but it's blocked by Nik.
Bates lands with a short shot to the head.
Nik lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Bates misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Nik working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Bates can't find room to land a body shot as Nik controls the action.
Bates lands with a right to the head.
Nik is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Bates is defending well.
Armad Bates has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Aleks Nik.
The referee is keeping an eye on Nik - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Nik stalling the fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bates lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Bates has a couple of punches blocked by Nik.
Bates misses with a hook to the ribs.

Bates gets a trip takedown into half guard.

Bates is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Nik doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Bates.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nik trying to control here.

Bates is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Nik doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Bates.
Bates throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nik makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Nik.
Bates trying to control but Nik is working from the bottom.
Nik is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Nik wants to hit a sweep here but Bates passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Nik there!
Armad Bates has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bates thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Armad Bates showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Nik has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 29:28
Judge Darius Henderson scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Armad Bates!
Our winner, Armad Bates, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.