PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Amir Khan (ranked 3253 p4p, 396 weight class) and Nick Graves (ranked 2925 p4p, 364 weight class). Amir Khan has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Khan
vs
Graves

185 cm
26
193 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

183 cm
19
190 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Amir Khan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Nick Graves!
The judges for this bout are Saam Ante, Aafke Stam and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graves throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Graves slips under a jab.
Khan throws the left hand but Graves avoids the punch easily.
Graves tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Khan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Khan throws out a loose jab but Graves uses good head movement to avoid it.
Khan throws an off balance right hand
and Khan takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

It looks like Amir Khan has been cut.
Nice shot by Khan.
Khan looks to land a left hand but Graves moved out of range nicely.
Khan thows a left - swing and a miss!

Graves clinches.
Graves blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Khan misses with a punch on the inside.
Graves landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Khan working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Graves blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Graves tries a knee to the head but Khan blocks it.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Khan misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Khan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Khan swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khan blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Graves content to slow the pace in the clinch.
A nice left hand lands by Graves.
Khan throws a punch but it's blocked by Graves.
Graves throws a knee to the head but misses.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Graves obliges.
Khan is breathing heavily.
Khan misses with a punch to the body.
Graves prevents a body shot from Khan.
Graves has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Khan seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Graves can turn it around.
Graves throws a knee to the head but misses.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Graves obliges.
Graves landing knees to the body.
Khan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves lands a nice knee to the body.
Graves stalling.
Graves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Khan in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Graves crunches a lovely knee into Khan's ribcage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Graves lands a good knee to the midsection. Khan won't want to take too many of those.
Graves crunches a lovely knee into Khan's ribcage.
Graves crunches a lovely knee into Khan's ribcage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan takes a knee to the side of the body.
Stalling in the clinch from Graves.
Graves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Khan in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Graves.
Graves will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Khan up against the cage.
Khan misses with a hook from the clinch.
Graves trying to land knees to the body.
Graves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Khan is defending well for now.
Graves misses with a knee strike.
Khan misses with a shot to the kidneys.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Khan.
Khan lands with a short shot to the head.
Khan swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Khan is trying to break the clinch but Graves is controlling him.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Khan avoids it.
Khan misses with a punch to the body.
Graves is pushing Khan up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Khan throws a head punch that misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Khan.
A short uppercut from Graves.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Khan pushes Graves back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Graves using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Khan working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Khan managing to block the knees to the body from Graves.
Khan fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Khan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves has Khan pressed against the cage, preventing Khan from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Graves tries to land knees in the clinch but Khan avoids the damage to the body.
Graves lands an uppercut.
Khan has a couple of punches blocked by Graves.
Graves leaning his opponent against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Graves.
Khan misses with a short punch on the inside.
Khan misses with a punch on the inside.
Khan being controlled against the cage.
Graves looking to stall.
Khan takes a knee to the side of the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Khan swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Khan tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Graves's elbow.
Graves unloads a knee to the mid-section. Khan lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Graves tries to land knees in the clinch but Khan avoids the damage to the body.
Graves lands a knee to the head.
Graves stalls.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Graves obliges.
Graves using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Graves dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Amir Khan's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Graves gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Graves blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Khan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Graves taking a breather.
Graves connects with a nasty looking knee right to Khan's face.
Nick Graves seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Khan misses with some punches.
Graves displaying some good clinch control by pressing Khan up against the cage.
Graves using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Khan has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Graves blocks an uppercut.
Knees to the body from Graves.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves leaning against his opponent.
Graves is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Khan is defending well for now.
Graves tries a knee to the head but Khan blocks it.
Graves connects with a knee to the head.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Khan avoids it.
Graves stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Khan misses with some punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Graves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Khan in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Graves lands a knee to the body.
Graves pressing his opponent against the cage.
Graves has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Graves scores with a knee to the head.
Khan letting Graves take a breather here.
Khan struggles to land a body shot inside as Graves controls his hands.
Khan managing to block the knees to the body from Graves.
Khan avoiding damage as Graves throws knees to the body.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Khan.
A shot in the inside from Graves.
Khan fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Khan misses with some punches.
Khan on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Khan takes a knee to the side of the body.
Graves connects with a knee to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Graves taking a breather.
Graves stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Graves lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Khan takes a knee right on the jaw!

Amir Khan's cut is getting worse.
Khan takes a knee to the side of the body.
Graves landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Graves is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Graves crunches a lovely knee into Khan's ribcage.
A knee to the head by Graves.
Graves tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Khan avoids it.
A nice left hand lands by Graves.
Graves missing with knees to the body.
Khan lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Graves lands a nice knee to the body.
Graves blocks an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves lands a knee to the head.
Graves using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Khan has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Khan misses with a hook to the ribs.
Khan misses with a short punch on the inside.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Graves obliges.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Graves crunches a lovely knee into Khan's ribcage.
Graves scores with a knee to the head.
Graves throws a knee to the head but misses.
Khan throws a head punch that misses.
Graves working Khan over with knees to the body.
Graves unloads a knee to the mid-section. Khan lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Graves unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Graves putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Khan in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Graves lands a right hand.
Graves gets through Khan's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Graves lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Graves lands a good knee to the midsection. Khan won't want to take too many of those.
Khan avoiding damage as Graves throws knees to the body.
Khan throws a punch but it's blocked by Graves.

Khan pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Graves closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Graves lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Khan is rocked!
Graves slowing the pace effectively.
Oh Khan is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Graves connects with a knee to the head.
Graves is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Graves.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Graves.
Khan seems to have got his legs back now.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Graves obliges.
Graves will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Khan up against the cage.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Graves trying to land knees to the body.
Graves landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nick Graves showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Amir Khan's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Graves comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Khan misses with a hook.
Khan throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Graves gets a clinch.
Graves connects with a nasty looking knee right to Khan's face.
Graves holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Graves using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Khan swings wildly with an uppercut but Graves uses good head movement to avoid it.
Graves landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Graves is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knees in the clinch landing for Graves.
Stalling in the clinch from Graves.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Khan tries to throw a body punch but Graves avoids it by throwing Khan back against the cage.
Graves unloads a knee to the mid-section.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Graves is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Graves landing knees to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khan takes a knee right on the jaw!
Knees in the clinch landing for Graves.
Graves tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Graves scores a nice knee to the body.
Graves jerks Khan's head down, straight into the path of a devastating knee! Khan drops to the floor in a crumpled heap! Graves goes to throw a finishing haymaker but pulls out - good sportsmanship from Graves because Khan was completely out of it. That was a nice finish - just the right level of brutality to send everyone home happy.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:28 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Knee). Nick Graves!
An out of breath Nick Graves thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.