PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Darius Thibodeaux (ranked 4194 p4p, 6424 weight class) and Ward Shaver (ranked 536 p4p, 677 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Thibodeaux
vs
Shaver

188 cm
19
200
1 - 2 - 0

186 cm
18
193
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Solid chin

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Darius Thibodeaux!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ward Shaver!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, James Atkins and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thibodeaux looks to land a right hand but Shaver moved out of range.
Thibodeaux throws a shot from downtown. Shaver moves away and avoids it.
Thibodeaux fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Shaver manages to avoid it.
Shaver moves out of range of the strikes.
Shaver blocks a jab.
Thibodeaux throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Shaver ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice shot by Shaver.
Thibodeaux looks to land a left hand but Shaver moved out of range nicely.
Shaver takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Thibodeaux looks to score with a jab to the body but Shaver is just out of range.
Shaver takes a swing at Thibodeaux's ribcage but misses.
We've been told by Thibodeaux's head coaches at For Pride and Prodigies that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Shaver closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Shaver lands in his opponent's guard.
Shaver pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Thibodeaux is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thibodeaux working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Shaver.
Shaver looking to pass the guard.
Shaver in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Thibodeaux working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Shaver.
Thibodeaux wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Thibodeaux wants to improve his position but instead Shaver has moved into half guard.

Shaver seems to be looking for submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Thibodeaux wants to control but Shaver is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Shaver is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Thibodeaux defends it well.
Shaver throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Thibodeaux is defending against the submission attempts here by Shaver.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaver not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Shaver thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Thibodeaux blocking the ground and pound attempt from Shaver.
Shaver missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Shaver works his way into side control.
Shaver working the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaver in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Shaver is looking to take a break and control but Thibodeaux is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Shaver looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Thibodeaux is avoiding damage well.
Shaver looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Thibodeaux is avoiding damage well.
Thibodeaux knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Shaver on the ground.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Thibodeaux is trying to control Shaver's posture but Shaver avoids it.
Shaver fails to land a wild elbow strike.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ward Shaver dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Shaver uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Thibodeaux.
Thibodeaux misses with a hook. Shaver ducked under it nicely.
Thibodeaux misses with a wild body shot.
Shaver with a poor takedown
letting Thibodeaux counter with a right hand.
Shaver fails with a takedown attempt.
Shaver works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Shaver fails with a takedown attempt.
Darius Thibodeaux has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ward Shaver.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shaver bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Thibodeaux slaps away a takedown attempt from Shaver, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Shaver uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Thibodeaux.
Shaver shoots for a double leg takedown but Thibodeaux sprawls well. He's pushed Shaver's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Shaver shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Shaver showed some decent athleticism there.
Shaver scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Thibodeaux won't allow Shaver to pass to mount.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Shaver thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Thibodeaux's head.
Shaver wants to pass to mount but Thibodeaux is defending the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shaver with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Ward Shaver has got the better of the ground game so far.
Shaver prevents Thibodeaux from improving his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Shaver throwing shots but Thibodeaux is blocking nicely.
Shaver trying to control from half guard but Thibodeaux is working away.
Shaver frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Thibodeaux is trying to escape the mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Shaver looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Shaver looking to finish Thibodeaux with some ground and pound. This is bad for Thibodeaux!
Shaver scoring with strikes but Thibodeaux is staying in there.
Shaver punching from mount but Thibodeaux doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Thibodeaux is wriggling around trying to escape.
Shaver postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Thibodeaux looks a forlorn figure.
Shaver landing shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaver throws some wild stikes that Thibodeaux manages to avoid easily.
Thibodeaux is in all sorts of trouble here.
Shaver throws some wild stikes that Thibodeaux manages to avoid easily.
Shaver lands a heavy elbow.
Shaver putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Shaver breaks from Thibodeaux's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Shaver punching from mount but Thibodeaux doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Shaver has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Shaver landing strikes from the mount.
Shaver throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ward Shaver showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Thibodeaux throws a lazy uppercut

and Shaver counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Shaver.
Shaver throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Thibodeaux works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Shaver drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Shaver jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Shaver forces his way into half guard.
Shaver wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thibodeaux keeps working.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shaver works his foot free and advances to mount.
Shaver can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Thibodeaux is looking to escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shaver landing punches.
Poor strikes thrown by Shaver there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

Shaver is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Thibodeaux can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Shaver working the ground and pound effectively.
Shaver looking to finish Thibodeaux with some ground and pound. This is bad for Thibodeaux!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shaver misses with a head shot.
Thibodeaux wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Shaver.
Shaver with a couple of short strikes.

Shaver looking to secure an arm triangle but Thibodeaux defends it well.
Shaver punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shaver can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Thibodeaux is looking to escape.
Shaver thowing shots but they're missing.
Shaver working Thibodeaux over with strikes here.
Shaver throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Shaver throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Thibodeaux because Shaver loaded up on that one.

Shaver moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Thibodeaux has worked his arm free - good work by Thibodeaux!
Thibodeaux is looking to reverse the position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Shaver connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Thibodeaux some visible discomfort.

Shaver is trying to get an arm triangle but Thibodeaux is defending well.
Thibodeaux managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Shaver.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Shaver thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Shaver working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ward Shaver comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Shaver winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 James Ackerman scores the fight 26:30
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 26:30
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ward Shaver!
A very excited looking Ward Shaver made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.