PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Zacharias Sabel (ranked 4329 p4p, 3475 weight class) and Luke Thompson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Luke Thompson told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Sabel
vs
Thompson

174 cm
18
192
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
196
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Zacharias Sabel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Luke Thompson!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Valeri Chadov and Konstantin Menshow.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thompson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sabel.
Sabel swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
No joy there for Sabel, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Thompson! But no joy.
Thompson misses the jab.
Thompson ducks right into an uppercut from Sabel.
Sabel misses with a right hand
enabling Thompson to counter with a crisp jab.
Thompson takes one to the chin there.
Thompson avoids a punch combination nicely.
A swing and a miss from Thompson.
Sabel lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Thompson backs up against the cage.

It looks like Luke Thompson has been cut.
Thompson looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Sabel could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Sabel misses with a left hand
and Sabel takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sabel tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Thompson was well out of range. Poor timing from Sabel.
Sabel takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Sabel misses with a hook
and Thompson counters with a straight right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sabel throws a left and a right that both miss
enabling Thompson to counter with a crisp jab.
Sabel swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Thompson counters with a two punch combo.
Sabel misses with a series of wild punches.
Sabel misses with a few strikes there.
Thompson looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Sabel scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Thompson throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Sabel throws out a loose jab but Thompson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sabel throws a jab when Thompson was well out of range.
Sloppy strikes from Sabel. Those never looked like landing.
Sabel throws a combination that misses
and Thompson counters with a stiff right hand.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sabel wants to clinch
and Thompson counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sabel lands a two punch combo.
Thompson takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
A shot to the liver by Sabel. Beautiful body shot.
Sabel just misses with a punch to the body.
Sabel throws a combination that misses
and Thompson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Thompson uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Thompson is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Sabel moves into range and connects with a jab.
Sabel fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Sabel throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Sabel throws a looping overhand right but Thompson ducks down to avoid it.
Thompson slips a jab and a cross from Sabel.
Sabel jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thompson shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Sabel lands a nice shot to the body.
Sabel misses with a double jab
and Thompson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Sabel throws a hook to the side of Thompson's head but Thompson sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Sabel displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Thompson throws out the jab.
Sabel misses with a left hand
and Sabel takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Sabel looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Thompson dodges the punch combination from Sabel.
Sabel darts in trying to clinch
and Thompson counters with a one-two to the body.
Zacharias Sabel seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sabel tries to clinch up but Thompson circles away and keeps his distance.
Sloppy strikes from Sabel. Those never looked like landing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sabel has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Thompson throws a shot from downtown. Sabel moves away and avoids it.
Sabel throws a left and a right that both miss
and Thompson connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Thompson waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Sabel.
Thompson might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Thompson lands with an overhand left.
Thompson avoids a punch combination nicely.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sabel throws a right and a left that Thompson avoids nicely.
Thompson looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Sabel lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Thompson at a distance.
Sabel takes a swing at Thompson's ribcage but misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Zacharias Sabel will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Luke Thompson's cut.
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.

Sabel wants to clinch up but Thompson keeps it at a distance.
Sabel throws a poor cross that misses
and Thompson counters with a nice uppercut.
Sabel just misses with a punch to the body.
Sabel throws a nice looking combination but Thompson bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sabel takes one to the side of the head.
Sabel connects with a body shot that sends Thompson's belly button to the back.
Sabel wants to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A punch combination from Sabel misses.
A swing and a miss from Sabel.
Sabel throws out a loose jab but Thompson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Thompson looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Thompson throws a hook but Sabel blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sabel paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Sabel lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Thompson throws a big shot that misses.
Sabel swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
enabling Thompson to counter with a crisp jab.
Sabel throws a right hand that misses
and Thompson counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Sabel will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Sabel misses with a hook.
Thompson has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Sabel misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Thompson counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Sabel takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Sabel throws a left and a right that both miss
and Thompson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sabel pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Sabel misses with a few strikes there.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Thompson! But no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thompson throws out a loose jab but Sabel uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sabel throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
letting Thompson counter with a right hand.
A combination from Sabel does no damage.
Thompson throws out a counter right but Sabel avoids it with no problem.
Thompson lands a jab to the head.
Sabel looks to land a combination but Thompson avoids it well.
Thompson misses with an uppercut.
Sabel swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Sabel looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Thompson throws out a counter right but Sabel avoids it with no problem.
The fighters circling - Thompson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Sabel moves out of range of the strikes.
Sabel misses with a series of wild punches.
Sabel slips a jab from Thompson.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thompson slips a jab and a cross from Sabel.
Thompson throws out a counter right but Sabel avoids it with no problem.
Sabel tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Thompson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Sabel waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Thompson.
Sabel wants to clinch up but Thompson keeps it at a distance.
Thompson takes one on the button.
Sabel closes the distance but Thompson moves to the side
and Thompson counters with a nice uppercut.
Sabel throws a right hand that misses
and Thompson connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Sabel tries to clinch but fails miserably
letting Thompson counter with a right hand.
A nice combination there by Sabel.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sabel throws a series of punches but Thompson moves out of range.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sabel misses with a lunging right hand
enabling Thompson to counter with a crisp jab.
Sabel throws a right hand that Thompson ducks under and follows up with a left that Thompson also avoids with ease.
Sabel lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Sabel connects with a body shot that sends Thompson's belly button to the back.
Sabel misses with a combination
and Thompson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Thompson misses with a straight left.
Sabel clobbers Thompson with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Sabel tries to bum rush Thompson with a series of wild strikes but Thompson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Thompson looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Sabel misses with a shot to the body
and Thompson counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Sabel throws a combination that misses
and Thompson counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Sabel looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Sabel walks into a stiff left hand from Thompson.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Luke Thompson will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Luke Thompson's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Sabel throws a nice looking combination but Thompson bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sabel misses with a body shot.
Sabel swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Thompson counters with a stiff right hand.
Thompson with a hook.
Thompson on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Sabel shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Sabel connects with a jab.
Sabel uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Thompson.
Sabel swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Sabel takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Thompson's jab looks to have found its range, popping Sabel under the eye.
Sabel falls off balance throwing a combination
and Thompson connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Sabel is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sabel throws a left and a right that both miss
and Thompson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Oh Sabel is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sabel misses with a shot to the body
and Thompson counters with a huge right that knocks Sabel out cold! Thompson is running around with a crazed look on his face - you can see how much that meant to him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:08 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Luke Thompson!
A relieved looking Luke Thompson thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.