PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between D.D Panda (ranked 1959 p4p, 1181 weight class) and Tory Hopkins (ranked 228 p4p, 152 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Hopkins's choice of entrance music: Last Time That I Checc'd by Nipsey Hussle & YG. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Tory Hopkins enters the cage!

Panda
vs
Hopkins

150 cm
32
205
18 - 14 - 0

186 cm
34
205
18 - 15 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

30th Century Beer Store
Black Lab Clothing

Conquer
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, D.D Panda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tory Hopkins!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Panda shoots and misses
and Hopkins counters with a right hand to the body.
Panda fails with the takedown.
Hopkins swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Panda lands a lovely overhand right.
Panda tries to clinch up but Hopkins circles away and keeps his distance.
Hopkins looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Panda throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Hopkins steps in looking to counter with the mid kick but it doesn't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Panda throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Hopkins's waist but Hopkins gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Panda off to one side.
Hopkins swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for D.D Panda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Panda misses the shot to the body.

Panda rushes Hopkins and presses him up against the cage.
Hopkins wants to break free but Panda has control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hopkins escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Panda misses with a left hand
and Panda takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

It looks like D.D Panda has been cut.

Panda has managed to clinch.

Hopkins's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Panda shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hopkins defends it nicely.
Panda shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hopkins defends it nicely.
Panda swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Hopkins swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Panda works Hopkins's body with a nice hook.

Hopkins gets caught napping as Panda dives in and scores a takedown. Hopkins manages to retain guard.
Panda looking to pass the guard.
Panda is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Panda stopping the sweep attempt from Hopkins.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Hopkins can do anything to dispel that myth.
Hopkins is controlling Panda's posture.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hopkins bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Panda's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Panda looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Hopkins looking to pass the guard.
Hopkins wants to control from the top but Panda keeps moving.
Panda being controlled here, momentarily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Hopkins postures up.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
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 D.D Panda will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on D.D Panda's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Panda moves into range and clinches up with Hopkins.

Hopkins breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Panda has a takedown stuffed.
Hopkins swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Panda gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
enabling Hopkins to counter with a crisp jab.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Panda tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Hopkins smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for D.D Panda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Panda connects with a body shot that sends Hopkins's belly button to the back.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Panda feints and as Hopkins raises his hands in defense, Panda changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Hopkins keeping full guard, as Panda tries to pass.
Hopkins wants to hit a sweep here but Panda passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Hopkins there!
Panda controlling from mount.
Panda has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Panda wants to take his opponent's back but Hopkins doesn't allow it.
Panda prevents Hopkins from getting the reversal.
Panda controlling from mount.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hopkins reaches up to try and control the position but Panda seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Hopkins rolls and tries to escape and now Panda has his back!
Panda gets his hands free as Hopkins looks to control.
Panda has good solid back control here.
Hopkins tries to roll but Panda sticks to his back.
Panda controls the action.
Panda is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hopkins can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Panda.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Panda continues to hold on tight.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

D.D Panda dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on D.D Panda's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Panda.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Hopkins! But no joy.
Tory Hopkins has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Decent striking displayed by Panda there.
Panda lands a nice hook to Hopkins's body. Hopkins takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Panda clinches up with Hopkins and pushes him back against the cage.
Panda looking to stall.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Hopkins breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Donk. Panda catches Hopkins right on the button with a cross.
Panda changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Hopkins tries to avoid it but Panda manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Hopkins to the ground. Hopkins escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Hopkins replies with a solid counter kick to the body but Panda blocks it well.
Panda swings widly with a right hand
and Hopkins counters with a good, hard body kick but Panda shrugs it off.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Panda clinches up against the cage.

Hopkins breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Panda throws a body shot but no joy.
D.D Panda seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hopkins stuffs the takedown.
Hopkins now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for D.D Panda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A looping hook to the body misses from Panda. Hopkins does a little dance to reset his feet.
Panda fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Hopkins avoids it really well and circles away.
Hopkins looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Panda misses with the combination.
Panda looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Panda misses with the combination.
Hopkins swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Panda throws a shot to the body.
Panda fails to land the takedown.
Hopkins doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Panda stuns Hopkins with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Panda shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hopkins doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Panda looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Panda trying to pass the guard but Hopkins defending well.
Panda content to control rather than advance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Panda wants to free his trapped foot but Hopkins is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Hopkins looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

And that's the end of the fight!
D.D Panda showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Panda, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... D.D Panda!