PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Thiago Morais (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Woody Lightyear (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Morais
vs
Lightyear

178 cm
18
158 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
19
162 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight 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, Thiago Morais!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Woody Lightyear!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Konstantin Menshow and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morais throws a series of punches but Lightyear moves out of range.
Lightyear moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Morais scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Morais tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Lightyear was well out of range. Poor timing from Morais.
Lightyear uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Morais.
A combination from Morais does no damage.
Morais throws out a loose jab but Lightyear uses good head movement to avoid it.
Lightyear ducks under a wild hook from Morais.
Morais jabbing away but nothing is landing.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Morais enables Lightyear to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Morais manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Morais avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lightyear missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Morais wants to stand up but Lightyear is controlling him.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Lightyear accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Lightyear controlling from the top position.
Morais wants to stand but Lightyear is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morais keeping moving, preventing Lightyear from controlling successfully.

Woody Lightyear has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Morais misses with a wild body shot.
Morais misses with a hook.
Morais fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Lightyear manages to avoid it.
Morais throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Morais throws a big shot that misses.
Thiago Morais is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Lightyear changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Morais looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Lightyear trying to control the position but Morais is working away.
An elbow from Lightyear crashes against the mat.
Morais is looking to get back to his feet here but Lightyear is keeping cool and he's managed to take Morais's back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lightyear misses with an elbow to the head.
Lightyear softening up his opponent with strikes here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morais is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Lightyear.
Morais is trying to get back to his feet but Lightyear has full control of the position and if anything, Morais has just worked his way into a worse spot.

Lightyear looking for the choke from the back.
What can Morais do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Morais has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Lightyear is riding his opponent, not letting Morais buck him off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lightyear patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Morais is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
Lightyear throws a big right hand but he misses and hits the mat. Ouch.
Even with his hooks in, Lightyear manages to miss with strikes from the back.
Lightyear tries to keep control of the position but Morais is staying busy.
Lightyear throwing sloppy strikes.
Lightyear punches the canvas rather than the man.
Morais looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Lightyear trying to control.
Morais is trying to get back to his feet but Lightyear has full control of the position and if anything, Morais has just worked his way into a worse spot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Lightyear working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
Morais wants to get back to his feet.
Lightyear is looking to control Morais but Morais is wriggling around and keeping busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lightyear is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Woody Lightyear dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Morais scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Lightyear feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Lightyear postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Morais is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Lightyear is controlling him.
Lightyear is looking to work some ground and pound but Morais has wrist control.
Lightyear wants to control from the top but Morais keeps moving.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Woody Lightyear hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Morais misses with a two punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lightyear shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Morais is trying to defend but Lightyear finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Lightyear trying to control from half guard but Morais is working away.
Lightyear passes to full mount!

Lightyear looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Lightyear controlling from mount.
Lightyear misses with a head shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morais suckers Lightyear into throwing a sloppy strike and uses the momentum to reverse the position beautifully! Morais is now in Lightyear's guard!
Morais has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Lightyear is proving hard to escape from.
Lightyear is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Lightyear lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Morais!
Morais tries to buck Lightyear off but he can't manage it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Poor strikes thrown by Lightyear there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Lightyear can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Morais is looking to escape.
Lightyear throws some wild stikes that Morais manages to avoid easily.
Lightyear lands a big shot there that rocks Morais but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Morais wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Lightyear.
Lightyear tries to control but Morais wriggling away.

Lightyear working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
You get the feeling that Morais really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Morais trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Woody Lightyear showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Lightyear looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Morais is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Lightyear throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Morais works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Morais keeping moving, preventing Lightyear from controlling successfully.
Lightyear looking to pass the guard.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Lightyear missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morais is looking to stand up but Lightyear isn't so interested in that idea.
Lightyear not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Woody Lightyear.
Morais misses with a looping right.
Lightyear throws a series of strikes that have Morais backpedaling.
Morais throws a combination that misses

and Lightyear counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Morais!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Morais wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Lightyear.
Lightyear throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Woody Lightyear has got the better of the ground game so far.
Lightyear punching from mount but Morais doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Morais is trying to get back to his feet but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lightyear throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Morais because Lightyear loaded up on that one.
Lightyear sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Lightyear trying to control but Morais is having none of it.

Lightyear is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Morais is surviving well by controlling Lightyear's body position as best he can.
Lightyear looking to finish with strikes here!
Morais is trying to stand.
Lightyear controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lightyear misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Lightyear looking to control but Morais is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Lightyear is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Woody Lightyear is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Morais wants to try and get back to his feet.
Lightyear tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

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.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Woody Lightyear.

Lightyear gets a takedown into half guard.
Lightyear not doing much here.
Thiago Morais has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

And that's the end of the fight!
Woody Lightyear comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Lightyear 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 Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 26:30
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 26:30
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Woody Lightyear!