PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Douglas Thrall (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kurosaki Ichigo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ichigo has chosen Radio/Video as his entrance music. The key to victory for Douglas Thrall has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Thrall
vs
Ichigo

185 cm
18
205 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

195 cm
18
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Prefers standup

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Very confident

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Douglas Thrall!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Kurosaki Ichigo!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Matheus Silva and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thrall misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Ichigo.
Ichigo throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Thrall counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Ichigo keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Thrall.
Thrall misses with a wild body shot.
Ichigo keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Thrall.
Thrall stalks Ichigo and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Ichigo's face. Ichigo staggers backwards, shaken.
Thrall tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Ichigo moves out of range of the strikes.
Ichigo tries to clinch up but Thrall circles away and keeps his distance.
Ichigo keeps the fight on the outside.

Ichigo gets a takedown into half guard.
Thrall regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Ichigo.
Ichigo must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Ichigo trying to control but Thrall is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thrall trying to keep a closed guard but Ichigo is proving a slippery customer.
Ichigo not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Thrall keeping moving, preventing Ichigo from controlling successfully.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Kurosaki Ichigo hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Ichigo tries to clinch there but Thrall circles away.
Thrall tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Ichigo was well out of range. Poor timing from Thrall.
Ichigo takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Thrall avoids the head kick by Ichigo.

Ichigo shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Thrall napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Thrall is not content to let Ichigo control the position.
Ichigo tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Ichigo throwing shots but missing, from side control.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Ichigo trying to control the position but Thrall is working away.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Thrall is looking to regain half guard here but Ichigo keeps moving and retains side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thrall gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Ichigo takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Kurosaki Ichigo has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Ichigo tries to close the distance and clinch but Thrall swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Thrall misses with a right hand

and Ichigo counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Thrall's guard now.
Ichigo wants to control from the top but Thrall keeps moving.
Thrall working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Ichigo.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ichigo is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Ichigo wants to control from the top but Thrall keeps moving.

Kurosaki Ichigo has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Thrall checks a leg kick nicely.
Douglas Thrall seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thrall slips under a jab.
Thrall on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Thrall lands with an overhand left.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kurosaki Ichigo dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Thrall throws an overhand right that lands on Ichigo's shoulder, as Ichigo tries to avoid the shot.
Ichigo looks for a takedown but Thrall sprawls well.

Ichigo closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Thrall pushes Ichigo off looking to stand but Ichigo dives back in and keeps control.
Ichigo throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Ichigo is just content to waste time from the top position. Thrall takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Ichigo engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Thrall trying to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Ichigo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Thrall keeping moving, preventing Ichigo from controlling successfully.
Ichigo's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Ichigo trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Kurosaki Ichigo wasn't active enough on the ground.
Thrall wants to clinch.
Thrall throws a right and a left that Ichigo avoids nicely.
Thrall scores with a jab to the head.
Ichigo takes one on the chin but seems OK.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Thrall clobbers Ichigo with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

Thrall gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Ichigo to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Ichigo postures up.
Ichigo has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Thrall is proving hard to escape from.
Thrall is trying to control the position but Ichigo postures up.
Ichigo not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Thrall is looking to stand up but Ichigo isn't so interested in that idea.

Douglas Thrall has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Ichigo takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Thrall gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Ichigo preventing the sweep.
Ichigo tries to free his leg and advance position but Thrall is retaining full guard.
Ichigo throwing strikes but missing.
Thrall wants to stand up but Ichigo is controlling him.
Ichigo throws and elbow that misses. Thrall uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Ichigo's guard. Nice move by Thrall!
Ichigo pulls Thrall in close to prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ichigo is trying to keep Thrall in close.
Thrall would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Thrall wants to stand and escape but instead Ichigo has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Ichigo sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Ichigo trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kurosaki Ichigo showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Thrall missing with a left hand there. Ichigo was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
The fight stays on the outside here - Thrall looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Ichigo misses with a combination
and Thrall counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Thrall looks to land a left hand but Ichigo moved out of range nicely.
Thrall throws an off balance right hand

and Ichigo counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Ichigo is stalling here. Thrall is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Ichigo seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Thrall has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Ichigo is trying to get back to half guard.

Thrall stands up.
Ichigo throws a low kick but Thrall moves out of range easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ichigo throws a left and a right that both miss
letting Thrall counter with a right hand.
Thrall throws a hook but Ichigo blocks it.
Thrall throws out a token jab with nothing on it.

Ichigo is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Thrall's half guard.
Ichigo slows the pace down in half guard.
Ichigo tries to pass the half guard into mount. Thrall knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Thrall tries to kick Ichigo off but Ichigo keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ichigo thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Thrall's head.
Thrall regains full guard. Nicely done.
Ichigo throws a big right hand that misses.
Ichigois looking to pass into half guard but Thrall pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Thrall is in guard.
Thrall wants to control from the top but Ichigo keeps moving.
Ichigo wants to sweep but no luck.
Ichigo is trying to control the position but Thrall postures up.
Thrall stopping the sweep attempt from Ichigo.
Thrall tries to stand but Ichigo is controlling from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thrall is stalling in the full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Kurosaki Ichigo was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Thrall tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Ichigo paws at him with a jab and circles away.
A lazy left from Thrall finds it's target.
The fighters circling - Thrall throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Thrall throws a left and a right that both miss

and Ichigo counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Thrall is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Ichigo's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Ichigo's back!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Thrall trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Kurosaki Ichigo is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thrall is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Ichigo is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Thrall missing with strikes.
Ichigo prevents Thrall from getting a body triangle.
Douglas Thrall has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Thrall is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Ichigo knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Ichigo for a finish.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kurosaki Ichigo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Ichigo 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 Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 27:30
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kurosaki Ichigo!