PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Clay Castro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gavin Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Clay Castro has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Castro
vs
Thomas

177 cm
24
180 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

196 cm
23
175 lbs
4 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Clay Castro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Gavin Thomas!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Chris Downing and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Castro jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Castro shoots in but no luck this time.
Thomas misses with a series of wild punches.
Thomas misses with a double jab

and Castro counters with a crisp one two that drops Thomas! Castro thinks about following him to the mat for a moment but instead steps back and waves Thomas to his feet! Thomas is in big trouble!

Thomas is rocked!
A combination from Thomas does no damage.
Thomas is still on wobbly legs! Can Castro finish him?
Thomas misses with the combination.
Thomas misses with a double jab.
Castro takes one on the button.
Thomas throws a series of punches but Castro moves out of range.
Thomas seems to have recovered his senses.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Thomas has closed the distance and engaged Castro in a clinch.

Castro breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Castro shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Thomas will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Thomas misses with the combination.
A nice combination there by Thomas.
Castro misses with a wild body shot.
Castro wants to land a leg kick but Thomas is out of range.

Castro fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Thomas, pushing him back against the cage.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Thomas just misses with a elbow thrown towards Castro's brow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Thomas throws an elbow that misses.
Castro takes an elbow to the temple.
Castro working hard to break the clinch.
Thomas looks to throw an elbow but misses.
Thomas creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Thomas breaks the clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Thomas. Those never looked like landing.
Thomas looks gassed!
Castro throws a one two combo.

Castro rushes Thomas and presses him up against the cage.

Castro's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Castro fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Castro fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Clay Castro. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Thomas misses with a series of wild punches.
Thomas is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Thomas misses with the combination.

Castro has managed to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Castro working hard to break the clinch.
Thomas lands an elbow that stopped Castro in his tracks for a moment.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Thomas just misses with a elbow thrown towards Castro's brow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thomas pushes off an throws an elbow but Castro leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Castro has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Thomas avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Castro is trying to break the clinch but Thomas has him pressed against the cage.

Castro decides to pull guard.
Thomas must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Castro is looking to stand up but Thomas isn't so interested in that idea.
Thomas postures up.

Thomas avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Thomas stands up and waves to Castro to follow him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castro changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Thomas tries to avoid it but Castro manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Thomas to the ground. Thomas escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Thomas pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Castro back to the cage. Thomas follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Castro shoots in for a takedown but Thomas shows good takedown defense.
Thomas lands with a hook. Castro tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Thomas throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Castro showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Thomas.
Thomas blocks a low kick nicely.
Thomas throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Castro 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.
Castro wants to control from the top but Thomas keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Thomas has a closed guard, preventing Castro from standing up.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Thomas manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Thomas looks to land a combination but Castro avoids it well.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Castro misses with a leg kick.
Castro looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Thomas misses with a double jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Clay Castro will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Thomas looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Gavin Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Castro will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Castro dives in and grabs Thomas's left leg, looking for a takedown. Thomas pushes down on Castro's head and hops out.
A punch combination from Thomas misses.
Castro showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Thomas.
Castro misses with a body shot.
Sloppy strikes from Castro. Those never looked like landing.
Thomas misses with a wild combination.
Thomas will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Thomas darts in and clinches Castro up against the cage.
Thomas prevents Castro from breaking the clinch.
Castro manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Castro fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Clay Castro. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Castro avoids a wild elbow strike from Thomas.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Castro blocks the elbow strike.
Thomas pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Thomas escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Thomas stuffs the takedown.
Thomas slips a jab from Castro.
Castro fails to land the takedown.
A combination from Thomas does no damage.
Thomas throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Gavin Thomas is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Thomas tries to clinch but Castro moves away

so Castro counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Castro prevents Thomas from getting back to his feet.
Castro is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Castro trying to control but Thomas is working from the bottom.
Castro pushes down on Thomas's leg and manages to get into half guard.

Thomas pushes Castro off and gets back to his feet.
Thomas throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Castro.
Clay Castro is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Thomas throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Gavin Thomas seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Castro misses with a head kick.
Castro looks to land a body kick but Thomas moved away.

Thomas forces Castro back against the cage and clinches.
Castro is looking to break free of the clinch but Thomas has double underhooks.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Thomas.
Castro blocks the elbow strike.
Thomas lands an elbow inside.
Castro working hard to break the clinch.
Nice elbow from Thomas.
Thomas throws an elbow but it misses.
Castro working hard to break the clinch.
Castro wants to break the clinch but can't.
Thomas gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Castro is trying to drag Thomas to the mat but Thomas just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Thomas throws an elbow but it's blocked.

Thomas manages to break the clinch.
Thomas pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Castro back to the cage. Thomas follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.

Castro fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Thomas, pushing him back against the cage.
Thomas lands a nice elbow.
Castro blocks an elbow strike from Thomas.
Castro can't break the clinch.
Thomas throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thomas misses with an elbow strike.

Thomas breaks the clinch.
Castro fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Thomas misses with a few strikes there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Gavin Thomas will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Castro avoids a punch combination nicely.
Castro throws a series of punches but Thomas avoids them all with ease.
Thomas misses with a wild combination.
Thomas misses with a double jab.
Castro fails to land with a series of punches.
Thomas fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Thomas displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Castro has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Castro there as he acknowledges the shot.
Castro throws a right and a left that Thomas avoids nicely.
Castro tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Castro digs a good body shot into Thomas's ribs.

Castro gets a clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Castro is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Thomas breaks from the clinch.

Castro has taken the fight to the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Thomas.

Thomas breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Castro's jab looks to have found its range, popping Thomas under the eye.
Thomas fails to land with a series of punches.
Thomas throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Castro.
Castro misses with a wild combination.
Castro misses with a body kick.
Nice shot lands for Thomas.
Castro throws a sloppy head kick and Thomas moves out of range easily.

Thomas has taken the fight to the clinch.
Castro can't break the clinch.
Thomas throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Thomas lands an elbow that stopped Castro in his tracks for a moment.
Castro wants to break free but Thomas has control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thomas pushes off an throws an elbow but Castro leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Castro's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Thomas's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Thomas throws a right and a left that Castro avoids nicely.
Thomas drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Thomas misses with a jab, cross combination.
A punch combination from Castro misses.
Thomas lands a two punch combo.
Castro shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Thomas pinned against the cage. Thomas gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Thomas tries to bum rush Castro with a series of wild strikes but Castro uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thomas tries to bum rush Castro with a series of wild strikes but Castro uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Castro shoots in and bounces Thomas off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Castro stands and steps away. Thomas gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Castro shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Poor strikes thrown by Castro there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Castro fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Castro trying to control but Thomas is having none of it.
Castro throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Thomas because Castro loaded up on that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Castro postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Thomas looks a forlorn figure.
Castro looking to ground and pound but Thomas is blocking nicely.
Castro wants to control the action but instead Thomas gets a body lock and reverses into Castro's guard! Nice work!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thomas postures up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Clay Castro showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Castro has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Wesley Smith scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a majority draw!