PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ong Bak (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mark Henry (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bak comes into the arena with One Night In Bangkok blaring out of the sound system. The key to victory for Ong Bak has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Bak
vs
Henry

192 cm
24
222 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

175 cm
27
205 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Knockout power

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 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ong Bak!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mark Henry!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Saam Ante and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bak keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Danga de danga de dang - Bak scores with a four punch combination!
Henry looks for a takedown but Bak sprawls well.
Henry shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Bak pinned against the cage. Bak gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Ong Bak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mark Henry.
Bak with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Henry stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Henry wants it to stay on the feet.
Henry throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A looping hook to the body misses from Henry. Bak does a little dance to reset his feet.
Bak moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry swings widly with a right hand
and Bak counters with a leg kick.
Bak keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Nice body kick there by Bak.
Henry throws a hook to the side of Bak's head but Bak sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Bak moves out of range of the strikes.
Bak moves in looking to clinch but Henry pushes him off.
Henry misses with a right hand
and Bak counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Bak looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Henry doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Bak counters with a nice uppercut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bak fails with a takedown attempt.
Henry with a lazy takedown attempt
and Bak counters with an inside leg kick.
Bak stalks Henry and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Henry's face. Henry staggers backwards, shaken.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bak's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Henry connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Bak scrambles back to his feet.
Henry avoids a punch combination nicely.
Henry takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Bak tries for a takedown but Henry circles away easily

and Henry counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Henry.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Bak keeping moving, preventing Henry from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bak not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Henry throwing strikes from guard but Bak blocks nicely.
Henry prevents Bak from getting back to his feet.
Henry trying to control the position from guard on top but Bak is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Henry working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bak keeping moving, preventing Henry from controlling successfully.
Henry looking to sit in guard and control but Bak gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Bak trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Bak stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Henry swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ong Bak dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Henry tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Bak swivels and escapes.
Bak lands a two punch combo.
Bak misses with a series of wild punches.

Bak shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Bak can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Henry is looking to escape.
Henry is trying to escape the mount.
Bak will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bak trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Bak stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.
Bak falls off balance throwing a combination

and Henry counters with a shoot takedown. Bak fights it but they end up in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Henry throwing strikes from guard but Bak blocks nicely.
Henry postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Bak avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Henry accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Henry stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Bak swivels though and keeps the full guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Bak working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Henry.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bak wants to get back to his feet but Henry is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Henry postures up.
Henry trying to control the position from guard on top but Bak is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

Henry drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Bak dives on top into guard.
Bak prevents Henry from getting back to his feet.
Bak trying to control but Henry is working from the bottom.

Bak drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Bak jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Henry wants to sweep here but Bak controlling him for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henry has a closed guard, preventing Bak from standing up.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Henry holds on and takes a little breather.

Bak drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Henry manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Bak has Henry in his guard.
Henry looking to sit in guard and control but Bak gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ong Bak will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! 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.

Henry shoots in and drives through. Bak sprawls well.
Bak fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Henry.
Bak with a poor takedown

and Henry counters with a nice double leg into side control. Bak won't be happy with that.
Bak gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Henry is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Bak is defending against the submission attempts here by Henry.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Henry lands a nice short elbow.
Henry not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Henry sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Bak defending well though.
Henry drops an elbow to the side of Bak's head.
Henry performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Henry thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Bak's head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bak pushes Henry off and gets back to his feet.
Bak keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Bak scores with a three punch combo!
Henry showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Bak.
Henry shoots in for a takedown but Bak shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Ong Bak has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mark Henry.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bak's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Bak duly obliges.
Henry fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Bak avoids it really well and circles away.
Bak is looking to clinch.
Henry shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Bak defends it nicely.
Bak rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Henry moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Mark Henry has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bak wants to clinch up but Henry keeps it at a distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bak shoots in but Henry avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Henry is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
Bak gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Henry counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Ong Bak is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Henry wants to advance to full mount but Bak doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Henry trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Henry tries to free his leg and advance position but Bak is retaining full guard.
Henry throws a big elbow that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mark Henry comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Bak 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 Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 29:28
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 28:29
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 29:29

The fight is ruled a draw!