PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mike Henry (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thomas Crown (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Henry
vs
Crown

188 cm
27
195 lbs
12 - 12 - 0

183 cm
22
187 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 12 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mike Henry!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Thomas Crown!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Henry changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Crown looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Crown manages to get back to half guard.
Henry lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Henry prevents Crown from improving his position.
Crown is trying to control but can't.
Crown gets back to full guard.
Crown trying to control the position.

Crown has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Henry can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Henry cracks Crown with a solid left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Crown wants to sweep here but Henry controlling him for the moment.
Henry scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

Crown is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Henry defends well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Crown is trying to keep Henry in close.
Crown working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Henry.
Henry missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Crown is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Henry loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Henry prevents Crown from getting back to his feet.
Henry cracks Crown with a solid left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Crown working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Henry.
Henry has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Crown 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.
Crown trying to keep a closed guard but Henry is proving a slippery customer.
Henry postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Crown is trying to control the position but Henry postures up.
Henry throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Crown works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Henry postures up in Crown's guard and throws a big left but Crown blocks it.
Henry postures up in Crown's guard and throws a big left but Crown blocks it.

Crown has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Henry can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Henry wants to pass the guard but Crown is keeping the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Henry accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry with a nice head shot there.
Henry connects with a couple of short punches.
Crown is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Crown escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Henry gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Henry makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

Henry avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Henry throwing strikes from guard but Crown blocks nicely.
Henry chips away with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henry with a flurry of punches that miss.
Crown is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Henry trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Henry postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Crown wants to get back to his feet but Henry is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Henry throws a big elbow that misses.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Henry tries to free his leg and advance position but Crown is retaining full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Henry in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Crown is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Henry lands a couple of elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Henry dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Henry throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Crown.
Crown takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Henry blocks a jab.
Henry jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Thomas Crown is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Crown jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Crown moves out of range as Henry strikes.
Crown shoots for a double leg takedown but Henry sprawls well. He's pushed Crown's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Henry throws a jab when Crown was well out of range.
Henry misses with a hook.
Thomas Crown seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Crown defending well as Henry loads up on a big left hand.
Henry displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Crown throws out the jab.
Crown connects with a leg kick. Henry looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Crown tries a head kick but it misses.
Henry displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Crown.
Crown tries to bum rush Henry with a series of wild strikes but Henry uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crown takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Henry takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Henry ducks under a wild hook from Crown.
Henry takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Henry's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Henry duly obliges.
Crown has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Henry finds it's way round the side to connect with Crown's head.
Crown fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Henry lands a nice looking body shot.
Henry shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Crown defends it nicely.
Henry ducks under a wild hook from Crown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henry lands with an uppercut that bounces Crown off the cage and back into range.
Henry loads up on a big right hand but Crown slips the punch.
Henry takes one to the side of the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Henry gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Donk. Crown catches Henry right on the button with a cross.
Crown slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Crown throws a combination that misses
and Henry counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Crown thinking.
A telegraphed right hand from Crown misses the target.
Henry connects with a nice looking jab.
Crown walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Henry checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.

Crown shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Crown showed some decent athleticism there.
Henry is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henry desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Crown missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Crown prevents Henry from improving his position.

Crown is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Henry doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Crown.
Henry is holding on to half guard well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Crown wants to pass the guard but Henry is defending well.
Crown trying to control from Henry's half guard. Henry has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Henry has his hands on Crown's head, controlling the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Thomas Crown will probably get the nod - 10:9.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! And we move into the final round!

Henry avoids the body shot from Crown.
Henry moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Crown throws a series of punches but Henry avoids them all with ease.
Crown moves into range and lands a nice body kick.
Henry loads up on a big right hand but Crown slips the punch.
Henry slips a jab and a cross from Crown.
Crown throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Crown uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Henry.
Crown turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Crown moves away from the strike by Henry.
Henry steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Crown.
Nice uppercut there from Crown.
Crown jabs Henry right on the nose. Henry blinks but takes it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henry bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Crown throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Crown throws a hook but Henry avoids it easily.
Crown cracks Henry with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Thomas Crown seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Henry throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Crown sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A big right from Crown misses.
Crown fails to land with a series of punches.
Crown fails to land with a series of punches.
Crown rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Henry moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Crown takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A big right from Crown misses.
Henry throws a hook but Crown blocks it.
Crown scores with a body shot.
Crown scores with a jab to the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henry connects with a body shot.
Henry misses with a straight left.
Crown scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
A head kick misses from Crown.
Henry feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Crowns jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Crown misses with a shot to the body
and Henry connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Good standup being displayed there by Henry as he connects with a hook.
Crown pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Henry throws an overhand right that lands on Crown's shoulder, as Crown tries to avoid the shot.
Henry keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Crown throws a left and a right that both miss
letting Henry counter with a right hand.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Henry crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Crown - the referee stops the clock and Henry gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Crown. Henry manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Henry is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Crown misses the shot to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crown lands a nice leg kick that just misses Henry's sensitive parts.
Crown lands a nice shot that snaps Henry's head back.
Henry avoids a punch combination nicely.
A punch combination from Crown misses.
A big right from Henry misses.
Some wild striking there from Crown.
Crown fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Crown jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Henry closes the distance and clinches up with Crown, looking for a takedown. Henry pushes Crown against the cage but Crown circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
A jab lands there for Henry.
Henry moves out of range of the body kick from Crown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Crown.
Henry misses with an uppercut. Crown saw that one coming.
Crown misses with a series of wild punches.
A combination from Crown does no damage.
Henry throws a looping overhand right but Crown ducks down to avoid it.
Henry uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Crown.
Henry moves out of range as Crown strikes.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Crown digs a good body shot into Henry's ribs.
Crown fails to land with a series of punches.
A leg kick checked by Henry.

Henry closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Crown did well to prevent Henry getting side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thomas Crown comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Crown has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thomas Crown!