PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bam Neely (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Thompson (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.

Neely
vs
Thompson

188 cm
25
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
19
210 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Bam Neely!
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, Chris Thompson!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Valeri Chadov and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thompson fails with a takedown attempt.
Neely tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Thompson manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Nice sprawl there from Thompson as Neely shoots in.
Neely tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Thompson paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Neely misses with a double jab.

Thompson gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Neely to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Neely prevents Thompson from getting back to his feet.
Thompson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Neely.
Neely content to stall in guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neely with a flurry of punches that miss.
Thompson looking to control.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Thompson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Thompson shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Neely's guard.
Thompson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Neely. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Neely pulls Thompson in close to prevent any damage.
Neely has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Thompson must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neely's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

We're going to have a standup here because Bam Neely wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Neely shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Thompson defends it nicely.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Thompson.
Neely moves in looking to clinch but Thompson pushes him off.
Neely fails in his attempt to clinch.

Neely darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thompson tries to kick Neely off but Neely keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Thompson wants to improve his position but Neely is controlling well.
Neely uses his free foot to push down on Thompson's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Thompson.
Neely lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Neely controlling the pace for now.

Neely stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neely stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Neely wants it to stay on the feet.
Bam Neely has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Chris Thompson.
Thompson looks gassed!
Thompson fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Neely looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Neely takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Neely seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Thompson for as long as he can get away with.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Neely is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bam Neely 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.

Neely misses with a jab, cross combination.

Thompson gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Neely to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Neely controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Thompson tries to strike from the bottom.

Neely stands and steps away. Thompson gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Neely wants to clinch.
Thompson keeps the fight on the outside.
Neely tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Neely gets a takedown into half guard.
Neely working Thompson over with strikes.
Neely content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Thompson is looking to get back to full guard here but Neely has managed to pass to side control instead.

Neely is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Thompson is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Neely trying to control the position but Thompson is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thompson is trying to escape the position but Neely is controlling the position.

Neely decides to stand back up.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Neely wants to clinch.
No luck for Thompson with that takedown attempt.
Thompson fails with the takedown

and Neely counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Thompson is breathing heavily.
Neely is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Neely lands a couple of digs.
Neely is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Bam Neely just wasn't active enough.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Neely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neely moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Neely landing a few strikes.
Neely controls the position from side control.
Neely passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Thompson!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thompson taking shots to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Neely fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Neely forces the positional change into back control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bam Neely dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Thompson tries to clinch up.

Neely closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Neely is working Thompson over with some ground and pound from side control.
Neely scores with punches from side control.
Neely is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Thompson can do to turn this around?
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

Neely stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Neely fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Neely displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Thompson.
Thompson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Neely shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Thompson napping and manages to drive through into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Neely thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Neely 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.
Neely is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Thompson is trying to get back to half guard.
Neely works to advance to full mount. Thompson defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Neely lands a nice shot to the head.
Neely tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neely with good strikes from the mount here!
The referee warns Thompson that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
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!
Neely controlling from the full mount.
Neely landing strikes, looking to finish!
Neely scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Thompson?
Neely takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Neely dominating with strikes here.
Neely looking to control and managing it successfully.
Thompson taking shots to the head.
Neely controlling his opponent.

Thompson has left one of his arms exposed and Neely doesn't need a second invitation. He's isolated it and locked on a tight armbar. Thompson screams and taps out, obviously in a lot of pain. Hopefully there isn't permanent damage to that arm.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Bam Neely!