PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Gabe Thurgood (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mario Braun (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Thurgood
vs
Braun

186 cm
31
186 lbs
20 - 12 - 0

180 cm
28
180 lbs
5 - 5 - 1

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Very quick

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

160!

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 20 - 12 - 0, fighting out of New York, Gabe Thurgood!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 1, fighting out of New York, Mario Braun!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Alyssa Summers and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thurgood throws a one two combo.
Braun shoots in and drives through. Thurgood sprawls well.
Braun blocks a jab.
A head kick misses from Braun.
Thurgood fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Braun manages to avoid it.
Thurgood listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.

Braun moves into the clinch successfully.
Thurgood has a couple of punches blocked by Braun.
Thurgood stops a takedown attempt from Braun.
Braun misses with a punch on the inside.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

Thurgood breaks the clinch.
Thurgood stuffs the takedown.
Gabe Thurgood has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mario Braun.
Braun has a takedown stuffed.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thurgood tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Thurgood throws a hook but Braun blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thurgood throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Braun has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Braun there as he acknowledges the shot.
Thurgood jabbing away but nothing is landing.
A swing and a miss from Thurgood.
A big left from Thurgood misses.
Thurgood scoring well with a low kick there.
Thurgood misses with an uppercut. Braun saw that one coming.
Thurgood misses with an uppercut.
Thurgood connects with an inside leg kick.
Braun ducks under a wild hook from Thurgood.
Thurgood tried to score with a low kick but Braun checks it.
Thurgood throws a right and a left that Braun avoids nicely.
Braun tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thurgood misses with a combination

and Braun counters with a single leg into guard. Thurgood didn't expect that.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Braun wants to pass the guard but Thurgood is keeping the position.
Thurgood controlling the position.
Thurgood preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Thurgood looking to hit a scissor sweep but Braun is one step ahead there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Braun accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Braun throwing strikes from guard but Thurgood blocks nicely.
Thurgood keeping moving, preventing Braun from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braun tries to free his leg and advance position but Thurgood is retaining full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Thurgood misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Thurgood shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Braun pinned against the cage. Braun gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Thurgood fails to land with a series of punches.
Thurgood throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Thurgood getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Gabe Thurgood seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Braun wants to clinch up but Thurgood keeps it at a distance.

Braun gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Braun goes for a takedown attempt but Thurgood pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Thurgood moves in looking to clinch but Braun pushes him off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thurgood lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Braun circles away quickly and effectively.
Thurgood paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
A good leg kick by Thurgood.
Braun avoids a punch combination nicely.
No joy there for Braun, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Braun chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Thurgood can pounce on him.
Thurgood tries to close the distance and clinch up but Braun swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thurgood misses the shot to the body.
Thurgood throws a hook but Braun avoids it easily.
Thurgood throws a leg kick but Braun sees it coming and checks it nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabe Thurgood dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Braun dives in and grabs Thurgood's left leg, looking for a takedown. Thurgood pushes down on Braun's head and hops out.
Braun fails to land with a series of punches.
Nice jab there from Thurgood.
Thurgood wants to clinch but Braun slips to the side

and Braun counters with a single leg into guard. Thurgood didn't expect that.

Braun avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Braun has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Thurgood trying to control the position here.
Braun landing with the ground and pound.
Thurgood looking to control.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Braun wants to control from the top but Thurgood keeps moving.
Thurgood working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Braun.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Braun stands up over Thurgood, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Thurgood looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Thurgood holds on and takes a little breather.
Mario Braun has got the better of the ground game so far.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Braun stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Thurgood swivels though and keeps the full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Gabe Thurgood just wasn't active enough.
Braun uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Thurgood.
Braun uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Thurgood.
Thurgood walks into a straight right hand from Braun.
Braun tries to clinch but Thurgood moves out of range.
Thurgood throws a low kick but Braun moves out of range easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braun swats away the attempt to clinch by Thurgood.
Braun closes the distance and clinches up with Thurgood, looking for a takedown. Braun pushes Thurgood against the cage but Thurgood circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Mario Braun is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Thurgood scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Braun circles away from the clinch attempt.
Thurgood connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

Braun has closed the distance and engaged Thurgood in a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thurgood trying to stall but Braun improves his position.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Thurgood.
Braun drops down looking for an ankle pick but Thurgood pulls his leg out and moves away.
Gabe Thurgood has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mario Braun.
Thurgood lands a nice hook to Braun's body. Braun takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Braun walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braun on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Thurgood. Thurgood obviously looking to wear him down.
Thurgood wants to clinch.
Thurgood throws a nice inside leg kick.
Braun has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Thurgood finds it's way round the side to connect with Braun's head.
Thurgood misses with a body shot.
Braun slips a straight right by Thurgood.
Thurgood fails with an attempt to clinch.
Braun looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Thurgood thumps Braun with a low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Braun fails with the takedown
enabling Thurgood to counter with a crisp jab.
Braun keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
A slow jab from Thurgood misses its intended target.
Braun avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Gabe Thurgood is winning the standup battle so far.
Thurgood moves into range and connects with a jab.
Braun scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thurgood thows a left - swing and a miss!
A slapping leg kick lands for Thurgood.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thurgood lands with a hook. Braun tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Braun slips a jab from Thurgood.
Thurgood misses with a looping right.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabe Thurgood dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Thurgood motions for Braun to come forward. Thurgood throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Thurgood tries to clinch up.
Braun takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Thurgood looks to throw the jab but Braun is out of range.
Braun uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Thurgood.
Braun has a takedown stuffed.
Thurgood is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Braun shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Thurgood but Thurgood pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Braun tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Thurgood paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Thurgood misses with a straight left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
That kick from Thurgood tenderised Braun's leg. Braun is trying to keep his angry face on.
Thurgood throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Thurgood drives through and clinches with Braun against the cage.
Braun's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Braun throws an elbow but it's blocked.

Braun decides to pull guard.
Braun manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Thurgood is desperately trying to improve his position but Braun has a good base and remains in mount.
BOOM! Braun connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Braun working Thurgood over with strikes here.

Braun working for a guillotine from mount but Thurgood is in no mood to give up.
Braun scoring with strikes but Thurgood is staying in there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Braun cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

Thurgood is rocked!

It looks like Gabe Thurgood has been cut.
The referee warns Thurgood that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Oh Thurgood is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Braun lands a big shot to the head and Thurgood winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:30 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Mario Braun!