PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hank Houston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jim Thrasher (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Houston
vs
Thrasher

182 cm
22
193 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

186 cm
18
190 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Solid chin

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Hank Houston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jim Thrasher!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Houston explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Thrasher keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.

Houston gets the takedown into side control.

Houston wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Thrasher, who protects the arm well.
Thrasher is not content to let Houston control the position.

Houston wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Thrasher, who protects the arm well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Houston tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Houston has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Houston misses with the ground and pound.
Houston trying to control the position but Thrasher is working away.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Houston lands a nice looking body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Thrasher moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Thrasher tries to close the distance and clinch but Houston swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A right-left combo lands from Thrasher.
Houston misses with an uppercut.
Horrible takedown by Houston or perhaps it was just good defense by Thrasher which made him look bad.
Houston scores with a kick to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Thrasher looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Houston throws a left and a right that both miss
and Thrasher counters with a two punch combo.
Thrasher keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Houston is breathing heavily.
Thrasher is looking to clinch.
Nice uppercut lands for Thrasher. That snapped Houston's head back.
Thrasher misses with a wild combination.
Houston throws a sloppy head kick and Thrasher moves out of range easily.
Houston throws a body punch but Thrasher moves out of range.
Houston throws out a leg kick but Thrasher moves out of range and Houston only half commits.
Houston avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Jim Thrasher seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Houston swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Thrasher fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Houston on the side of the head.
Thrasher fails with an attempt to clinch.
Houston throws a front kick that sends Thrasher stumbling back into the cage.
Thrasher showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Houston.
Houston walks into a jab.
Houston with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Thrasher to score with a decent uppercut.
Thrasher scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.

Houston is rocked!
Thrasher wants to land a leg kick but Houston is out of range.
Houston rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Thrasher moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Thrasher misses with a two punch combination.
Houston takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Thrasher misses with a takedown
and Houston counters with a nice low kick that buckles Thrasher's knee momentarily.
Houston keeps the fight on the outside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thrasher goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Houston is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Thrasher.
Thrasher tries to clinch up but Houston circles away and keeps his distance.
Thrasher stalks Houston and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Houston's face. Houston staggers backwards, shaken.
Oh Houston is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Houston takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Houston seems to have got his legs back now.
Thrasher moves in looking to clinch but Houston pushes him off.
Thrasher displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Houston misses with the combination.
Thrasher throws a series of punches but Houston moves out of range.
Houston keeps the fight on the outside.
Thrasher throws a right and a left that both miss.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Thrasher tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Houston circles away from the clinch attempt.
Houston throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Houston shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Thrasher as he avoids it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jim Thrasher dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Thrasher getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Jim Thrasher seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Houston scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Thrasher keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Houston stops Thrasher from getting back to his feet.
Houston content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Houston moves into full mount! Thrasher won't be happy about that!
Houston takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Thrasher is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Houston lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
BOOM! Houston connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Thrasher is breathing heavily.
Houston punishing his opponent with strikes.
Houston lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Thrasher hang on?
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Thrasher is bucking up trying to escape but Houston cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

Houston working for a guillotine from mount but Thrasher is in no mood to give up.

Houston looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Houston 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.

Houston is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Thrasher has managed to escape the submission attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thrasher has given up his back, trying to stand up. Not clever.
Houston is working the ground and pound here and the referee is taking a close look at Thrasher. He must escape soon or this one will be stopped.
Houston wants to control but Thrasher is keeping busy.
Houston is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Thrasher up.
Thrasher holding both Houston 's hands and preventing any damage.
Houston controlling the position well here. Thrasher rolled but Houston kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston scores with punches and elbows.
Houston struggling to keep hold of the position.
Thrasher is trying to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Houston is controlling the position but Thrasher somehow manages to roll and ends up with half guard.
Still in half guard, Houston seems content to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hank Houston dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Thrasher fails in his attempt to clinch.
Thrasher misses with a two punch combination.
Thrasher lands a jab-cross combination.
Thrasher throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Houston counters with a series of strikes. Thrasher will be more careful next time no doubt.
Thrasher just misses with a punch to the body.

Houston gets the takedown into side control.

Houston tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Houston has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Houston throws an elbow but Thrasher slips to the side and avoids it well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Houston wants to control but Thrasher is keeping him busy.
Houston fails to land a wild elbow strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thrasher is trying to improve his position.
Thrasher dodges the ground and pound from Houston.
Houston looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Thrasher is avoiding damage well.
Thrasher is trying to buck Houston off.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Houston looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Nice takedown defense from Thrasher. No joy for Houston on that attempt.

Houston gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Houston breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Thrasher lands with a right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Houston darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Thrasher is trying to stand back up but Houston is controlling him
Houston is looking to take a break and control but Thrasher is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Houston is looking to advance position but Thrasher won't allow it.
Thrasher is trying to control but can't.
Houston prevents Thrasher from standing back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Houston thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Houston thows a huge punch but Thrasher dodges it nicely.
Houston is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Thrasher wants to get back to his feet.
Thrasher tries to hold on but Houston pushes him away.
Thrasher tries to reverse the position but Houston maintains control.
Houston pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Thrasher keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Houston punishing his opponent with strikes.

Houston jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Thrasher is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Thrasher and Houston has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Houston is looking to take a break and control but Thrasher is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hank Houston showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Houston 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 Suge Night scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:28
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Hank Houston!