PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Thomas Billington (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Billington kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur.... Xocoyotzin comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Leverage - Sentenced kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Billington
vs
Xocoyotzin

190 cm
29
204 lbs
19 - 11 - 1

180 cm
29
191 lbs
16 - 13 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
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 19 - 11 - 1, fighting out of Hilo, Thomas Billington!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Anni Minnemäki and Roosa Järviläinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good leg kick by Xocoyotzin there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Xocoyotzin scores with a crisp jab that stopped Billington in his tracks.
A shot to the body from Billington misses
and Xocoyotzin counters with an outside leg kick.
Xocoyotzin throws a chopping leg kick but Billington manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Xocoyotzin looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Xocoyotzin steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Billington.
Billington keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Xocoyotzin just misses with a punch to the body.
Billington misses with a wild combination.
Xocoyotzin blocks a jab.
Xocoyotzin pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Xocoyotzin throws the left hand but Billington avoids the punch easily.
Xocoyotzin tries to close the distance and clinch but Billington swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Xocoyotzin just misses with a punch to the body.
Xocoyotzin stuffs the takedown.
Xocoyotzin connects with a good right hand that stumbles Billington. Billington circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Billington misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Xocoyotzin showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Billington.
Billington misses the shot to the body.
A solid leg kick lands there for Xocoyotzin.
Billington checks a leg kick nicely.
Xocoyotzin buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Billington drops his hands momentarily and Xocoyotzin takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Xocoyotzin staying out of range there.
Billington misses the jab.
Xocoyotzin with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Xocoyotzin loads up on a big right hand but Billington slips the punch.
Xocoyotzin fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Billington avoids a low kick by using good footwork.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Billington misses with a looping left.
Billington throws out a loose jab but Xocoyotzin uses good head movement to avoid it.
Billington punishes Xocoyotzin's body with a nice straight punch.
Billington just misses with a punch to the body.
Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Billington checks the leg kick.
Xocoyotzin misses with a head kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Billington misses the body punch
and Xocoyotzin counters with a nice body kick.
Xocoyotzin throws a head kick but Billington moves out of range.
Xocoyotzin jabs Billington to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Billington swinging wildly here.

Billington scores a takedown into full mount!
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Billington cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Xocoyotzin is wriggling around trying to escape.
Xocoyotzin wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Xocoyotzin wants to hold on but Billington pushes him away.
Billington lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Billington looking to control and managing it successfully.
Xocoyotzin bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Billington trying to control the position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Xocoyotzin advances to half guard.
Xocoyotzin prevents Billington from improving his position.

Billington is defending against the submission attempts here by Xocoyotzin.
Billington gets back to full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Billington keeping moving, preventing Xocoyotzin from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A swing and a miss from Billington.
Xocoyotzin blocks a jab.
Billington checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.

Xocoyotzin rushes Billington and presses him up against the cage.
Billington is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Xocoyotzin tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Billington avoids it.
Billington leaning against his opponent.
A nice left hand lands by Xocoyotzin.
Billington misses with the head strike.
Xocoyotzin has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Xocoyotzin manages to break the clinch.
Billington throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Jab from Billington.
Xocoyotzin pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Xocoyotzin lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Billington on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Xocoyotzin. Xocoyotzin obviously looking to wear him down.
Xocoyotzin motions for Billington to come forward. Xocoyotzin throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Billington lands a body shot.
Xocoyotzin swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Billington fails to land with a series of punches.
A big right from Billington misses.
Billington throws a shot from downtown. Xocoyotzin moves away and avoids it.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Billington checks a leg kick.
Good exchange - Xocoyotzin coming out on top.
Xocoyotzin checks a low kick from Billington.
A nice leg kick lands there from Xocoyotzin.
A looping hook to the body misses from Billington. Xocoyotzin does a little dance to reset his feet.
Billington checks the leg kick.
Billington misses with a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Billington lands a two punch combo.
Some wild striking there from Billington.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Good work by Billington as he checks the leg kick.
Xocoyotzin throws a leg kick which misses Billington's front leg but catches the back leg as Billington tries to avoid it.
Xocoyotzin misses with a leg kick

and Billington counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Xocoyotzin!
Xocoyotzin wants to hold on but Billington pushes him away.
Billington lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Xocoyotzin really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Xocoyotzin tries to lock up and control but Billington gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Thomas Billington overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Xocoyotzin is trying desperately to improve position.
Billington with good strikes from the mount here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Xocoyotzin working to try and regain half guard.
Xocoyotzin gets back to half guard.
Xocoyotzin is trying to stand up here but Billington is controlling him well.
Billington is trying to control. Xocoyotzin wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Xocoyotzin looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Xocoyotzin is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Billington pulls his head out easily.
Billington not doing much here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Billington'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.

Xocoyotzin is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Billington pulls his head out easily.
Xocoyotzin blocking the ground and pound attempt from Billington.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Xocoyotzin wants to control but Billington is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Still in half guard, Billington seems content to control.
Xocoyotzin is not content to let Billington control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thomas Billington 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!

Billington checks a leg kick.
Xocoyotzin lands with a good body shot.
Billington jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Xocoyotzin looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Billington keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Xocoyotzin tries a head kick but it misses.
Xocoyotzin tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Billington was well out of range. Poor timing from Xocoyotzin.
Billington punishes Xocoyotzin's body with a nice straight punch.
Billington throws out a loose jab but Xocoyotzin uses good head movement to avoid it.
Billington blocks a head kick by Xocoyotzin.
Xocoyotzin with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Xocoyotzin throws out a loose jab but Billington uses good head movement to avoid it.
Xocoyotzin throws out a leg kick but Billington moves out of range and Xocoyotzin only half commits.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Billington swats away the attempt to clinch by Xocoyotzin.
Billington takes a swing at Xocoyotzin's ribcage but misses.
Billington works the jab nicely.
Xocoyotzin with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Xocoyotzin misses with a body kick.
Billington throws an overhand right that lands on Xocoyotzin's shoulder, as Xocoyotzin tries to avoid the shot.
Billington misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Xocoyotzin.
Xocoyotzin lands a nice leg kick that just misses Billington's sensitive parts.
Billington lands with a nice combination. Xocoyotzin backs away looking to recover.
Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Billington takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Billington fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Xocoyotzin manages to avoid it.
Xocoyotzin ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Billington thows a body shot but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Xocoyotzin throws a leg kick that misses.
Xocoyotzin scores with a jab to the head.
Billington jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Billington avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Xocoyotzin takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
A jab lands there for Xocoyotzin.
Billington takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Xocoyotzin avoids the body shot from Billington.
Billington throws out a powerful jab.
Xocoyotzin avoids the body shot from Billington.
Xocoyotzin tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Billington manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Xocoyotzin tries to land a front kick but Billington steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Xocoyotzin keeps the fight on the outside.
A jab from Billington does it's job there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Billington looks to land a right hand but Xocoyotzin moved out of range.
A head kick misses from Xocoyotzin.
Billington bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Xocoyotzin's head.
Xocoyotzin fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Billington is out of range.
Xocoyotzin throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Billington circles away from the clinch attempt.
Xocoyotzin connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Billington falls off balance throwing a combination
and Xocoyotzin counters with a nice body shot.
Billington moves into range and connects with a jab.
Xocoyotzin blocks a jab.
Xocoyotzin scores with a leg kick.
Xocoyotzin slips a jab from Billington.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Xocoyotzin throws a leg kick but Billington sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Xocoyotzin wants to slow Billington down by chopping away at his legs.
A slow jab from Billington misses its intended target.
Billington fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Billington looks to score with a jab to the body but Xocoyotzin is just out of range.
Xocoyotzin throws a low kick, looking for Billington's leg but Billington calmly moves out of range.
Billington scores with a hook to the body. Xocoyotzin takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Xocoyotzin uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Billington.
Xocoyotzin throws a leg kick but Billington moved away.
Billington throws an overhand right that lands on Xocoyotzin's shoulder, as Xocoyotzin tries to avoid the shot.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Xocoyotzin bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A big right from Billington misses.
Billington closes the distance and lands a one-two.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thomas Billington showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Billington 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 Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:28
Judge Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thomas Billington!
Thomas Billington decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.