PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jd Michaels (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joseph Toombs (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jd Michaels had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 147.3lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Michaels
vs
Toombs

173 cm
22
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

183 cm
18
150 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Hellbent, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jd Michaels!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Joseph Toombs!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Stewart Dunkirk and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Toombs tries to clinch there but Michaels circles away.
Toombs is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Toombs tries to clinch there but Michaels circles away.

Michaels rushes Toombs and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Toombs jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Michaels walks away with a smile on his face. Toombs gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Michaels keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Toombs shoots in for a takedown but Michaels shows good takedown defense.
Michaels fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Toombs with a poor takedown
and Michaels counters with a body kick that stops Toombs in his tracks momentarily.
Jd Michaels has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Joseph Toombs.

Michaels clinches with his opponent.
Toombs keeps control of Michaels as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Knees to the body from Michaels.
Toombs can't get the takedown.
Toombs is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Toombs is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Michaels gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Toombs looks gassed!
Toombs using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Michaels has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Michaels breaks the clinch.
Toombs tries to clinch up
and Michaels counters with a good low kick that Toombs was not able to check.

Michaels scores a takedown into full mount!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Michaels lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Toombs hang on?

That's one minute gone in the round.

Michaels with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Toombs is trying desperately to improve position.
Toombs is bucking up trying to escape but Michaels cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

Michaels looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Toombs is working to get back to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Michaels with a couple of short strikes.
Toombs is trying to escape the mount.
Michaels breaks from Toombs's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Michaels with a couple of short strikes.
Michaels is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Toombs is looking to improve his position but Michaels isn't that keen on the idea.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Michaels punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels with shots to the head and body - Toombs looks very uncomfortable down there.
Michaels connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Michaels scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Toombs?
Michaels landing shots from mount.
Michaels punching from mount but Toombs doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Michaels lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Toombs hang on?
Michaels unloading with bombs!
Toombs wants to hold on but Michaels pushes him away.
Michaels trying to control but Toombs is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee warns Toombs that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Toombs is in all sorts of trouble here.
Michaels lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Michaels with shots to the head and body - Toombs looks very uncomfortable down there.
Toombs tries to reverse the position but Michaels maintains control.
Michaels scoring with strikes but Toombs is staying in there.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Toombs sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Toombs is refusing to be controlled, as Michaels sits in half guard.

Michaels decides to return to a standing position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Toombs shoots and misses

and Michaels counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Toombs's guard now.
Michaels throwing strikes from guard but Toombs blocks nicely.

Michaels gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Toombs jabs Michaels right on the nose. Michaels blinks but takes it well.
Toombs wants to clinch

and Michaels counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Toombs's guard now.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Michaels throws and elbow that misses. Toombs uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Michaels's guard. Nice move by Toombs!
Michaels wants to stand up but Toombs is controlling him.
Michaels 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.
Toombs stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Michaels swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Toombs throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Michaels works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Michaels doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Michaels looking to control.

Michaels had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Toombs is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Michaels Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Toombs's back instead.
Toombs covering up well and avoiding damage.

Michaels looking for the choke but no joy.

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.
Toombs prevents Michaels from getting a body triangle.
Michaels missing with punches from the back.
Toombs has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Michaels.
Michaels is trying to stick to Toombs's back but Toombs is turning into Michaels. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Michaels's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Toombs.

Toombs stands up from Michaels's guard - Toombs perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels misses with a takedown

and Toombs counters with a single leg into guard. Michaels didn't expect that.
Michaels looking to hit a scissor sweep but Toombs is one step ahead there.
Toombs looking to pass the guard.
Michaels controls Toombs momentarily but Toombs frees himself.
Toombs wants to control from the top but Michaels keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Michaels has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Toombs off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Michaels tries to close the distance and clinch but Toombs swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Michaels dodges the punch combination from Toombs.
Toombs throws a head kick that misses.
Toombs is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Michaels.
Toombs throws a sloppy head kick and Michaels moves out of range easily.
Michaels doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Toombs counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Toombs circles away from the clinch attempt.

Michaels shoots in and bounces Toombs off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Michaels wants to pass the guard but Toombs is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jd Michaels dominated that second 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Toombs gets the takedown into side control.
Toombs wants to control but Michaels is keeping him busy.
Michaels sneaks back into half guard.
Michaels trying to hold on to Toombs's head to control him but Toombs postures up.
Toombs drops an elbow to the side of Michaels's head.
Michaels trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Michaels tries to hold on but Toombs postures up.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Michaels has given up his back, trying to stand up. Not clever.
Toombs scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Toombs's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.
Toombs lands a punch that was close to the back of the head but the ref thinks it's OK.
You can see the frustration on Michaels's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Michaels trying to control the position but Toombs manages to sink in the hooks.

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.
Toombs trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.

Michaels manages to escape to his feet.
Michaels misses with the combination.
Toombs goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Toombs misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Michaels throws a right and a left that both miss.
Michaels throws a lazy head kick
and Toombs counters with a head kick.
Michaels shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Toombs as he avoids it easily.
Toombs tries to clinch there but Michaels circles away.
Michaels lands with an overhand left.
Michaels throws a lazy head kick
and Toombs makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Jd Michaels seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Toombs is looking to clinch but Michaels is avoiding it.
Michaels throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Michaels shoots in and drives through. Toombs sprawls well.
Michaels throws a sloppy head kick and Toombs moves out of range easily.
Toombs tries a head kick but it misses.
Horrible takedown by Michaels or perhaps it was just good defense by Toombs which made him look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jd Michaels. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Toombs looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Michaels wants to control but Toombs is keeping busy.
Michaels might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michaels wants to get back to his feet.
Michaels throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Jd Michaels is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Toombs stops Michaels from getting back to his feet.
Michaels is looking to improve his position.
Michaels is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Michaels trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!

And that's the end of the fight!
Joseph Toombs comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Michaels has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jd Michaels!