PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Darwin France (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Benjamin Thumbhisbum (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). France's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, bring me to life. Darwin France had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

France
vs
Thumbhisbum

185 cm
37
158 lbs
37 - 22 - 1

174 cm
28
157 lbs
12 - 10 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

KAISER Nutrition - Q160/$250

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 37 - 22 - 1, fighting out of New York, Darwin France!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 1, fighting out of New York, Benjamin Thumbhisbum!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thumbhisbum's hands are dropping dangerously low here and France connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Thumbhisbum scrambles back to his feet.
France looks to land a right hand but Thumbhisbum moved out of range.
Thumbhisbum tries a quick counter leg kick but France is wise to it.
France has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Thumbhisbum throws a hook but France blocks it.
France jabs Thumbhisbum right on the nose. Thumbhisbum blinks but takes it well.
France throws a head kick that misses
and Thumbhisbum counters with a nice body kick.
Thumbhisbum closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Thumbhisbum waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract France.
Thumbhisbum pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Thumbhisbum tries a head kick but it misses.
Thumbhisbum connects with a nice looking jab.
Thumbhisbum with a nice cross.
Thumbhisbum looks to land a body kick but France moved away.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thumbhisbum ducks down and throws a hook to the body but France moves away.
Thumbhisbum throws a leg kick but France sees it coming and moves out of range.
France lands a nice looking body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
France tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Thumbhisbum defends well and France ends up having to push Thumbhisbum into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
France moves out of range of the strikes.
Thumbhisbum's hands are dropping dangerously low here and France connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Thumbhisbum scrambles back to his feet.
France takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Thumbhisbum fails to land with a series of punches.
France moves out of range as Thumbhisbum strikes.
Thumbhisbum misses the shot to the body.
Thumbhisbum blocks a low kick nicely.
Thumbhisbum swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
France uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Thumbhisbum.
Thumbhisbum throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
France feinted with a counter takedown.
Thumbhisbum ducks down and throws a hook to the body but France moves away.
We've been informed that Thumbhisbum has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
A shot to the liver by Thumbhisbum. Beautiful body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thumbhisbum connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

It looks like Darwin France has been cut.
France really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
France tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A bone on bone clash there as France blocks the leg kick.
Thumbhisbum throws an ugly left hook that misses

and France counters with a shoot takedown. Thumbhisbum fights it but they end up in guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
France postures up in Thumbhisbum's guard and throws a big left but Thumbhisbum blocks it.
France is looking to work some ground and pound but Thumbhisbum has wrist control.
France trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Thumbhisbum is on top in guard.

France wants to hit a switch here but Thumbhisbum passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for France there!
Thumbhisbum 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.
Let's hope that Thumbhisbum has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
France blocking the ground and pound.
France regains half guard.
France 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.
France is trying to get back to full guard.
Thumbhisbum takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Thumbhisbum is continuing to stall.
France wants to improve his position but Thumbhisbum is controlling well.
Thumbhisbum stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
France works his way to full guard. Good work.

France throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Thumbhisbum's corner is telling him to maintain position.
France will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
France wants to sweep here but Thumbhisbum controlling him for the moment.
France manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Thumbhisbum manages to get himself to full guard.

France throwing strikes but missing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benjamin Thumbhisbum dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Darwin France's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

France lands a nice shot to the body.
Thumbhisbum looks to land a right hand but France moved out of range.
Horrible takedown attempt by France or perhaps it was just good defense by Thumbhisbum, which made it look bad.
Thumbhisbum throws a shot from downtown. France moves away and avoids it.
A telegraphed right hand from France misses the target.
Thumbhisbum throws a head kick but France moves out of range.
France half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
A slow jab from Thumbhisbum misses its intended target.
France thinks about countering with a body kick.
Benjamin Thumbhisbum seems to be getting the better of the standup.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thumbhisbum throws a leg kick that misses.
Thumbhisbum throws a low kick but France moves out of range easily.
France misses with a low kick.
Thumbhisbum looks like he wants to counter punch here.
France ducks under a wild hook from Thumbhisbum.

That's one minute gone in the round.
France throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Thumbhisbum.
Thumbhisbum just misses with a punch to the body.
France is looking to land body kicks.
It seemed like Thumbhisbum was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
France avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
France throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
France is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Thumbhisbum rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but France moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Thumbhisbum throws a head kick that misses.
France tries to counter with a takedown but Thumbhisbum is quick to defend against it.
A nice inside leg kick there by Thumbhisbum. That's going to slow France down.
Good standup being displayed there by Thumbhisbum as he connects with a hook.
Thumbhisbum throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
France tries to counter with a takedown but Thumbhisbum is quick to defend against it.
Thumbhisbum scores with a kick to the midsection.
France throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Thumbhisbum's waist but Thumbhisbum gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing France off to one side.
A little jabbing left from Thumbhisbum on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Thumbhisbum.
France throws a body kick that misses
and Thumbhisbum counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Thumbhisbum misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
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!
Thumbhisbum scores with a jab.

France is rocked!
Thumbhisbum keeps France at a distance using the push kick.
Oh France is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Thumbhisbum takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
France seems to have got his legs back now.
Nice shot lands for Thumbhisbum.
Thumbhisbum has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
France takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
A nice inside leg kick there by Thumbhisbum. That's going to slow France down.
Thumbhisbum misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from France.

France closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Thumbhisbum's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
France is fighting to break Thumbhisbum's control of his arms but Thumbhisbum is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
France works a leg free and moves into half guard.
France not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
France passes to side control.
Thumbhisbum managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by France.
Thumbhisbum is trying to control France's posture but France avoids it.
France is trying to ground and pound but Thumbhisbum uses the momentary lack of control by France to regain half guard.
Thumbhisbum is doing well to control the position and prevent France from advancing to side control.
France thows a huge punch but Thumbhisbum dodges it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
France sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Thumbhisbum defending well though.
The fighters are battling for position here. Thumbhisbum manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Darwin France overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
France looking to pass the guard.
Thumbhisbum looking to control.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells France's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
France wants to pass the guard but Thumbhisbum is keeping the position.
Thumbhisbum utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
France is pushing down on Thumbhisbum's leg trying to pass to half guard. Thumbhisbum is fighting to maintain full guard but France has managed to sneak the leg through.
France throwing shots but Thumbhisbum is blocking nicely.
Thumbhisbum is trying to get back to full guard.
France looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Benjamin Thumbhisbum will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Darwin France's cut.
That's time! France's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Thumbhisbum throws a body shot but no joy.
Thumbhisbum misses with a wild body shot.
Benjamin Thumbhisbum seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

France scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
France working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Thumbhisbum defending against the ground and pound.
Thumbhisbum is trying to control France's posture but France avoids it.
Thumbhisbum parries the strikes from France easily there. France is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Thumbhisbum to escape.

France goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Thumbhisbum rolls with the submission and now he's on top in France's guard! Nice work there by Thumbhisbum!

France throws his legs up looking for a submission but Thumbhisbum uses it to pass to side control.
France is trying to control Thumbhisbum's posture but Thumbhisbum avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
France is not content to let Thumbhisbum control the position.
France is looking for a sweep.
Thumbhisbum trying to control the action but France is working from the bottom.
Thumbhisbum taking a breather here.
France wants to control but Thumbhisbum postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Thumbhisbum slows the pace down.
France is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Thumbhisbum is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
France tries to reverse the position but Thumbhisbum maintains control.
Thumbhisbum sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
France is working to get back to half guard.
Thumbhisbum can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as France is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thumbhisbum controlling his opponent.
France is working to get back to half guard.
France is working hard here to advance position.
Darwin France has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
France regains half guard.

France is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Thumbhisbum pulls his head out easily.
Benjamin Thumbhisbum is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

France actively working from the bottom here.
Thumbhisbum is figuring out what he wants to do next.
France is refusing to be controlled, as Thumbhisbum sits in half guard.
Thumbhisbum not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Thumbhisbum content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

France looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Benjamin Thumbhisbum comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Thumbhisbum winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Don Winkell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Benjamin Thumbhisbum!
A victorious Benjamin Thumbhisbum thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.