PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Tae Shik Cha (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Naoto Thompson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cha comes to the cage accompanied by ODESZA - My Friends Never Die. Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Shik Cha
vs
Thompson

178 cm
20
153 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

167 cm
25
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Experienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Tae Shik Cha!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Naoto Thompson!
The judges for this bout are , Timothy Bukovac and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Thompson closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cha did well to prevent Thompson getting side control.
Cha looks like he's trying to stand up.
Cha trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Thompson trying to control the action but Cha is working from the bottom.
Cha knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Thompson on the ground.
Cha is trying to stand.
Thompson trying to mount his opponent but Cha defends it.
Cha looks like he's trying to stand up.
Thompson wants to pass to mount but Cha is defending the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cha is trying to stand back up but Thompson is controlling him
Thompson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Cha does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Cha closes the distance and pushes Thompson back into the cage.
Thompson's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Cha.
Cha pushes Thompson back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Cha lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Thompson backwards.
Thompson changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Cha fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Cha looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Cha fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Cha is really turning it up, unleashing another crisp combination which drops Thompson like a ton of bricks! The referee dives in to stop the fight, saving Thompson from another fist facial!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:20 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Tae Shik Cha!
Tae Shik Cha is the new featherweight champion!
After winning the bout, Tae Shik Cha thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.