PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rick Meline (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Thatcher (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). David Thatcher has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Meline
vs
Thatcher

174 cm
25
205 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

196 cm
25
218 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Brawler
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rick Meline!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, David Thatcher!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Tiny Johnson and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thatcher rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Meline moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Thatcher scores with a nice right hand.
Meline closes the distance and clinches up with Thatcher, looking for a takedown. Meline pushes Thatcher against the ropes but Thatcher circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Thatcher lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

Thatcher clinches up with Meline and pushes him back against the ropes.
Thatcher tries to work over Meline's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Meline tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Meline is looking for a takedown up against the ropes. Thatcher gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rick Meline. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Thatcher is looking to control Meline's arms but Meline gets an underhook and turns him. Now Thatcher has his back to the ropes.

Meline pulls Thatcher into guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Meline is trying to control the position but Thatcher postures up.
Meline looking to hit a scissor sweep but Thatcher is one step ahead there.
Meline has a closed guard, preventing Thatcher from standing up.
Meline seems keen to control Thatcher's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thatcher won't allow Meline to sweep him here.
Meline is trying to control the position from the bottom.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Meline holds on and takes a little breather.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Thatcher lands with a straight right. Meline didn't see that one coming.

Thatcher drops Meline with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Meline looks back up at him and smiles so Thatcher waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed.

Meline is rocked!
A big right followed by a crushing left from Thatcher knocks Meline out cold! Ouch - that one's going to be featured in highlight reels for years to come!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:59 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). David Thatcher!
David Thatcher 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.