PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between John Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Riko Paauwe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thomas comes to the cage accompanied by Big Bad John. The crowd seem to be enjoying Paauwe's choice of entrance music: Eminem ft Lil Wayne - Drop The World. This should be fireworks!

Thomas
vs
Paauwe

190 cm
27
193 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

193 cm
19
190 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Arcticus University: London

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 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, John Thomas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Riko Paauwe!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Igor Prikhodko and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thomas throws a lazy uppercut
and Paauwe counters with a stiff right hand.
Thomas throws a series of punches but Paauwe avoids them all with ease.
Thomas on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

Thomas clinches up against the cage.
Thomas has Paauwe pressed against the cage, preventing Paauwe from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Thomas is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Thomas breaks the clinch.
Thomas throws a lazy right hand but Paauwe sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Paauwe cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
John Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Paauwe scores with a head kick.
Thomas wants to clinch
and Paauwe counters with a one-two to the body.
Thomas stalks Paauwe and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Paauwe's face. Paauwe staggers backwards, shaken.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas avoids the head kick by Paauwe.
A combination from Thomas does no damage.
Thomas takes one to the side of the head.
Thomas fails with the takedown
enabling Paauwe to counter with a crisp jab.

Thomas has Paauwe up against the cage in a clinch.
Thomas has Paauwe pressed against the cage, preventing Paauwe from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Thomas gets a nice trip takedown into half 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.
Thomas not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Thomas lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thomas winds up and cracks Paauwe with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Thomas thows a huge punch but Paauwe dodges it nicely.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thomas content to control rather than advance.
Thomas throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Thomas working over Paauwe with some ground and pound. Paauwe looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Thomas winds up and cracks Paauwe with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Thomas stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.

Thomas closes the distance and clinches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paauwe prevents a takedown attempt there.

Thomas escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Paauwe jabs Thomas right on the nose. Thomas blinks but takes it well.
Thomas looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Paauwe tries to move into range but Thomas moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.

Thomas rushes Paauwe and presses him up against the cage.
Paauwe is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Paauwe has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Thomas seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Paauwe can turn it around.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Thomas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Paauwe prevents a takedown attempt there.
Thomas prevents Paauwe from breaking the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Thomas pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Paauwe pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Thomas tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Paauwe manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Paauwe looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Thomas misses with a body shot.
Paauwe misses with a jab, cross combination.
Thomas misses with a two punch combination.
Paauwe lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Thomas throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Paauwe counters with a right hand to the body.
Thomas bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Paauwe's head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Thomas closes this distance looking for a takedown but Paauwe circles away.
Paauwe pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Thomas is looking to clinch.
Paauwe displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Thomas throws out the jab.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that John Thomas will probably get the nod.
That's time! Thomas's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Paauwe connects with a leg kick. Thomas looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Thomas throws a jab when Paauwe was well out of range.
Paauwe takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Thomas misses with a two punch combination.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Paauwe enables Thomas to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Paauwe manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Thomas is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Paauwe really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Thomas. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Thomas landing some decent shots from guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Thomas postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Thomas 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.
Thomas seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
John Thomas overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Thomas distracts Paauwe with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

Paauwe pushes Thomas off and gets back to his feet.

Thomas fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Paauwe to the ground. Thomas is now in Paauwe's guard.

Paauwe is rocked!
Thomas works over Paauwe with some ground and pound from guard.
Paauwe is still in real trouble! Can Thomas finish him?
Thomas gets to his feet and stands over Paauwe, holding his ankles. He dives in with a big left hand that connects! Paauwe felt that one! Thomas unloads more punches and elbows and this one is over! The ref has dived in to save Paauwe from any more punishment!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Thomas!
John Thomas decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.