PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Taigro Henrique (ranked 3277 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mehdi Boukhidous (ranked 3803 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Henrique
vs
Boukhidous

172 cm
25
156 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

173 cm
25
156 lbs
3 - 3 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Taigro Henrique!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 1, fighting out of The Island, Mehdi Boukhidous!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Sandra Marshall and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nice takedown defense from Henrique. No joy for Boukhidous on that attempt.
Boukhidous gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Henrique counters by clinching up.
Henrique gets underhooks to prevent Boukhidous's takedown attempt.
Taigro Henrique has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mehdi Boukhidous.
Henrique prevents Boukhidous from breaking the clinch.
Henrique lands a good knee to the midsection. Boukhidous won't want to take too many of those.
Boukhidous jumps guard but Henrique stands there with Boukhidous around his waist. Boukhidous gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Henrique's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Boukhidous misses with a jab, cross combination.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Henrique drives through and clinches with Boukhidous against the cage.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

Henrique is trying to trip Boukhidous. He has hold of a leg but Boukhidous is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Henrique persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Henrique throws an elbow that misses. Boukhidous uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Henrique's guard. Nice move by Boukhidous!

Boukhidous is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Boukhidous must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henrique manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Boukhidous manages to get himself to full guard.

The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Henrique accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Boukhidous working for submissions but it's allowed Henrique to get to half guard.
Henrique controlling the action here.
Henrique drops an elbow to the side of Boukhidous's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Henrique is working for a submission of some sort.
Henrique with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

Henrique wants to work for an arm triangle but Boukhidous is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Henrique is looking to take a break and control but Boukhidous is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henrique wants to free his trapped foot but Boukhidous is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Henrique winds up and cracks Boukhidous with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Boukhidous is defending against the submission attempts here by Henrique.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Boukhidous wants to get back to full guard.
Boukhidous wants to control but Henrique is keeping busy and won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Henrique frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Henrique misses with a head shot.
Henrique avoids the attempt from Boukhidous to control.
Henrique lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Boukhidous tries to hold on but Henrique postures up.
Henrique tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Henrique is in the full mount, landing strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Taigro Henrique dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Henrique clinches up against the cage.

Henrique has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Boukhidous uses from the top position.
Henrique wants to stand but Boukhidous is controlling the position.
Boukhidous is fighting to break Henrique's control of his arms but Henrique is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Henrique is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Boukhidous is controlling him.
Henrique is trying to control the position but Boukhidous postures up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Henrique has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Boukhidous wants to stand but Henrique is controlling his posture from full guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Henrique is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Boukhidous shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Henrique but Henrique pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Henrique gets caught flat footed, as Boukhidous shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Henrique 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.

Henrique has his foot on Boukhidous's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Boukhidous works his way back into a safe position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Boukhidous trying to control but Henrique is working from the bottom.
Boukhidous with a flurry of punches that miss.

Henrique has his foot on Boukhidous's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Boukhidous works his way back into a safe position though.

Henrique has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Boukhidous off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Henrique throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Boukhidous's waist but Boukhidous gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Henrique off to one side.
Boukhidous looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Boukhidous fails with a takedown attempt.
Boukhidous stuffs the takedown attempt from Henrique. Henrique gets slowly back to his feet.
Henrique stuffs the takedown.
Taigro Henrique has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mehdi Boukhidous.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Boukhidous throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Henrique is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Boukhidous looks for a takedown but Henrique sprawls well.
Henrique shoots in but Boukhidous avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Henrique scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Boukhidous wants to stand back up but Henrique manages to pass into side control.
Henrique tries to move into full mount but can't pass Boukhidous's legs.
Boukhidous is looking to reverse the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henrique misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Boukhidous is looking to reverse the position.
Boukhidous is trying to control Henrique's posture but Henrique avoids it.
Boukhidous is letting Henrique control him for a moment.
Henrique creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Boukhidous sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Boukhidous holding on.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Taigro Henrique dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Boukhidous closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Henrique slips a jab and a cross from Boukhidous.
Henrique throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Boukhidous closes the distance and clinches up with Henrique, looking for a takedown. Boukhidous pushes Henrique against the cage but Henrique circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Boukhidous fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Henrique is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Boukhidous can do to turn this around?
Henrique shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Boukhidous sprawls well. Boukhidous wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Henrique gets slowly back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Boukhidous shoots in but no luck this time.
Taigro Henrique has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mehdi Boukhidous.
Boukhidous on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Boukhidous defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Henrique.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henrique shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Boukhidous makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

Henrique closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Boukhidous sneaks out the side door and pushes Henrique away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Henrique shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Boukhidous defends it nicely.

Henrique clinches up against the cage.

Henrique breaks from the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Henrique fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Boukhidous sprawls well initially but Henrique persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Boukhidous misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Boukhidous wants to improve his position but Henrique is controlling well.

Boukhidous makes his way to full guard, as Henrique worked for a kimura.
Boukhidous looking to control.
Henrique trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Henrique postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Boukhidous manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Henrique manages to get himself to full guard.

Boukhidous looking to pass the guard.
Taigro Henrique overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Henrique preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Boukhidous stays in close to Henrique's body and controls the position.
Boukhidous passes into half guard.
Boukhidous sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henrique trying to control from the bottom.
Boukhidous trying to mount his opponent but Henrique defends it.

Boukhidous is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Henrique doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Boukhidous.
Boukhidous stops Henrique from getting back to his feet.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Mehdi Boukhidous.
Well Henrique 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 Peter Branson scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 29:28
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Taigro Henrique!