PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Thing Thing (ranked 1926 p4p, 0 weight class) and Robert Grandis (ranked 2152 p4p, 0 weight class). Thing kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Thing. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Thing
vs
Grandis

150 cm
20
145 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

168 cm
19
144 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Thing Thing!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Robert Grandis!
The judges for this bout are Dirk Anderson, Daniel Franklin and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Grandis throws a body punch but Thing moves out of range.
Grandis throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Robert Grandis seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Grandis looks to land a left hand but Thing moved out of range nicely.
Grandis rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Thing holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Grandis.
Thing has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Grandis is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Grandis stops a takedown attempt from Thing.
Grandis misses with a body punch.
Thing is working for takedown but Grandis is calmly controlling the position for now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thing Thing. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Grandis lands a hook that snaps the head of Thing backwards.
Grandis lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Thing backwards.
Thing 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.
Grandis can't find room to land a body shot as Thing controls the action.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thing wants a takedown but no success here.
Grandis is pressed up against the cage. Thing has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Grandis down to the mat. Grandis avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Grandis loads up on a big right hand but Thing slips the punch.
Grandis throws out a powerful jab.
Thing displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Grandis throws out the jab.
Grandis throws out a loose jab but Thing uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grandis throws out a loose jab but Thing uses good head movement to avoid it.
Thing slips under a jab.
Grandis steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Thing.
Grandis now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Grandis lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Thing with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Grandis to score with a decent uppercut.
Grandis fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Grandis misses with a looping left.
Grandis swings for the body but Thing moves out of range.
Grandis ducks under a wild hook from Thing.
Grandis connects with a jab.
Thing wants to clinch
letting Grandis counter with a right hand.
Grandis swats away the attempt to clinch by Thing.
Robert Grandis is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thing tries to clinch
enabling Grandis to counter with a crisp jab.
A jab from Grandis misses.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Thing tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Thing does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Thing defending well as Grandis loads up on a big left hand.
Thing tries to counter with a takedown but Grandis is quick to defend against it.
Grandis missing with a left hand there. Thing was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Thing is looking to counter the offense by Grandis and move into the clinch.
Grandis is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Thing tries to close the distance and clinch but Grandis swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Grandis misses with an uppercut.
Grandis thows a left - swing and a miss!
Grandis digs a good body shot into Thing's ribs.
Thing takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Grandis misses with an uppercut.
Thing fails to land the takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thing swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Thing moves away from the strike by Grandis.
Grandis's jab looks to have found its range, popping Thing under the eye.
Grandis throws a predictable looking body shot

and Thing counters by clinching up.
Grandis scores with a shot to the side of Thing's head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Thing.
Grandis struggles to land a body shot inside as Thing controls his hands.
Thing wants to take the fight to the mat but Grandis manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
A nice left hand lands by Grandis.
Grandis goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Thing is looking to take this one to the mat.
Thing changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Grandis fights it off and pushes away nicely.
A shot to the body from Grandis misses

so Thing counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Thing 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.
Grandis really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Thing. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Grandis holds on and takes a little breather.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thing is stalling in the full guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Grandis can do anything to dispel that myth.
Grandis controls Thing momentarily but Thing frees himself.
Thing in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Thing trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Robert Grandis dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Thing displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Grandis throws out the jab.
Thing seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Grandis looks to throw the jab but Thing is out of range.
Good exchange - Grandis coming out on top.
Thing uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Grandis.
A shot to the liver by Grandis. Beautiful body shot.
Grandis throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Grandis takes a swing at Thing's ribcage but misses.
Thing seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
A shot to the liver by Grandis. Beautiful body shot.
Thing throws a leg kick
and Grandis counters with a straight right hand.
Grandis throws an overhand right that lands on Thing's shoulder, as Thing tries to avoid the shot.
Thing wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A big left from Thing misses.
Grandis has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Thing moves out of range of the strikes.
Grandis throws a looping overhand right but Thing ducks down to avoid it.
A lazy left from Grandis finds it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grandis lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Grandis scores with a shot to the body.
The crowd cheers as Grandis lands an impressive looking overhand right. Thing doesn't seem phased though.
Thing ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Thing gets the takedown into side control.
Thing looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Grandis is avoiding damage well.
Thing wants to lay and pray for a moment but Grandis keeps working.
Grandis manages to work his way to half guard, despite Thing's best efforts.
Thing is stalling here. Grandis is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Thing seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Grandis has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Thing can't do much from the bottom here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thing is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Grandis working away.
Thing is trying to get back to half guard.
Thing Thing overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
You can see the frustration on Thing's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A control attempt from Thing but he's now mounted!
Grandis controlling the pace for now.
Thing is looking to get to half guard.
Thing is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Thing is trying desperately to improve position.
Thing is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Thing is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Grandis is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Thing is trying desperately to improve position.
Grandis content just to control the position here.
Thing tries to hold on but Grandis pushes him away.
Grandis wants to get back to his feet but Thing is holding on tight.
Thing tries to lock up and control but Grandis gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Robert Grandis showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Grandis uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Thing has time to react.
Grandis throws a right hand that misses

and Thing counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Grandis keeping moving, preventing Thing from controlling successfully.
Grandis wants to stand up but Thing is controlling him.
Thing connects with a couple of short punches.
Thing wants to pass the guard but Grandis is keeping the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thing postures up in Grandis's guard and throws a big left but Grandis blocks it.
Thing stands up over Grandis, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Thing throwing strikes from guard but Grandis blocks nicely.
Thing might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thing slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Grandis has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Grandis's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Thing is in close to Grandis's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Thing Thing has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two 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.
Thing postures up in Grandis's guard and throws a big left but Grandis blocks it.
Grandis utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Thing loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Thing preventing the sweep.

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

Grandis tries to sprawl but Thing drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Grandis avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Thing.
Thing throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Grandis wants to control but Thing is keeping busy.

Thing is looking for a kimura here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Thing lands a nice short elbow.
Thing not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Robert Grandis is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Grandis is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Thing's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Thing's back!
Grandis tries to get the hooks in deep but Thing pushed the leg off.
Thing is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Thing rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Thing 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.

Thing actively working from the bottom here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thing Thing showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Grandis has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Dirk Anderson scores the fight for Robert Grandis!
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight for Robert Grandis!
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight for Robert Grandis!

Robert Grandis wins by unanimous decision!
Our winner, Robert Grandis, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.
Thing Thing spoke after the fight, saying 'THING!'.