PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Khazaev Magomedov (ranked 5156 p4p, 24296 weight class) and Ieuan Thomas (ranked 429 p4p, 499 weight class). Ieuan Thomas is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Magomedov
vs
Thomas

167 cm
25
149
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
24
145
2 - 4 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Knockout power

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Khazaev Magomedov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Ieuan Thomas!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Chris Edwards and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Magomedov fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Thomas, pushing him back against the cage.

Magomedov breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Thomas fails to land the takedown.
Magomedov with a body punch. A glancing blow.

Magomedov clinches with his opponent.
Thomas wants to break the clinch but can't.

Magomedov escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Thomas gets caught flat footed, as Magomedov shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.

Thomas working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Magomedov doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Magomedov manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Magomedov looking to pass the guard.
Magomedov wants to stand but Thomas has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Magomedov thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Magomedov sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Thomas wants to improve his position but instead Magomedov has moved into half guard.
Magomedov takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Magomedov stops Thomas from getting back to his feet.

That's two 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.
Magomedov winds up and cracks Thomas with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Magomedov is controlling the pace.
Magomedov working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Magomedov in particular looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Magomedov is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Magomedov working the head and body with strikes.
Magomedov is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Magomedov seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Thomas is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov controlling the action here.
Thomas wants to control the action here but instead Magomedov manages to pass to full mount!
Magomedov controlling his opponent.
Magomedov working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Magomedov punishing his opponent with strikes.
Magomedov controlling the position easily from mount.

Magomedov jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Thomas manages to avoid the submission attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Khazaev Magomedov dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Thomas looks for a takedown but Magomedov sprawls well.
As Thomas tries to get set, Magomedov tries to push him back and clinch up but Thomas manages to avoid the attempt.

Thomas gets caught napping as Magomedov dives in and scores a takedown. Thomas manages to retain guard.
Thomas is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Magomedov dives into side control.

Magomedov tries to stand but Thomas is controlling his head.
Magomedov staying calm.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Magomedov working away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Magomedov tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Magomedov lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Magomedov landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Magomedov landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Magomedov cracks Thomas with a big elbow.

Thomas is rocked!
Thomas being controlled for a moment.
Thomas is still in real trouble! Can Magomedov finish him?
Magomedov tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov is chipping away with strikes.
Magomedov lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Thomas down.

Magomedov is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Thomas knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Magomedov connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Thomas some visible discomfort.
Khazaev Magomedov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Magomedov creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Magomedov taking a breather here.
Thomas seems to have recovered his senses.
Thomas wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Magomedov wants to stand but Thomas has him controlled and pulls him back into his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Thomas has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Magomedov controls from within his opponent's guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Khazaev Magomedov dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Thomas fails with the takedown.
Thomas wants to clinch up but Magomedov keeps it at a distance.

Magomedov darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Thomas has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Magomedov is on him like a limpet, forcing Thomas back against the cage.
Magomedov prevents the takedown attempt.

Thomas breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Magomedov shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Thomas's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Magomedov passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Magomedov tries to move to mount but Thomas blocks the move with his legs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Magomedov's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Magomedov working over Thomas with some ground and pound. Thomas looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Magomedov trying to mount his opponent but Thomas defends it.
Magomedov is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Magomedov seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Magomedov looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Thomas with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Magomedov uses his free foot to push down on Thomas's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Thomas.
Magomedov controlling from mount.
Magomedov's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Magomedov landing shots from mount.
Magomedov 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.
Magomedov blocks Thomas's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Thomas taking shots to the head.
Magomedov lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Magomedov landing strikes, looking to finish!
Magomedov takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas is bucking up trying to escape but Magomedov cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Magomedov with good strikes from the mount here!
Magomedov controlling from mount.
The referee warns Thomas that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Magomedov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Thomas can do to turn this around?

Magomedov has control of Thomas's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Thomas regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Magomedov cracks Thomas with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

And that's the end of the fight!
Khazaev Magomedov showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Magomedov 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 William Gold scores the fight 30:26
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 30:26
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Khazaev Magomedov!