PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Nikolay Leonov (ranked 1953 p4p, 2494 weight class) and Jonny Thunder (ranked 287 p4p, 370 weight class). Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Jonny Thunder enters the cage!

Leonov
vs
Thunder

180 cm
26
195
3 - 2 - 0

180 cm
25
190
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Decent wrestler
Solid Muay Thai
Powerful

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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Nikolay Leonov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jonny Thunder!
The judges for this bout are Winston Alpacca, Peter Branson and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thunder has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Leonov finds it's way round the side to connect with Thunder's head.
Thunder tries to clinch but Leonov is having none of it.
Leonov tries to bum rush Thunder with a series of wild strikes but Thunder uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Thunder tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Leonov connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Thunder throws a hook but Leonov avoids it easily.
Leonov scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Some wild striking there from Leonov.
Thunder looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Good exchange - Leonov coming out on top.
A big right from Thunder misses.
Leonov is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Thunder.
Leonov scores with a body shot.
Thunder uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Leonov.
Leonov closes the distance and lands a one-two.

It looks like Jonny Thunder has been cut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Leonov throws a hook to the side of Thunder's head but Thunder sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Leonov throws a right hand that Thunder ducks under and follows up with a left that Thunder also avoids with ease.
Leonov lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Thunder lands a nice shot to the body.
Thunder goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

It looks like Nikolay Leonov has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thunder throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Leonov misses with a combination
and Thunder counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Leonov thinking.
Leonov ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Thunder moves away.
Thunder throws a body punch but Leonov moves out of range.

Thunder has closed the distance and engaged Leonov in a clinch.
A short left from Thunder.
Leonov has had enough of the clinch but Thunder keeps him there for the moment.
Leonov avoiding damage as Thunder throws knees to the body.
Leonov wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Thunder blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Thunder throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Leonovs head.
Thunder lands with a light punch inside.
Thunder misses with a knee strike.
Thunder landing knees to the head.
Thunder looking to throw knees to the head but Leonov is blocking nicely.
I was talking to Leonov's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thunder fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Leonov blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Leonov looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Leonov is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Thunder swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Thunder pressing his opponent against the cage.
Thunder crunches a lovely knee into Leonov's ribcage.
Leonov's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Leonov is trying to force a seperation but Thunder has the dominant position.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Thunder as Leonov tries to tie him up.
Thunder stalling against the cage.
Thunder throws a punch but it's blocked by Leonov.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leonov has had enough of the clinch but Thunder keeps him there for the moment.
Leonov wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Thunder struggles to land a body shot inside as Leonov controls his hands.
Thunder works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

Leonov breaks from the clinch.
Thunder tries to clinch up.
Thunder misses the jab.
Thunder slips under a jab from Leonov.
Leonov misses with a hook.
Thunder steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Leonov.
Leonov connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Nikolay Leonov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thunder throws a looping overhand right but Leonov ducks down to avoid it.
Leonov lands a body shot.
Leonov throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Good shot there by Leonov.
Thunder throws the left hand but Leonov avoids the punch easily.
Leonov lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
A swing and a miss from Leonov.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thunder slips a jab from Leonov.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Leonov connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Thunder momentarily.
Thunder slips a straight right by Leonov.
Thunder misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Leonov.
Thunder defending well as Leonov loads up on a big left hand.
Thunder appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Leonov throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Thunder on the side of the head.
Leonov throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Thunder checks the leg kick nicely there.
Thunder drops his hands momentarily and Leonov takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Leonov throws a series of punches but Thunder moves out of range.
Leonov connects with a jab.
Leonov circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nice straight punches there by Leonov. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Leonov.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Thunder throws a series of punches but Leonov avoids them all with ease.
Thunder ducks under a wild hook from Leonov.
Leonov moves out of range as Thunder strikes.
Leonov throws a big counter combination but Thunder scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Leonov misses with a wild combination.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Nikolay Leonov dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
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.

Leonov throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Thunder takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Thunder lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Leonov circles away quickly and effectively.
Leonov seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Leonov lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Thunder circles away quickly and effectively.
Thunder avoids a punch combination nicely.
Thunder takes a jab right on the kisser.
Leonov moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Leonov is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Thunder ducks under a wild hook from Leonov.
Leonov throws a series of punches but Thunder moves out of range.
Nikolay Leonov is winning the standup battle so far.
Leonov fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Thunder manages to avoid it.
Leonov pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Leonov with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Thunder to score with a decent uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Leonov bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Leonov throws a hook but Thunder avoids it easily.
Leonov misses with a wild combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leonov lands a lovely overhand right.
A looping hook to the body misses from Thunder. Leonov does a little dance to reset his feet.
Thunder shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Thunder takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Leonov misses with a looping right.
Thunder wants to counter with a clinch but Leonov pushes him away.
Thunder tries to clinch up but Leonov circles away and keeps his distance.
Leonov takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Leonov connects with a body shot that sends Thunder's belly button to the back.
Thunder throws a body punch but Leonov moves out of range.
Leonov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Thunder can do to turn this around?
A telegraphed right hand from Thunder misses the target.
Jab by Thunder.
Thunder jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Thunder lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Leonov keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Thunder.
A counter left hand to the body from Leonov misses its target.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Leonov throws a right hand that Thunder ducks under and follows up with a left that Thunder also avoids with ease.
Leonov swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Thunder closes the distance and clinches.
Thunder throws a punch but it's blocked by Leonov.
Thunder tries a knee to the head but Leonov blocks it.
Thunder lands a left hand that snaps the head of Leonov backwards.
Leonov blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Thunder tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Leonov's elbow.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Thunder takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Leonov tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Leonov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Thunder lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Thunder lands a right hand.
A short right from Leonov.
Thunder working aggressively here.
Thunder misses with a hook from the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thunder tries to throw a body punch but Leonov avoids it by throwing Thunder back against the cage.
Thunder manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Thunder.
Leonov tries to circle away but Thunder has him pinned against the cage.
Leonov tries to break the clinch but Thunder is controlling the position.
Leonov is trying to break free.
Thunder crunches a lovely knee into Leonov's ribcage.
Leonov's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Thunder lands an uppercut.
Leonov wants to get back to striking at distance but Thunder won't allow it.
Thunder misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Leonov throws a punch but it's blocked by Thunder.
Thunder crunches a lovely knee into Leonov's ribcage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thunder avoiding damage.
A short left from Thunder.
Thunder works on Leonov's body with a couple of short punches.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Thunder misses with the head strike.
Thunder lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Thunder tries a knee to the head but Leonov blocks it.
Leonov blocks an uppercut.
Thunder lands a nice uppercut.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Leonov blocking some punches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Thunder.
Thunder lands with a short punch from the clinch.
A short right from Thunder on the inside.
Knees to the body from Thunder.
A head punch on the inside from Thunder fails to land.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Leonov.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jonny Thunder showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Leonov works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Leonov throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Leonov takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

Thunder has managed to clinch.
Leonov is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Leonov working hard to break the clinch.
Thunder misses with a punch to the body.
Thunder throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Leonov blocks it with crossed arms.
Thunder tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Jonny Thunder seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Thunder misses with a hook from the clinch.
Leonov letting Thunder take a breather here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thunder lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Leonov can't break the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Thunder keeps control of Leonov as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thunder goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Thunder working aggressively here.
Thunder misses with a punch on the inside.
A short right from Thunder on the inside.
Thunder lands with a light punch inside.
Thunder digs a right hand into Leonov's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Leonov's gas tank.
Leonov is trying to break the clinch but Thunder has him pressed against the cage.
Thunder tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Leonov's elbow.
Leonov tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Thunder's elbow.
Thunder has Leonov pressed against the cage, preventing Leonov from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Thunder has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Thunder misses with a punch to the body.
Leonov wants to break the clinch but can't.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Thunder creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Thunder lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thunder doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Thunder.
A right hook to the body lands for Thunder.
Thunder lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Thunder lands a shoulder strike.
Leonov prevents a body shot from Thunder.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Thunder lands an uppercut.
Thunder struggles to land a body shot inside as Leonov controls his hands.
A hook to the body from Thunder.
The referee is keeping an eye on Thunder - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Thunder swings wildly with an uppercut but Leonov uses good head movement to avoid it.

Leonov breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Leonov connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Thunder's hands.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leonov looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Nikolay Leonov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Leonov lands with a right hand.
Thunder walks into a stiff left hand from Leonov.
Thunder throws a shot to the body.
The fighters circling - Leonov throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Thunder moves out of range as Leonov strikes.
Thunder misses with the combination.
Thunder tries to bum rush Leonov with a series of wild strikes but Leonov uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Thunder getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Leonov lands a nice shot that snaps Thunder's head back.
Thunder misses with a straight right.
Leonov lands a head shot.
Thunder takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Thunder has taken the fight to the clinch.
A short uppercut from Thunder.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thunder with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Thunder fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Leonov wants to get back to striking at distance but Thunder won't allow it.
Leonov is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Thunder keeps control of Leonov as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Thunder tries to land knees in the clinch but Leonov avoids the damage to the body.
Leonov wants to break the clinch but can't.
A head punch on the inside from Leonov fails to land.
Thunder stalling in the clinch.
Leonov wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Leonov wants to get back to striking at distance but Thunder won't allow it.
Thunder content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Thunder keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Leonov's efforts to push away.
Leonov blocks a punch to the side of the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jonny Thunder comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Thunder 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 Winston Alpacca scores the fight 28:29
Judge Peter Branson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jonny Thunder!
Our winner, Jonny Thunder, 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.