PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between John Thomas (ranked 4216 p4p, 4275 weight class) and John Arkwright (ranked 473 p4p, 478 weight class). John Thomas has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Thomas
vs
Arkwright

183 cm
24
182
1 - 0 - 0

174 cm
24
174
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Good elbows
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, John Thomas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, John Arkwright!
The judges for this bout are Donatello Bradman, John Mangel and Damien Edna.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Arkwright scores with a jab to the jaw.
Arkwright gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Thomas stuns Arkwright with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Arkwright tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Thomas manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Thomas keeps the fight on the outside.
Thomas scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Arkwright doesn't seem bothered though.
Thomas misses with the combination.
Arkwright misses the shot to the body.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Thomas blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Thomas's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A quick uppercut on the inside from Arkwright.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Arkwright working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Thomas blocks an uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Arkwright.

It looks like John Thomas has been cut.
Arkwright tries a body shot but Thomas blocks it.
Thomas wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Arkwright has him pressed against the cage.
Thomas is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Arkwright lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Thomas has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A bit of stalling here from Thomas.
Thomas tries to break free but Arkwright pushes him back against the cage.
Arkwright lands an elbow inside that Thomas shrugs off.
Thomas controlling the action here for a moment.
Arkwright throws a head punch that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Arkwright creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Arkwright lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Arkwright scores with a shot to the side of Thomas's head.
Arkwright swings wildly with an uppercut but Thomas uses good head movement to avoid it.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Thomas working hard to break the clinch.
Arkwright misses with a short punch on the inside.
Arkwright has a couple of punches blocked by Thomas.
Thomas is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arkwright working aggressively here.
Arkwright comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
A head punch on the inside from Arkwright fails to land.
Thomas looking to stall.
Arkwright tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Thomas is trying to stall.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Arkwright.
A short left from Arkwright.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Thomas.
Arkwright lands on the inside with an uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas lands a hook that snaps the head of Arkwright backwards.
Arkwright lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Thomas lands a body punch in the clinch.
A right hook to the body lands for Arkwright.
A nice right hand lands inside from Thomas.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Thomas takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Thomas working aggressively here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Arkwright presses Thomas against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Arkwright cracks Thomas with a nice body shot.
Arkwright has a couple of punches blocked by Thomas.
Arkwright lands a left hand.
Thomas tries a body shot but Arkwright blocks it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

John Arkwright dominated that round.
The cut man is working on John Thomas's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

The fighters circling - Arkwright throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Thomas.
John Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thomas scores with a sloppy right hand. Arkwright should have avoided that one.
Arkwright takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Arkwright throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Thomas counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Arkwright just misses with a punch to the body.
Arkwright misses with a left hand
and Thomas counters with a stiff right hand.
Thomas steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Arkwright.
Arkwright misses with a straight right.
It looked like Thomas wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.

Arkwright has taken the fight to the clinch.
Thomas swings wildly with an uppercut but Arkwright uses good head movement to avoid it.
Arkwright lands an elbow inside.
Arkwright lands with a short punch from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas looking to slow down the pace here.
Thomas wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A head punch on the inside from Arkwright fails to land.
Arkwright is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
Thomas is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Thomas is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Arkwright is keeping busy.
Arkwright lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Arkwright lands a nice uppercut.
Arkwright working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Still in the clinch, Arkwright scores with a nice short uppercut.
Arkwright tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arkwright lands a left hand.
Arkwright blocks a body shot from Thomas.
Arkwright lands with a left to the head.
Thomas has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Thomas wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Arkwright has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Arkwright lands with a left to the head.
Arkwright working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Arkwright gets through Thomas's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas takes an elbow to the forehead.
Arkwright lands a nice elbow.
Arkwright misses with the head strike.
Arkwright tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Thomas's elbow.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arkwright makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Arkwright misses with the head strike.
Arkwright misses with the head strike.
Arkwright lands with a short shot to the head.
Arkwright lands with a left to the head.
Thomas's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Arkwright lands an elbow just above Thomas 's eye.
Thomas pushes Arkwright back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Arkwright lands an uppercut.
Thomas lands with a short punch from the clinch.
John Arkwright seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Arkwright gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas swings wildly with an uppercut but Arkwright uses good head movement to avoid it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A short right hand to the side of the head by Arkwright.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Thomas is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Thomas can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Arkwright lands an elbow inside.
Thomas wants to break free but Arkwright has control.
Arkwright lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Arkwright lands a nice elbow.
Arkwright creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Thomas's defenses.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Arkwright as Thomas tries to tie him up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

John Arkwright showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on John Thomas's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Arkwright slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Thomas scores with a hook.
Arkwright tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Thomas was well out of range. Poor timing from Arkwright.
Thomas jabs at Arkwright's body.
Thomas lands a glancing blow to the side of Arkwright's head.
Thomas scores with a nice strike.
Thomas misses with a double jab
and Arkwright counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
No joy there for Thomas, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Thomas is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Thomas lands a really nice looking cross but Arkwright seems unphased.
Arkwright throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Thomas stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Thomas jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Arkwright throws a hook to the side of Thomas's head but Thomas sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

Arkwright moves into the clinch successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Arkwright softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Arkwright makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Arkwright.
Thomas takes a shot to the head.
Arkwright throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Thomass head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Arkwright.
Arkwright lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Thomas takes an elbow to the forehead.
A right hook to the body lands for Arkwright.
Arkwright tries a body shot but Thomas blocks it.
Arkwright lands a right hand that snaps the head of Thomas backwards.
Thomas blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thomas has had enough of the clinch but Arkwright keeps him there for the moment.
Thomas stalling in the clinch but Arkwright improves position.
Arkwright lands an elbow inside that Thomas shrugs off.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Arkwright lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Arkwright creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Thomas's defenses.
Arkwright throws a punch but it's blocked by Thomas.
Arkwright gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Arkwright scores with a shot to the side of Thomas's head.
Thomas stalling in the clinch but Arkwright improves position.
Arkwright tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Arkwright works on Thomas's body with a couple of short punches.
Thomas working aggressively here.
Thomas stalling in the clinch but Arkwright improves position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Thomas wants to break free but Arkwright has control.
Thomas takes a shot to the head.
Arkwright lands an elbow inside that Thomas shrugs off.

John Thomas's cut is getting worse.
Arkwright lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Thomas backwards.
Arkwright lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Arkwright lands a shoulder strike.
Arkwright gets through Thomas's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Arkwright lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Arkwright lands a damaging elbow.
Arkwright lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Thomas backwards.
Arkwright fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
John Arkwright is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Thomas swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Thomas blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Thomas trying to control the position but instead, Arkwright has worked for underhooks and has pushed Thomas into the cage.
A short uppercut from Arkwright.
Thomas working aggressively here.
Thomas can't find room to land a body shot as Arkwright controls the action.
Arkwright gets through Thomas's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
John Thomas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Arkwright scores with a shoulder strike.
Thomas digs a right hand into Arkwright's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Arkwright's gas tank.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Arkwright comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Arkwright winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Donatello Bradman scores the fight for John Arkwright!
Judge John Mangel scores the fight for John Arkwright!
Judge Damien Edna scores the fight for John Arkwright!

John Arkwright wins by unanimous decision!