PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Long Thai (ranked 3054 p4p, 3359 weight class) and Thad Thayer (ranked 346 p4p, 374 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Thai
vs
Thayer

178 cm
41
165
24 - 31 - 3

165 cm
38
134
7 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very quick

Powerful takedowns
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 24 - 31 - 3, fighting out of Los Angeles, Long Thai!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Thad Thayer!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Shigeki Fujiwara and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thayer shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Thayer has managed to clinch.

Thai pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Thayer misses with a takedown
and Thai counters with a nice leg kick.
Thai jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Thayer takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Thayer looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Thai is fending him off so far but Thayer persists. Nope, Thai circles away and we're back to standing.
Thai wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Long Thai has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Thad Thayer.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thai avoids the body shot from Thayer.
Thayer moves in looking to clinch but Thai pushes him off.
Thayer on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Thayer misses the shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thai misses with an uppercut.
Thayer shoots in but no luck this time.
Thayer changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Thai tries to avoid it but Thayer manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Thai to the ground. Thai escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
The crowd cheers as Thai lands an impressive looking overhand right. Thayer doesn't seem phased though.
Thai lands with a shot to the body.
Thai thuds a left hand into Thayer's body.
Thai stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Thai misses the body punch

and Thayer counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Thayer not doing much here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thayer sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Thai defending well though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thayer is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Thayer frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Thai tries to lock up and control but Thayer gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Thayer controlling from mount.
Thai is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thayer throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Thai knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Thayer on the ground.
Thai keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Thayer sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!

Thayer looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Thayer wants to control the pace but Thai is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Thayer moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Thai has worked his arm free - good work by Thai!
Thayer wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thai keeps working.
We've been informed that Thayer has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Thai is looking for a sweep.
The referee asks Thayer politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Thayer prefers to stall for the moment though.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Long Thai will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

A bone on bone clash there as Thayer blocks the leg kick.
Thai backing away here, and Thayer unleashes a leg kick that just misses.
Thayer misses with a takedown

and Thai counters by moving into the clinch.
Thai tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Thayer avoids it.
Thayer avoiding damage as Thai throws knees to the body.
Thai tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Thayer avoids it.
Knees in the clinch landing for Thai.
Thai trying to land knees to the body.
Thayer managing to block the knees to the body from Thai.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thai lands a good knee to the midsection. Thayer won't want to take too many of those.
Thai missing with knees to the body.
Thai misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Thayer.
Thayer wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Thayer wants a takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thayer wants to get back to striking at distance but Thai won't allow it.
Thai tries to land knees in the clinch but Thayer avoids the damage to the body.
Thayer taking a breather.
Thayer tries to land knees in the clinch but Thai avoids the damage to the body.
Thai comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

It looks like Thad Thayer has been cut.

Thai breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Thayer is looking to clinch.
Some bone on bone action there as Thayer checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Long Thai is winning the standup battle so far.
Thai thows a leg kick but Thayer checks it

The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
and Thayer counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Thayer tries to free his leg and advance position but Thai is retaining full guard.
Thayer is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thayer content to stall in guard here.
Thai looking to hit a scissor sweep but Thayer is one step ahead there.
Thai utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Thayer is pushing down on Thai's leg trying to pass to half guard. Thai is fighting to maintain full guard but Thayer has managed to sneak the leg through.
Thayer looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thayer missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Thayer trying to control from half guard but Thai is working away.
Thai on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Thai tries to get out of the position.
Thayer sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Thai defending well though.

Thayer is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Thai has managed to free his arm - good work.
Thayer seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Thai does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

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.
Still in half guard, Thayer seems content to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Thai scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

Thayer fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Thai sprawls well initially but Thayer persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Thayer thows a huge punch but Thai dodges it nicely.
Thayer missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Thayer wants to free his trapped foot but Thai is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Thayer has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Thayer throwing shots but Thai is blocking nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Thad Thayer will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Thad Thayer's cut.
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. 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.

An inside leg kick from Thai misses.
Thayer tries to clinch but Thai moves out of range.
Thai seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Thayer dives in for a single leg takedown but Thai sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Thayer shoots in looking for a takedown but Thai manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Thayer's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Thayer shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Thai as he jumps to the side.
Long Thai has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Thad Thayer.
Thai wants to clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thai stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Thai wants it to stay on the feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thai fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Thayer manages to avoid it.
Thayer fails with an attempt to clinch.
Thai tries to counter by clinching up but Thayer breaks away and moves out of range.
Thai is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.

Thai moves into the clinch successfully.
Thai doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Thayer has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Thai uses from the top position.
Thai trying to control but Thayer is working from the bottom.

Thayer working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Thai has passed into half guard!
Thayer keeping control of the position.
Thai will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thayer tries to get to full guard but Thai has control of the leg.
Thayer gets back to full guard.
Thayer has his hands on Thai's head, controlling the position.
Thai has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Thayer wants to improve his position but instead Thai has moved into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thai tries to pass to full mount but Thayer defends it.
Thayer is trying to stand back up but Thai is controlling him
Thayer is trying to get back to full guard.
Thad Thayer has got the better of the ground game so far.
Thayer preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Thayer tries to roll over but Thai keeps him under control.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Thayer works his way to full guard. Good work.
Thayer throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Thayer thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Thai cracks Thayer with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Thayer shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Thai counters with a nice uppercut.

And that's the end of the fight!
Long Thai showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Thai has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Long Thai!