PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Royal Halsti (ranked 16 p4p, 57 weight class) and Dakota Thibodeaux Jr. (ranked 4 p4p, 13 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Thibodeaux Jr.'s choice of entrance music: Rags2Riches. This should be a great matchup!

Halsti
vs
Thibodeaux Jr.

190 cm
32
205
27 - 10 - 1

191 cm
26
214
22 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

NARCOS
FF Gear

Shadow Realm Apparel
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 27 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Royal Halsti!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dakota Thibodeaux Jr.!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Fujiwara, Sosuke Kotani and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
We've got one fighter who appears to only be looking to counter and the other not looking particularly aggressive either, so we could be in for a dull fight.
Halsti is looking to slow Thibodeaux Jr. down with leg kicks.
Thibodeaux Jr. blocks a low kick nicely.
Thibodeaux Jr. is trying to counter with his kicks.
Halsti lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Halsti!
Thibodeaux Jr. looks to land a right hand but Halsti moved out of range.
Halsti throws an overhand right that lands on Thibodeaux Jr.'s shoulder, as Thibodeaux Jr. tries to avoid the shot.
Thibodeaux Jr. is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Halsti with a body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Halsti lands a head shot.
Halsti throws a leg kick that is checked
letting Thibodeaux Jr. counter with a right hand.

It looks like Royal Halsti has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Halsti staying out of range there.
Thibodeaux Jr. is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Dakota Thibodeaux Jr. is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Halsti shoots and misses
and Thibodeaux Jr. counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Thibodeaux Jr. throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Halsti stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Halsti is breathing heavily.
Thibodeaux Jr. lands a nice shot to the body.
Halsti throws a right hand that misses
and Thibodeaux Jr. counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thibodeaux Jr. throws a poor cross that misses
and Halsti makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Halsti throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Thibodeaux Jr. counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Thibodeaux Jr. feints and then winds up with a huge right hand that connects perfectly and sends Halsti sprawling to the canvas! Halsti rolls over backwards and springs off the cage and manages to regain his footing - how acrobatic! Oh, he's still wobbly - can Thibodeaux Jr. finish him?!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Halsti with a nice cross.
Halsti misses with an uppercut

and Thibodeaux Jr. counters with a crisp right hand that drops Halsti! Thibodeaux Jr. lets Halsti back up to his feet, looking for a finish!

Royal Halsti's cut is getting worse.
Thibodeaux Jr. uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Halsti.
Thibodeaux Jr. throws out a counter right but Halsti avoids it with no problem.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Halsti misses the body punch

and Thibodeaux Jr. counters with a crisp right hand that drops Halsti! Thibodeaux Jr. lets Halsti back up to his feet, looking for a finish!
Halsti swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Thibodeaux Jr. counters with a crisp right hand that drops Halsti! Thibodeaux Jr. lets Halsti back up to his feet, looking for a finish!

Halsti is rocked!

Royal Halsti's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Decent striking displayed by Halsti there.
Halsti throws an off balance right hand
and Thibodeaux Jr. rattles Halsti with a well-timed uppercut counter. - Halsti tries to back away and recover but his hands are down low and he gets tagged again, sending him stumbling down to the canvas. Thibodeaux Jr. dives in after him and quickly finishes the job with a trio of brutal punches, leaving Halsti stiff and motionless on the mat!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:46 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Dakota Thibodeaux Jr.!
Dakota Thibodeaux Jr. is the new light heavyweight champion!
Dakota Thibodeaux Jr. tried to hype himself up post fight but didn't word it too well and it ended up with him sounding like a bit of a tool.