PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mike Haggar (ranked 571 p4p, 688 weight class) and Derrick Thomas (ranked 65 p4p, 80 weight class). Derrick Thomas told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Haggar
vs
Thomas

202 cm
41
266
50 - 33 - 0

200 cm
29
265
22 - 16 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Fast

Brooklyn Threads
Bondi MMA 🏝️

NARCOS
Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 50 - 33 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mike Haggar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 16 - 0, fighting out of New York, Derrick Thomas !
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Thiago Cunha and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Haggar cracks Thomas with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Thomas throws a hook but Haggar blocks it.
Haggar misses the shot to the body.
The fighters circling - Haggar throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Thomas now looks to counter with a shot at the body.

Haggar scores with a takedown into Thomas 's guard.
Thomas utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Thomas really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Haggar. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Haggar scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Haggar throwing strikes from guard but Thomas blocks nicely.
Haggar with a nice head shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Haggar throws a big right hand that misses.
Haggar postures up in Thomas 's guard and throws a big left but Thomas blocks it.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Thomas can do anything to dispel that myth.
Haggar loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Haggar wants to control from the top but Thomas keeps moving.
Haggar tries to free his leg and advance position but Thomas is retaining full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas is looking to stand up but Haggar isn't so interested in that idea.
Haggar makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Haggar throwing strikes but missing.
Thomas working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Haggar.
Haggar postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Haggar 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.
Thomas preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Haggar trying to control the position from guard on top but Thomas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Haggar cracks Thomas with a solid left hand.
Haggar throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Haggar stands up over Thomas , holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Haggar working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Haggar wants to control from the top but Thomas keeps moving.
Haggar lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Haggar distracts Thomas with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Haggar tries to free his leg and advance position but Thomas is retaining full guard.
Thomas utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Haggar distracts Thomas with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Haggar in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Haggar connects with a couple of short punches.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Haggar with a nice head shot there.
Haggar wants to control from the top but Thomas keeps moving.
Haggar throwing strikes from guard but Thomas blocks nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Haggar lands a couple of elbows.
Haggar works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Thomas is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Haggar scores with a couple of nice shots.
Thomas taking some punishment here, with Haggar in his half guard.
Haggar is nestled in close to Thomas , controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Haggar slows the pace down in half guard.
Haggar 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.
Haggar winds up and cracks Thomas with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Haggar is nestled in close to Thomas , controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Haggar.
Thomas is looking to get back to is feet but Haggar passes into side control.
Haggar throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Haggar lands an elbow.
Haggar cracks Thomas with a big elbow.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sloppy strikes there by Haggar.
An elbow from Haggar crashes against the mat.
Haggar throwing strikes but Thomas manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Haggar is trying to get back to half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Haggar dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Haggar scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Haggar is trying to ground and pound but Thomas uses the momentary lack of control by Haggar to regain half guard.
Thomas wants to get back to his feet.
Haggar not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Thomas is looking to escape.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas won't allow Haggar to pass to mount.
Haggar thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas looks like he's trying to stand up.
Haggar is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Thomas can do to turn this around?
Haggar throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Haggar not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Haggar throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Thomas to regain full guard.
Haggar throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Thomas works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Thomas keeping moving, preventing Haggar from controlling successfully.
Haggar throwing strikes but missing.
Haggar postures up in Thomas 's guard and throws a big left but Thomas blocks it.
Haggar lands a couple of digs.
Haggar loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Haggar looking to pass the guard.
Haggar throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Thomas works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Haggar lands a couple of elbows.
Haggar works over Thomas with some ground and pound from guard.
Haggar trying to control but Thomas is working from the bottom.
Haggar engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Haggar throws a big elbow that misses.
Haggar throwing strikes from guard but Thomas blocks nicely.
Haggar is looking to work some ground and pound but Thomas has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Haggar's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Haggar postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Thomas working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Haggar.
Haggar tries to free his leg and advance position but Thomas is retaining full guard.
Haggar trying to control the position from guard on top but Thomas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Haggar working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Haggar lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Haggar scoring with some ground and pound.
Haggar throws a big right hand that misses.
Haggar throws a big elbow that misses.
Thomas working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Haggar.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haggar scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
We've been hearing that Haggar has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Haggar trying to control but Thomas is working from the bottom.
Haggar lands a couple of digs.
Haggar is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Haggar trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Haggar postures up and lands a big shot to Thomas 's brow.
Haggar working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Thomas 's head.
Mike Haggar overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Haggar accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Haggar throws a big right hand that misses.
Haggar in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Haggar postures up in Thomas 's guard and throws a big left but Thomas blocks it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Haggar dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Haggar looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Thomas is fending him off so far but Haggar persists. Nope, Thomas circles away and we're back to standing.
Haggar shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Haggar throws a body shot but no joy.
Nice body punch from Thomas .
Thomas has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Thomas there as he acknowledges the shot.
Thomas misses the jab.
Haggar throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Haggar thows a left - swing and a miss!
Nice takedown defense from Thomas . No joy for Haggar on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Haggar. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Haggar throws a head kick but Thomas moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Haggar blocks a head kick by Thomas .
Thomas slips under a jab from Haggar.
Haggar misses with a straight left.

Haggar shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Thomas manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Thomas working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Haggar.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Thomas has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Haggar off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Thomas tries to sprawl but Haggar drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Haggar thows a huge punch but Thomas dodges it nicely.
Haggar not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Thomas is looking to escape.
Haggar wants to control but Thomas is keeping him busy.
Haggar thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Thomas 's head.
Haggar thows a huge punch but Thomas dodges it nicely.
Haggar throwing shots but Thomas is blocking nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Haggar sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Thomas defending well though.
Haggar is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Haggar tries to pass to full mount but Thomas defends it.
Haggar not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Thomas taking some punishment here, with Haggar in his half guard.

Thomas kicks Haggar off and gets back to his feet.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Haggar looks to land a left hand but Thomas moved out of range nicely.
Decent striking displayed by Haggar there.
Haggar looks to score with a jab to the body but Thomas is just out of range.
A little jabbing left from Thomas on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Thomas misses the jab.
Derrick Thomas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Haggar misses with a hook. Thomas ducked under it nicely.
Mike Haggar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Haggar scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Haggar fails with a takedown attempt.

Haggar shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Thomas napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Haggar misses with the ground and pound.

Haggar is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Thomas knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Haggar cracks Thomas with a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haggar is putting a hurting on Thomas here, landing some big shots from side control.
Haggar wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thomas keeps working.
Haggar landing strikes.
Haggar wants to lay and pray for a moment but Thomas keeps working.
Haggar lands a few punches from side control.
Haggar works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Haggar throws an elbow but Thomas slips to the side and avoids it well.
The strikes coming from Haggar are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Mike Haggar is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Haggar moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Haggar showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Haggar 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Haggar!