PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Fujita Ofori (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Greg Thornton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ofori's entrance music is Pride theme. A fine choice. The key to victory for Fujita Ofori has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Ofori
vs
Thornton

178 cm
22
168 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

180 cm
22
170 lbs
2 - 4 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Good knees
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Knockout power

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 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Fujita Ofori!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Greg Thornton!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Chris Edwards and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ofori throws a right hand that Thornton ducks under and follows up with a left that Thornton also avoids with ease.
Thornton throws a right and a left that both miss.
Thornton misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Ofori tries to clinch but Thornton moves out of range.
Ofori tries a head kick but it misses.
Ofori throws a sloppy head kick and Thornton moves out of range easily.

Thornton scores a takedown into full mount!
Ofori in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Thornton lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Thornton landing strikes from the mount and Ofori is in trouble!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Thornton controlling from mount.
Ofori taking shots to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thornton breaks from Ofori's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Thornton looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Thornton lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Ofori is breathing heavily.
Ofori takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Thornton controlling his opponent.
Thornton lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ofori wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Thornton has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Thornton content just to control the position here.
Ofori taking shots to the head.
Thornton with shots to the head and body - Ofori looks very uncomfortable down there.
Thornton working Ofori over with strikes here.
Thornton punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thornton landing punches.
Thornton dominating with strikes here.
Thornton controlling his opponent.
Thornton raining down shots from the mount!
Thornton landing shots from mount.
Thornton controlling from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Thornton connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Thornton scoring with strikes but Ofori is staying in there.
Thornton looking to control and managing it successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Greg Thornton dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Ofori gets caught flat footed, as Thornton shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Thornton working some strikes from top position.
Thornton slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Thornton working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Thornton stands up from Ofori's guard - Thornton perhaps looking for a knockout.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Thornton looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Ofori is fending him off so far but Thornton persists. Nope, Ofori circles away and we're back to standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Thornton changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Ofori looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Ofori knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Thornton on the ground.
The referee asks Thornton politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Thornton prefers to stall for the moment though.
Thornton is working Ofori over with some ground and pound from side control.
Ofori is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Thornton is controlling him well.
Thornton working the ground and pound from side control.
Thornton controls the position from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ofori takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Ofori takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
Thornton scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Ofori to see if he's OK.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thornton lands some shots froms side control.
Ofori is being controlled here.
Greg Thornton has got the better of the ground game so far.

Despite being in the dominant position, Greg Thornton just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Thornton changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Ofori looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Thornton landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ofori being controlled for a moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Greg Thornton showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Thornton looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Fujita Ofori seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thornton avoids the head kick by Ofori.

Thornton closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Ofori to the mat! Ofori manages to get full guard.
Thornton is looking to work some ground and pound but Ofori has wrist control.
Thornton working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Ofori wants to get back to his feet but Thornton is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Thornton sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thornton in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Thornton is stalling in the full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Thornton accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Ofori avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Ofori being controlled here, momentarily.
Thornton postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Thornton is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Thornton working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Ofori's head.
Thornton postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thornton landing with the ground and pound.
Thornton controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Greg Thornton is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ofori is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Thornton is controlling him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Thornton is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Thornton is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

And that's the end of the fight!
Greg Thornton comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Thornton 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 26:30
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Greg Thornton!