PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Antonio Nogueira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michel Thurtz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Michel Thurtz has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Antonio Nogueira's chin.

Nogueira
vs
Thurtz

173 cm
23
133 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

175 cm
23
135 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

WIN Nutritional
WIN Nutritional

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Nogueira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Michel Thurtz!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Emerson Jorge and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nogueira displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Thurtz throws out the jab.
A swing and a miss from Thurtz.
Thurtz is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Nogueira shoots in but no luck this time.

Thurtz closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Thurtz manages to break the clinch.

Nogueira closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Nogueira lands in his opponent's guard.
Nogueira wants to stand but Thurtz has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Thurtz wants to get back to his feet but Nogueira is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Thurtz working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Nogueira.
Thurtz wants to sweep but no luck.
Nogueira has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Thurtz is proving hard to escape from.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nogueira won't allow Thurtz to get back to his feet.
Nogueira would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
A combination from Thurtz does no damage.
The fight stays on the outside here - Nogueira looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Nogueira scores with a hook.
Nogueira shoots in for a double leg but Thurtz sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Nogueira moves into the clinch successfully.
Nogueira lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Nogueira misses with a punch on the inside.
Thurtz scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Thurtz gets underhooks to prevent Nogueira's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antonio Nogueira. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nogueira tries for a takedown. No joy.

Thurtz ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Thurtz no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Thurtz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thurtz bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Nogueira's guard.
Thurtz showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Nogueira wants to get back to his feet but Thurtz is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Thurtz is stalling in the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nogueira is looking to stand up but Thurtz isn't so interested in that idea.
Thurtz is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

Despite being in the dominant position, Michel Thurtz just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Thurtz takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

Thurtz takes the fight into the clinch.
Nogueira misses with an elbow over the top.
Thurtz blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

Thurtz pulls guard successfully.
Nogueira has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Thurtz is proving hard to escape from.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nogueira stops Thurtz from standing up.
Thurtz wants to sweep here but Nogueira controlling him for the moment.
Thurtz doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Thurtz is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Nogueira has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Nogueira gets to his feet - Thurtz follows without any prompting.
Thurtz misses the body punch

and Nogueira counters by moving into the clinch.
Nogueira lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Nogueira has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Thurtz is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Thurtz's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Michel Thurtz will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Thurtz jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Thurtz thows a body shot but no joy.
Nogueira stuffs the takedown.
Jab, jab by Thurtz - just one landing.
Thurtz jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Thurtz circles away from the clinch attempt

and Thurtz counters by moving into the clinch.
Nogueira throws a head punch that misses.
A short uppercut from Nogueira.
Thurtz lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Nogueira or not.
Nogueira misses with an elbow over the top.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Thurtz.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Nogueira.
Thurtz blocking some punches.
A short body shot lands from Thurtz as the two fighters clinch.
Nogueira misses with a hook from the clinch.
Nogueira misses with a punch on the inside.
Nogueira throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Thurtz blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Nogueira throws a head punch that misses.
The referee is keeping an eye on Thurtz - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Nogueira misses with the head strike.
Nogueira tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Thurtz ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Thurtz no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Nogueira wants to stand but Thurtz has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Thurtz is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Thurtz tries to land a sweep but no joy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Thurtz is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Nogueira is aware though and is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Thurtz is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Nogueira is looking to clinch.
Nogueira has a takedown stuffed.
Nogueira closes this distance looking for a takedown but Thurtz circles away.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Thurtz scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Thurtz throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Thurtz lands a left hand that snaps the head of Nogueira backwards.
Nice body punch from Thurtz.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Thurtz creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Nogueira can't find room to land a body shot as Thurtz controls the action.
A right hook to the body lands for Thurtz.
A bit of stalling here from Thurtz.
Thurtz lands a shoulder strike.
Nogueira tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Thurtz avoids it.
Nogueira tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nogueira goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Nogueira misses with an elbow over the top.
Thurtz blocks an elbow strike from Nogueira.
Nogueira is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Thurtz stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Thurtz gets through Nogueira's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Thurtz scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Nogueira misses with a hook from the clinch.
Nogueira doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Nogueira doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Thurtz's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Thurtz misses with a few strikes there.
Thurtz lands a slapping body shot.
No joy there for Thurtz, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Nice cross by Nogueira.
Thurtz misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nogueira.
Thurtz fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Antonio Nogueira is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Nogueira gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Thurtz tries to break the clinch but Nogueira is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nogueira presses Thurtz against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Thurtz is trying to break the clinch but Nogueira has him pressed against the cage.
Nogueira goes for a takedown attempt but Thurtz pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Antonio Nogueira. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nogueira is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Nogueira misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Thurtz stuffs the takedown attempt from Nogueira. Nogueira gets slowly back to his feet.
Nice shot by Thurtz.
Thurtz scores with a hook.
Thurtz with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Nogueira showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Thurtz.
Antonio Nogueira seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thurtz throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Nogueira tries to clinch but Thurtz moves out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michel Thurtz showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Nogueira closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Thurtz tries to get to full guard but Nogueira has control of the leg.

Nogueira decides to return to a standing position.
Nogueira throws a left and a right that both miss
and Thurtz counters with a three punch combo that has Nogueira backing up. Nogueira nods at Thurtz to acknowledge the strikes.

Nogueira is rocked!
I'm just looking down at my notes here and I see that.... oh! Thurtz has cracked Nogueira with a big right, followed by a left! He's out on his feet! Thurtz lands another huge swinging hook and Nogueira tumbles to the canvas! The ref dives in to save Nogueira, before Thurtz can land any more shots!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:30 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Michel Thurtz!