PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Johnson Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Ward (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Thomas
vs
Ward

225 cm
22
175 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

190 cm
23
170 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Johnson Thomas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, James Ward!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Alec Ball and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ward misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Thomas has a takedown stuffed.
Ward throws a right and a left that both miss.
Johnson Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ward lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Thomas shoots for a double leg takedown but Ward sprawls well. He's pushed Thomas's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Ward turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Thomas tries to clinch but Ward is having none of it.
Thomas showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Ward.
Thomas wants to clinch.
A combination from Ward does no damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas throws a series of punches but Ward avoids them all with ease.
Ward misses with a jab, cross combination.
Nice sprawl there from Ward as Thomas shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Johnson Thomas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A chopping leg kick lands by Ward.
Thomas tries to score a power double leg takedown but Ward sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Thomas somewhat.
Ward connects with a single shot there.
Ward scores with a push kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Thomas looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Ward turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward tries a head kick but it misses.
A head kick misses from Ward.
Thomas avoids a punch combination nicely.
Thomas fails with an attempt to clinch.
A head kick misses from Ward.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Ward, right into the meat.
Thomas showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Ward.
Thomas tries to close the distance and clinch up but Ward swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Thomas throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Ward's waist but Ward gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Thomas off to one side.
A nice inside leg kick there by Ward. That's going to slow Thomas down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas avoids the head kick by Ward.
Ward lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Ward tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Thomas is looking to clinch.
Nice body kick from Ward.
Ward throws a head kick but Thomas moves out of range.
Ward avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Thomas avoids the head kick by Ward.
Thomas tries for a takedown but Ward sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Ward throws a nice looking combination but Thomas bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Thomas shoots in looking for a takedown. Ward tries to sprawl out of it but Thomas keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Ward manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Thomas is breathing heavily.
Thomas slips a jab and a cross from Ward.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A combination from Ward does no damage.
Thomas tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Ward tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Ward throws a series of punches but Thomas avoids them all with ease.
Thomas slips a jab and a cross from Ward.
Thomas shoots for a takedown but Ward saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
A nice leg kick lands there from Ward.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Ward.
Ward throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Thomas changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ward tries to avoid it but Thomas manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ward to the ground. Ward escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Ward dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Ward lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Thomas circles away quickly and effectively.
Thomas shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Ward pinned against the cage. Ward gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Ward looks to land a combination but Thomas avoids it well.
Ward lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Ward throws a nice head kick!
Thomas takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Ward avoids the head kick by Thomas.
Ward throws a combination. Thomas tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
A head kick misses from Ward.
Thomas moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Thomas misses with a straight left.
Thomas tries to score a power double leg takedown but Ward sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Thomas somewhat.
Thomas avoids a punch combination nicely.
James Ward seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Thomas tries to clinch but Ward moves out of range.
Thomas moves in looking to clinch but Ward pushes him off.
Thomas shoots in but Ward avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Johnson Thomas. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Ward misses with a wild combination.

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.
Ward stuffs the takedown attempt from Thomas. Thomas gets slowly back to his feet.
Johnson Thomas is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A combination from Ward does no damage.
Ward throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Thomas on the side of the head.
Ward throws a nice looking combination but Thomas bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Ward defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Thomas.
Ward lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Ward misses with a series of wild punches.
Ward throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas slips a jab and a cross from Ward.

Thomas scores a takedown into full mount!
Ward is looking to get to half guard.
Thomas looking to control but Ward is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Ward is in all sorts of trouble here.
Ward is squirming around, avoiding Thomas's attempts to control the action.
Thomas controlling from the full mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Thomas working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Ward is trying to stand but he's not in a good position to be doing that! Thomas has taken his back!
Ward manages to reverse the position and now he's in Thomas's guard. Nice work there by Ward.
Thomas utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Thomas keeping full guard, as Ward tries to pass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Ward showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Thomas's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Ward scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
A combination from Ward does no damage.
A head kick misses from Ward.
Thomas fails to land the takedown.
Thomas shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Ward defends it nicely.
Ward tries a head kick but it misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas misses with a takedown attempt - Ward sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Johnson Thomas. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ward with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Thomas on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Thomas blocks a head kick by Ward.
Ward lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Thomas tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Ward paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ward throws a right and a left that Thomas avoids nicely.
Ward displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Thomas.
Ward throws a right and a left that Thomas avoids nicely.
Thomas takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ward misses the jab.
Thomas wants to clinch.
Ward rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Thomas moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ward stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Ward wants it to stay on the feet.
Ward fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Thomas really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Thomas tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Thomas shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Ward as he jumps to the side.
Ward throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Thomas.
Ward moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas shoots in but no luck this time.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Thomas defending well as Ward loads up on a big left hand.
Thomas fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Ward avoids it really well and circles away.
Thomas throws a leg kick
and Ward counters with a head kick. That will keep Thomas thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Ward tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Thomas wants to clinch but Ward slips to the side
and Ward counters with a leg kick.
Ward goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Ward throws a head kick but Thomas moves out of range.
Ward uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Thomas.
Thomas with a poor takedown
and Ward counters with a thumping low kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A chopping leg kick lands by Ward.
Thomas on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Thomas avoids the head kick by Ward.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Ward.
Thomas has his takedown stuffed
and Ward counters with a nice low kick that buckles Thomas's knee momentarily.
Ward lands with a thumping leg kick.
Thomas sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Ward scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Thomas on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Ward. Ward obviously looking to wear him down.
Johnson Thomas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
James Ward is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ward looks to land a combination. Thomas sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Ward comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Ward 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 Elvis Blanc scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 25:30
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Ward!