PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Thomas Wade (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jason Michaels (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Wade comes to the cage accompanied by Are You Ready?. Michaels has chosen Invaders Must Die - The Prodigy as his entrance music. Thomas Wade has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Wade
vs
Michaels

195 cm
26
165 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

173 cm
20
170 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Untouchable Fight Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Thomas Wade!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jason Michaels!
The judges for this bout are Paul Aken, Daniel Blasius and Radbod Blank.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wade closes this distance looking for a takedown but Michaels circles away.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Michaels enables Wade to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Michaels manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Wade trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Michaels avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Wade postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Wade really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Michaels keeping moving, preventing Wade from controlling successfully.
Wade throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Wade pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Michaels is keeping the position for now.
Wade working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Wade with a flurry of punches that miss.
Wade throws a big right hand that misses.
Wade lands a couple of elbows.
Michaels looking for a sweep. Not yet Michaels, not yet.
Michaels is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Wade throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wade won't allow Michaels to sweep him here.
Wade trying to move into half guard but instead Michaels has managed to sweep!
Wade working a defensive guard here.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Thomas Wade wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Wade uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Michaels.
Wade fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wade tries for a takedown but Michaels sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thomas Wade. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wade misses with a takedown attempt - Michaels sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Michaels lands a nice hook to Wade's body. Wade takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Wade looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Michaels is fending him off so far but Wade persists. Nope, Michaels circles away and we're back to standing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wade keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Jason Michaels is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Wade takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Michaels scores with a jab.
Michaels scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Wade shoots in for a takedown but Michaels shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Michaels keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Thomas Wade will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Wade ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Thomas Wade is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Michaels just misses with a punch to the body.
Wade ducks under a wild hook from Michaels.
Michaels swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Wade.
Michaels slaps away a takedown attempt from Wade, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Wade needs to keep his hands up - Michaels had a free shot at his head there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade slips a straight right by Michaels.
Michaels jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Wade gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Wade shoots in looking for a takedown but Michaels manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Wade's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wade shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Michaels pinned against the cage. Michaels gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thomas Wade. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wade avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Michaels throws an off balance right hand

and Wade counters with a takedown into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Michaels parries the strikes from Wade easily there. Wade is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Michaels to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Wade tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

Wade tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Wade in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Wade working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wade throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Wade sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Michaels is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Wade fails to land a wild elbow strike.
The ground and pound from Wade seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Wade cracks Michaels with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Wade will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Wade tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.

Wade is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Michaels knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Wade fails to land a wild elbow strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Jason Michaels will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Wade closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Michaels can do anything to dispel that myth.

Wade tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Wade throwing strikes but Michaels manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Michaels is staying tight to Wade's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Michaels wants to stand but Wade is controlling his arm.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wade 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.
Wade is looking for a sweep.
Wade keeping his opponent close.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
A slow jab from Michaels misses its intended target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Michaels keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Wade shoots in looking for a takedown. Michaels tries to sprawl out of it but Wade keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Michaels manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
A big left from Michaels misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wade has a takedown stuffed.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thomas Wade. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Wade shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Michaels wants to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michaels keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Wade throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Wade thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Michaels's head.
Michaels blocking the ground and pound attempt from Wade.
Wade thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Wade lands a nice short elbow.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Wade connects with a nice short shot to Michaels's temple.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thomas Wade clearly takes that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Michaels throws an overhand right that lands on Wade's shoulder, as Wade tries to avoid the shot.
Michaels punishes Wade's body with a nice straight punch.
Wade takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Wade has his takedown stuffed
and Michaels connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Good work by Wade as he checks the leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Michaels connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Michaels throws a combination that misses

and Wade counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Wade looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Michaels with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Michaels is trying to control but can't.
Michaels wants to get back to full guard.
Wade not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Wade sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Michaels defending well though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Michaels wants to control but Wade is keeping busy.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Wade missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Thomas Wade overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Wade throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Wade thows a huge punch but Michaels dodges it nicely.
Wade stops Michaels from getting back to his feet.
Wade passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Michaels!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Michaels in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Wade with shots to the head and body - Michaels looks very uncomfortable down there.
Wade throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Wade working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Michaels is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Michaels tries to lock up and control but Wade gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Michaels can't escape the position.

Wade working for a guillotine from mount but Michaels is in no mood to give up.
Wade thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Wade thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close fourth round but I would say that Thomas Wade will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Michaels is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Wade.
Michaels shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Michaels stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Michaels wants it to stay on the feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Michaels throws a leg kick but Wade moved away.
Michaels cracks Wade with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Michaels throws a jab when Wade was well out of range.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Wade.
Jason Michaels seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Michaels throws a series of punches but Wade moves out of range.
Michaels lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wade shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Michaels as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thomas Wade. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Wade will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Michaels throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Wade sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Wade uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Michaels.
Jason Michaels has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Michaels leaves Wade with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wade moves away from the strike by Michaels.
Michaels pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Wade closes this distance looking for a takedown but Michaels circles away.
Michaels stuffs the takedown attempt from Wade. Wade gets slowly back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Michaels misses with a right hand

so Wade counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Wade throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Wade throws a big elbow that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Wade looking to pass the guard.
Wade postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Michaels is looking to sweep but instead, Wade has passed into half guard.
Thomas Wade is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Wade landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Jason Michaels.
I think Wade has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 49:47
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 49:47
Judge Radbod Blank scores the fight 50:46

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thomas Wade!
Thomas Wade retains his lightweight title!
Thomas Wade gave a mention to Untouchable Fight Gear in his post fight interview. That will please them (and hopefully generate some sales).