PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Buster Cherry (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tj Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cherry comes to the cage accompanied by Busters Back. I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Cherry
vs
Thomas

199 cm
35
279 lbs
25 - 15 - 1

225 cm
38
255 lbs
20 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Cynical Truth Vegas

Cynical Truth Vegas
//buriedALIVE// Fight Gear

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 25 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Buster Cherry!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tj Thomas!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Gwen Towbar and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A chopping leg kick lands by Cherry.
Thomas tries to clinch up.
Thomas is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Thomas tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
We've been hearing reports that Cherry has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Cherry throws a nice outside leg kick.
Thomas tries to clinch but Cherry is having none of it.
Thomas wants to clinch.
Cherry misses with a straight right.
Thomas keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Cherry.
Thomas looks to clinch
and Cherry counters with a straight right hand.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Thomas has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thomas tries to clinch up.
Cherry avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cherry dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Thomas. That did some damage!
Thomas punishes Cherry's body with a nice straight punch.
Cherry lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Cherry keeps the fight on the outside.
Cherry turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Thomas doesn't manage to clinch there - Cherry circles away.
Thomas throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Cherry on the side of the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cherry throws a looping overhand right but Thomas ducks down to avoid it.
Cherry throws a leg kick but Thomas sees it coming and moves out of range.
A big left from Cherry misses.
Cherry pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Thomas tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Cherry paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thomas fails in his attempt to clinch.
Buster Cherry seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thomas lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Cherry looks to land a combination but Thomas avoids it well.
Thomas misses with a jab, cross combination.
Thomas is looking to clinch but Cherry is avoiding it.
Cherry circles away from the clinch attempt.
Thomas slips under a jab.
Thomas is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Thomas tries to clinch there but Cherry circles away.
Thomas missing with a left hand there. Cherry was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Thomas tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Cherry counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Cherry falls off balance throwing a combination

and Thomas moves into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Cherry.
Thomas goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Thomas working aggressively here.
Thomas lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Thomas working aggressively here.
Thomas lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Cherry.
Thomas throws a punch but it's blocked by Cherry.
Thomas is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Thomas misses with a short punch on the inside.
Cherry is trying to force a seperation but Thomas has the dominant position.
Cherry is trying to break free.
Thomas lands on the inside with an uppercut.
A nice right hand lands inside from Thomas.
Cherry misses with some punches.
Thomas fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Thomas lands a right hand.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cherry misses with a body punch.
Cherry misses with a hook from the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Cherry.
Thomas misses with a punch on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Thomas fails to land.
Thomas stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Cherry's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Thomas lands a right hand.
Thomas tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Cherry manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Thomas tries to land a knee to the head but Cherry blocks with his arms.
Cherry blocks an uppercut.
Thomas misses with a punch on the inside.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Thomas fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Cherry tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Thomas's elbow.
Thomas throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Cherrys head.
Thomas is working Cherry over against the cage.
Thomas softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tj Thomas dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Thomas has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Cherry.
Cherry looks to land a right hand but Thomas moved out of range.
Cherry looks to throw the jab but Thomas is out of range.
Cherry ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Thomas moves away.
Cherry fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Thomas wants to clinch but Cherry slips to the side

and Cherry counters with a nice double leg into guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Thomas wants to sweep but no luck.
Cherry throws a big elbow that misses.
Thomas looking to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cherry trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Cherry sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Thomas's guard.
Cherry controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cherry not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Thomas is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Cherry's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Cherry's back!

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Cherry defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Cherry breaks Thomas's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Thomas throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Cherry postures up.
Cherry throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cherry connects with a couple of short punches.

Thomas is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Cherry might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Thomas utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Thomas looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Cherry with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Cherry 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.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thomas bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cherry's guard.
Thomas with a flurry of punches that miss.
Cherry is trying to keep Thomas in close.
Cherry is pulling down on Thomas's head to control his posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas trying to control but Cherry is working from the bottom.
Thomas makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Cherry is trying to keep Thomas in close.
Thomas pushing down on Cherry's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

Thomas is looking for a kimura. It's pretty deep but Cherry still has the half guard so he's probably OK. Oh, Cherry has exploded into a beautiful escape there and after a quick scramble, he's ended up in side control on top! Nice work!
Thomas wants to control but Cherry postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cherry working the ground and pound.
Thomas manages to work his way to half guard, despite Cherry's best efforts.
Thomas wants to get back to full guard.
Cherry working over Thomas with some ground and pound. Thomas looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thomas is trying to maintain the position but Cherry is very close to passing his half guard.

Cherry is working for a kimura but Thomas is defending it quite comfortably.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Thomas keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Buster Cherry dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Cherry doesn't manage to clinch there - Thomas circles away.
Thomas wants to clinch up but Cherry keeps it at a distance.
Thomas is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Thomas shoots for a takedown but Cherry saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Cherry stuffs the takedown attempt from Thomas. Thomas gets slowly back to his feet.
Thomas defending well as Cherry loads up on a big left hand.
A head kick misses from Thomas.
Cherry swings for the body but Thomas moves out of range.
Thomas wants to clinch up but Cherry keeps it at a distance.
Cherry bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Thomas tries to clinch but Cherry moves out of range.
Cherry scores with a crisp jab that stopped Thomas in his tracks.

Cherry closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Cherry 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.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cherry thows a huge punch but Thomas dodges it nicely.
Cherry working over Thomas with some ground and pound. Thomas looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Cherry scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Buster Cherry overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Thomas trying to control here.
Cherry is keen to just control but Thomas is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Cherry is working for a submission of some sort.
Thomas works his way to full guard. Good work.
Thomas wants to improve his position but instead Cherry has moved into half guard.
Thomas manages to get to full guard.
Cherry stopping the sweep attempt from Thomas.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas controls Cherry momentarily but Cherry frees himself.

Cherry got a little sloppy there for a moment and Thomas has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Cherry has managed to get both his arms back between Thomas's legs - danger averted.
Cherry scoring with some ground and pound.
Cherry throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cherry throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Thomas works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Cherry missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Thomas working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Cherry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cherry trying to control the position from guard on top but Thomas is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cherry connects with a couple of short punches.
Thomas 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.
Cherry throwing strikes from guard but Thomas blocks nicely.
Cherry preventing the sweep.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Cherry is working Thomas over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Cherry slips nicely into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Buster Cherry showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Cherry 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 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Buster Cherry!
Buster Cherry bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.