PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Atsushi Murasakibara (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lou Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Atsushi Murasakibara has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Murasakibara
vs
Thomas

180 cm
24
145 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

169 cm
24
151 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Decent knees
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Atsushi Murasakibara!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Lou Thomas!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Paul Tew and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thomas misses with a lunging right hand
and Murasakibara counters with a nice body shot.
Thomas scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Lou Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Thomas wants to clinch.
Some wild striking there from Thomas.

Thomas forces Murasakibara back against the cage and clinches.
Murasakibara takes a shot to the head.
Thomas gets underhooks to prevent Murasakibara's takedown attempt.
Thomas scores with a nice hook to the head.
Thomas is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Murasakibara tries to work over Thomas's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Thomas lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Murasakibara wants to get back to striking at distance but Thomas won't allow it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A quick uppercut on the inside from Murasakibara.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murasakibara on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Murasakibara blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Thomas with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Thomas unloads a knee to the mid-section. Murasakibara lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Murasakibara is breathing heavily.
Thomas stalling against the cage.
Thomas tries to land knees in the clinch but Murasakibara avoids the damage to the body.
Murasakibara 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 working Murasakibara over with knees to the body.
Thomas trying to land knees to the body.
Thomas throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Murasakibaras head.
Murasakibara is trying to break the clinch but Thomas has him pressed against the cage.

Murasakibara decides to pull guard.
Thomas must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Thomas tries to stand but Murasakibara is controlling from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Murasakibara is looking for a triangle but Thomas pushes his legs off easily.
Thomas would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thomas really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Murasakibara. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Murasakibara looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas wants to get up but he can't break Murasakibara's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Murasakibara trying to control the position here.
Thomas throwing strikes but missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murasakibara trying to control the position.
Murasakibara will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Atsushi Murasakibara wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Thomas tries to clinch up.

Thomas closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Thomas using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Murasakibara being controlled against the cage.
Murasakibara fails to pull the fight into his guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lou Thomas dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Thomas clinches up with Murasakibara and pushes him back against the cage.
Thomas will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Murasakibara up against the cage.
Thomas gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Murasakibara.
Murasakibara looking to slow down the pace here.
Thomas missing with knees to the body.
Murasakibara managing to block the knees to the body from Thomas.
Thomas lands a nice knee to the body.
Murasakibara working aggressively here.
Thomas trying to land knees to the body.
Thomas working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas is stalling here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Thomas missing with knees to the body.
Thomas putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Murasakibara in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Thomas tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Murasakibara.
A nice right hand lands inside from Thomas.
Thomas trying to land knees to the body.
Thomas lands a knee to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Thomas.
Murasakibara blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Thomas lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Thomas is pushing Murasakibara up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Thomas tries to land knees in the clinch but Murasakibara avoids the damage to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Murasakibara jumps guard but Thomas turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Thomas tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Murasakibara is trying to force a seperation but Thomas has the dominant position.
Thomas lands a good knee to the midsection. Murasakibara won't want to take too many of those.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Murasakibara jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Thomas walks away with a smile on his face. Murasakibara gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Atsushi Murasakibara. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Thomas throws an overhand right that lands on Murasakibara's shoulder, as Murasakibara tries to avoid the shot.
Murasakibara takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Murasakibara takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Thomas is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Thomas's corner calls for a 1-2. Thomas obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Murasakibara looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A cross from Thomas lands.
Murasakibara looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.

Thomas has taken the fight to the clinch.
Thomas working Murasakibara over with knees to the body.
Thomas is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Lou Thomas seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Thomas unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Murasakibara wants to take the fight to the mat but Thomas manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Thomas.
A shot in the inside from Thomas.
Thomas will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Murasakibara up against the cage.
Thomas lands a nice knee to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas lands a left hand that snaps the head of Murasakibara backwards.
Thomas stalling against the cage.
Thomas lands a nice uppercut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Murasakibara in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Thomas pressing his opponent against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lou Thomas showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Thomas lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Murasakibara misses with a takedown attempt - Thomas sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Thomas lands with a cross.
Atsushi Murasakibara is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Thomas takes the fight into the clinch.
Thomas stalling against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Lou Thomas.
Thomas throws the left hand but Murasakibara avoids the punch easily.
Thomas changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Murasakibara walks into a straight right hand from Thomas.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Murasakibara misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Thomas.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murasakibara blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Thomas using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Murasakibara has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Thomas scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Thomas using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Thomas using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Murasakibara has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Thomas landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Thomas is stalling here.

Murasakibara escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Thomas throws a looping overhand right but Murasakibara ducks down to avoid it.
Thomas swats away the attempt to clinch by Murasakibara.
Thomas throws out a loose jab but Murasakibara uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Murasakibara tries a head kick but it misses.

Murasakibara gets tackled into the cage by Thomas. Thomas maintains the clinch.
Thomas utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Thomas lands a knee to the body.
Thomas scores with a shot to the side of Murasakibara's head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Thomas lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Murasakibara backwards.
Thomas landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Murasakibara managing to block the knees to the body from Thomas.
Thomas using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Thomas using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Thomas tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Murasakibara avoids it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murasakibara drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Knees in the clinch landing for Thomas.
Thomas lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Thomas is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Thomas scores with a shot to the side of Murasakibara's head.
Thomas tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Murasakibara avoids it.
Murasakibara wants to break free but Thomas has control.
Thomas lands a nice uppercut.
Murasakibara jumps guard but Thomas turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Atsushi Murasakibara. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Murasakibara on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Murasakibara tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Thomas smiles and moves away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Thomas moves into the clinch.
Thomas misses with a knee to the head.
Thomas working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Thomas unloads a knee to the mid-section. Murasakibara lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Thomas creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Murasakibara avoiding damage as Thomas throws knees to the body.
Murasakibara managing to block the knees to the body from Thomas.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Murasakibara tries to pull guard but Thomas forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Thomas putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Murasakibara in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Atsushi Murasakibara has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Thomas tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Murasakibara avoids it.
Thomas lands a good knee to the midsection. Murasakibara won't want to take too many of those.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lou Thomas comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Thomas has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lou Thomas!