PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mono Loco (ranked 3542 p4p, 2988 weight class) and Thor Fresh (ranked 339 p4p, 294 weight class). Thor Fresh will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Loco
vs
Fresh

168 cm
37
152
17 - 23 - 0

180 cm
31
155
10 - 20 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Brawler
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Altitude Clothing

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 17 - 23 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mono Loco!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 20 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Thor Fresh!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Daniel Blasius and Nard Betker.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Loco shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Fresh sprawls well. Fresh wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Loco gets slowly back to his feet.

Fresh dives in and scores a takedown into Loco's guard.
Fresh passes into half guard.
Loco regains full guard. Nicely done.
Fresh must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Loco controls Fresh momentarily but Fresh frees himself.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fresh chips away with some ground and pound.
Loco manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Fresh manages to get himself to full guard.

Fresh looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Fresh looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Fresh has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Loco is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Fresh.
Fresh tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Fresh is working to get back to half guard.
Fresh is squirming around, avoiding Loco's attempts to control the action.
Loco with shots to the head and body - Fresh looks very uncomfortable down there.
Fresh really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fresh tries to hold on but Loco postures up.
Loco looking to control and managing it successfully.
Fresh manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Fresh tries to roll over but Loco keeps him under control.
Fresh tries to kick Loco off but Loco keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Loco seems to be looking for submissions.

Loco is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Loco is trying to work for a kimura but Fresh is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Loco content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Fresh looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

Fresh looking for submissions off his back.
The fighters are battling for position here. Fresh manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Loco passes Fresh's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Fresh looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

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.
Fresh makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Fresh.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Fresh escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Loco gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Loco trying to control but Fresh is working from the bottom.
Loco is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Fresh is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Fresh throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Mono Loco will probably get the nod.
That's time! Loco's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Loco changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Fresh tries to avoid it but Loco manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Fresh to the ground. Fresh escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Fresh shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Loco looking for submissions off his back.
Loco manages to get to full guard.
Loco 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Loco is working hard here to advance position.

Loco looking for a guillotine here but Fresh defends easily.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Fresh accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fresh is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Fresh sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Loco's guard.

Fresh is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Loco doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Fresh.
Fresh is looking to take a break and control but Loco is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Thor Fresh has got the better of the ground game so far.
Loco is looking for a sweep. Fresh is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Fresh trying to control the action but Loco is working from the bottom.
Loco might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Loco wants to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Loco actively working from the bottom here.

Loco makes his way to full guard, as Fresh worked for a kimura.
Loco not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Fresh working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Fresh trying to control the position from guard on top but Loco is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Loco manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Fresh manages to get himself to full guard.

Loco postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Loco controls from within his opponent's guard.
Fresh looking to control but Loco passes into half guard.
Fresh wants to improve his position but Loco is controlling well.
Fresh is refusing to be controlled, as Loco sits in half guard.

Loco is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Fresh defends it well.
Loco tries to pass to full mount but Fresh defends it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Fresh regains full guard. Nicely done.
Fresh wants to sweep but no luck.
Loco trying to control but Fresh is working from the bottom.
Fresh is looking to stand back up but Loco counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Fresh.
Fresh has his hands clasped together around Loco's back. He's all about the action.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Loco is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Fresh sees it coming and defends easily.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Thor Fresh 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. This is the final round!

Loco fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

Fresh changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Loco looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

Fresh is trying to get an arm triangle but Loco is defending well.

Fresh tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Fresh has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Fresh landing a few strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Loco is trying to improve his position.

Fresh thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Loco is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Fresh off and has taken his back!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Fresh tries to roll but Loco sticks to his back.

Fresh showing good submission defense here.
Fresh can't escape the position.
Loco is controlling his opponent, waiting for an opportunity to finish.
Fresh is trying to stand back up.

Fresh is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Loco gets his way!
Fresh prevents Loco from getting a body triangle.
Loco seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Fresh's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Fresh turns into Loco and is now in his guard.
Fresh slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.

Fresh thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Fresh wants to lay and pray for a moment but Loco keeps working.
Fresh working away.
Fresh postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Loco is trying to get back to half guard.
Loco struggling a bit here.

Fresh tries for a kimura but Loco is defending well.
Fresh wants to take a breather but Loco manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Fresh.
Fresh wants to get up but he can't break Loco's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Fresh wants to control from the top but Loco keeps moving.
Loco wants to sweep but no luck.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Loco looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Loco wants to sweep but no luck.
Fresh looking to pass the guard.
Fresh would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Loco wants to improve his position but instead Fresh has moved into half guard.

Fresh is working for a kimura but Loco is defending it quite comfortably.
Fresh passes to side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Fresh is trying to get an arm triangle but Loco is defending well.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thor Fresh comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Fresh 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 Aafke Stam scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 28:30
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Thor Fresh!
Post fight, Thor Fresh took to the microphone: 'I finally got me a good team, I had a great camp. I want to thank my team Bolo, Lars, and Juice. This is a team win'.