PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Laurenz Thibodeaux (ranked 6978 p4p, 5821 weight class) and Xian Kang (ranked 666 p4p, 604 weight class). Xian Kang has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Thibodeaux
vs
Kang

180 cm
17
195
2 - 2 - 0

184 cm
19
189
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Laurenz Thibodeaux!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Xian Kang!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Daniel Blasius and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kang moves in looking to clinch but Thibodeaux pushes him off.
Thibodeaux attempts a counter takedown but Kang avoids it well and moves away.
Kang moves in looking to clinch but Thibodeaux pushes him off.
Thibodeaux attempts a counter takedown but Kang avoids it well and moves away.
Kang moves in looking to clinch but Thibodeaux pushes him off.
Thibodeaux appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Kang wants to clinch up but Thibodeaux keeps it at a distance.
Kang tries to clinch up.
Thibodeaux tries to counter with a takedown but Kang is quick to defend against it.
Kang tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Thibodeaux manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Thibodeaux drives through and clinches with Kang against the cage.
Kang wants to stall.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Thibodeaux has picked Kang up - he's going for a ride! Thibodeaux dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Thibodeaux missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Thibodeaux in particular looking to stall.
Thibodeaux passes the guard and advances to mount!
Thibodeaux controlling the position easily from mount.
Thibodeaux prevents Kang from getting the reversal.
Kang wants to hold on but Thibodeaux pushes him away.
Thibodeaux looking to ground and pound but Kang is blocking nicely.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kang can't escape the position.
Kang tries to lock up and control but Thibodeaux gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Thibodeaux controlling the pace for now.
Poor strikes thrown by Thibodeaux there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Thibodeaux punching from mount but Kang doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Kang blocking the ground and pound.
Thibodeaux looking to ground and pound but Kang is blocking nicely.
Thibodeaux throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thibodeaux throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Thibodeaux thowing shots but they're missing.
Thibodeaux controlling his opponent.
Thibodeaux throws some wild stikes that Kang manages to avoid easily.
Thibodeaux controlling from mount.
Thibodeaux thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Kang tries to hold on but Thibodeaux postures up.
Thibodeaux thowing shots but they're missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thibodeaux content just to control the position here.
We've been hearing good reports from Thibodeaux's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Thibodeaux misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Thibodeaux prevents Kang from getting the reversal.
Thibodeaux controlling the pace for now.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Laurenz Thibodeaux dominated that round.
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.

Thibodeaux changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Kang tries to avoid it but Thibodeaux manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Kang to the ground. Kang escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Kang tries to clinch but Thibodeaux moves out of range.

Thibodeaux scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Thibodeaux not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Well, if Thibodeaux is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Thibodeaux throwing shots but Kang is blocking nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kang tries to roll over but Thibodeaux keeps him under control.
Thibodeaux thows a huge punch but Kang dodges it nicely.
Thibodeaux with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thibodeaux throwing shots but Kang is blocking nicely.
Thibodeaux looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Kang really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Thibodeaux. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Thibodeaux has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Thibodeaux throwing shots but Kang is blocking nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Thibodeaux wants to work for an arm triangle but Kang is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Thibodeaux throwing shots but Kang is blocking nicely.
Kang is looking to improve his position.
Thibodeaux with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Thibodeaux passes into side control, despite Kang's attempt to control the position.
Thibodeaux advances nicely into full mount.
Thibodeaux misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Thibodeaux content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thibodeaux punching from mount but Kang doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Thibodeaux thowing shots but they're missing.
Thibodeaux controlling the pace for now.
Kang is desperately trying to improve his position but Thibodeaux has a good base and remains in mount.
Thibodeaux controlling from the full mount.
Thibodeaux 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.

Thibodeaux looking for a guillotine from mount but Kang is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kang tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Thibodeaux throwing strikes here but Kang is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Thibodeaux looking to finish with strikes here!
Kang looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Thibodeaux content just to control the position here.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Thibodeaux.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kang is working to get back to half guard.
Thibodeaux controlling the pace for now.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Laurenz Thibodeaux dominated that second round.
That's time! Thibodeaux's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Kang tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Thibodeaux paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Thibodeaux drops down looking for a counter takedown but Kang sprawls and moves away.

Thibodeaux has Kang up against the cage in a clinch.
Kang trying to stall but Thibodeaux improves his position.
Kang is trying to stall.
Kang is pressed up against the cage. Thibodeaux has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Kang down to the mat. Kang avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thibodeaux swats away the attempt to clinch by Kang.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thibodeaux shoots in looking for a takedown but Kang manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Thibodeaux's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Kang wants to clinch.
Thibodeaux keeps the fight on the outside.

Kang gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Thibodeaux's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Thibodeaux working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Thibodeaux drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Thibodeaux jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Kang looking to control.
Thibodeaux working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Thibodeaux throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Kang works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Kang working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Thibodeaux.
Kang is trying to keep Thibodeaux in close.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Thibodeaux has closed the distance and engaged Kang in a clinch.
Kang is defending well against a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Laurenz Thibodeaux. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thibodeaux wants a takedown.
Kang wants to stall.

Thibodeaux is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Kang can't fight it off and eventually Thibodeaux manages to take the fight to the floor. Kang looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Thibodeaux controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thibodeaux's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Kang wants to sweep here but Thibodeaux controlling him for the moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
Laurenz Thibodeaux showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Thibodeaux has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Patrick Alders scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Blasius scores the fight 30:27
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Laurenz Thibodeaux!