PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight kickboxing rules bout between Nathaniel Jones (ranked 4654 p4p, 25096 weight class) and Himayalan Cheetah (ranked 486 p4p, 639 weight class). Himayalan Cheetah has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Jones
vs
Cheetah

179 cm
25
161
3 - 1 - 0

179 cm
25
160
3 - 2 - 0

Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Nathaniel Jones!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Himayalan Cheetah!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Shigeki Fujiwara and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The fight stays on the outside here - Cheetah looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Jones went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

Jones closes the distance and clinches.
Jones managing to block the knees to the body from Cheetah.
Jones stalling in the clinch but Cheetah improves position.
Cheetah told us before the fight that he's been working on his elbows. An under utilised technique these days - let's see if it can sway the outcome of the fight.
Cheetah wants to stall.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Cheetah.
Jones goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

Cheetah escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cheetah throws a leg kick that is checked
and Jones counters with a three punch combo that has Cheetah backing up. Cheetah nods at Jones to acknowledge the strikes.
Jones displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Cheetah has managed to clinch.

Jones's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Jones throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheetah tries to close the distance and clinch but Jones swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Jones swinging wildly here.
Jones pushes Cheetah away with a front kick.
Jones throws a sloppy head kick and Cheetah moves out of range easily.
Himayalan Cheetah seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Jones circles away from the clinch attempt.
Jones throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Cheetah holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Cheetah breaks from the clinch.
Cheetah lands a front kick.
Cheetah wants to clinch up but Jones keeps it at a distance.
Cheetah wants to clinch up but Jones keeps it at a distance.
Cheetah steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Jones. That one must have hurt.
Cheetah is looking to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jones pivots, looking for a leg kick but Cheetah is out of range and Jones settles back down.
Despite the aggression on Cheetah's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Jones avoids the head kick by Cheetah.
Jones went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Jones will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Cheetah throws a lazy head kick
and Jones counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Cheetah thinking.
Cheetah lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Jones throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Jones shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Cheetah eats them both and turns towards Jones to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.

Cheetah has managed to clinch.
Cheetah pressing his opponent against the ropes.
Jones lands a body punch in the clinch.
Cheetah with an attempt at a knee that misses.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Nathaniel Jones dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Cheetah fails in his attempt to clinch.
Jones looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

Cheetah rushes Jones and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Cheetah stalls.

Cheetah breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Cheetah wants to clinch up but Jones keeps it at a distance.
Cheetah on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cheetah looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cheetah is looking to clinch.
Jones swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Cheetah forces Jones back against the ropes and clinches.
Jones being controlled against the ropes.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cheetah looking to throw knees to the head but Jones is blocking nicely.
Jones manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Cheetah missing with knees to the body.
Cheetah using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Jones has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Jones breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Cheetah instigates a clinch.
Jones avoiding damage as Cheetah throws knees to the body.
Jones looking to slow down the pace here.

Jones breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cheetah looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Nathaniel Jones is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Jones looks to land a combination but Cheetah avoids it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Cheetah, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Jones dips to his left and cracks Cheetah with an uppercut!

Cheetah closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.

Jones manages to break the clinch.
Jones avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Jones seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.

Cheetah forces Jones back against the ropes and clinches.
Jones looking to slow down the pace here.

Cheetah's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Jones rushes Cheetah and presses him up against the ropes.

Jones manages to break the clinch.
Jones keeps the fight on the outside.
Jones throws a big counter combination but Cheetah scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Jones misses with a jab, cross combination.
Cheetah wants to clinch but Jones slips to the side
and Jones counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Nathaniel Jones 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Jones throws a series of strikes that have Cheetah backpedaling.
Nathaniel Jones is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cheetah blocks the body kick.
The fight stays on the outside here - Cheetah looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Cheetah moves to clinch but Jones breaks away
and Jones counters with a series of strikes. Cheetah will be more careful next time no doubt.
Jones tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

Cheetah has Jones up against the ropes in a clinch.
Cheetah misses with a knee to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cheetah working hard to break the clinch.
The referee calls for Cheetah to work.
Jones blocks a punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Cheetah obliges.

Jones breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Cheetah wants to clinch.
Nathaniel Jones is winning the standup battle so far.
Cheetah doesn't manage to clinch there - Jones circles away.
Cheetah is looking to clinch.
Jones is looking for a counter combo.

Cheetah forces Jones back against the ropes and clinches.
Cheetah trying to control the position but instead, Jones has worked for underhooks and has pushed Cheetah into the ropes.
Cheetah is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cheetah looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Cheetah tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Himayalan Cheetah seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Cheetah throws a knee to the head but misses.
Cheetah tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Jones pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Jones chopping away at his opponent's legs.

Cheetah closes the distance and pushes Jones back into the ropes.
Jones being controlled against the ropes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cheetah crunches a lovely knee into Jones's ribcage.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Himayalan Cheetah.
I think Jones 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Nathaniel Jones!