PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Josh Thornton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and wanderlei griffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thornton is coming into this fight with a significant injury, which will no doubt have an effect on his cardio. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Thornton
vs
griffin

190 cm
22
278 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

223 cm
19
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Josh Thornton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, wanderlei griffin!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Saam Ante and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Thornton drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Thornton is breathing heavily.
griffin controls Thornton momentarily but Thornton frees himself.
griffin is pulling down on Thornton's head to control his posture.
griffin's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Thornton really is a fat lump.
griffin controls Thornton momentarily but Thornton frees himself.

Thornton got a little sloppy there for a moment and griffin has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Thornton has managed to get both his arms back between griffin's legs - danger averted.
griffin is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
griffin not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
griffin is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
griffin has his takedown stuffed

and Thornton counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Thornton thows a huge punch but griffin dodges it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
griffin trying to hold on to Thornton's head to control him but Thornton postures up.
griffin slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Thornton missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
griffin is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Thornton working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Thornton stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. griffin swivels though and keeps the full guard.

griffin had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Thornton defends it easily.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
griffin fails with a takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Thornton throws an overhand right that lands on griffin's shoulder, as griffin tries to avoid the shot.
griffin looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Josh Thornton has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of wanderlei griffin.
griffin fails with a takedown attempt.
griffin misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
griffin shoots and misses

and Thornton counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for griffin!
The referee warns griffin that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Thornton lands a big elbow.
Thornton looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Thornton cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Thornton is landing with some decent strikes but griffin is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Thornton lands a nice shot to the head.
A nice elbow there by Thornton.

Thornton looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Thornton putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Thornton lands a heavy elbow.
Thornton dominating with strikes here.
Thornton is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. griffin can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Thornton cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
griffin is in all sorts of trouble here.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Thornton cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
The referee warns griffin that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
griffin in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
griffin keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Thornton punishing his opponent with strikes.
Thornton lands with some strikes.
Thornton raining down shots from the mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Thornton dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Thornton circles away from the clinch attempt

and Thornton counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Thornton.
griffin is trying to keep Thornton in close.
griffin keeping moving, preventing Thornton from controlling successfully.
Thornton in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
griffin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Thornton's guard.
griffin trying to control the position from guard on top but Thornton is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Thornton on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Thornton tries to get out of the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thornton 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.
Thornton keeping moving, preventing griffin from controlling successfully.
griffin missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Thornton tries to land a sweep but no joy.
griffin wants to control from the top but Thornton keeps moving.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
griffin clinches but Thornton breaks the clinch

and Thornton counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Thornton.
Thornton with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
griffin wants to sweep but no luck.
griffin looking to control.
Thornton throwing strikes from guard but griffin blocks nicely.
Thornton pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. griffin is keeping the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thornton scoring with punches to the head and body.
Thornton scoring with some ground and pound.
griffin trying to keep a closed guard but Thornton is proving a slippery customer.
Josh Thornton overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Thornton closes the distance and clinches.
griffin is trying to stall.

griffin manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
griffin 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.
Thornton has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Thornton scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
griffin is trying to control the position from the bottom.
griffin throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Thornton is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Thornton lands a couple of digs.

griffin working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Thornton doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Thornton manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Thornton throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as griffin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
griffin tries for a takedown but Thornton circles away easily

and Thornton counters with a takedown into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Thornton dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Thornton lands a really nice looking cross but griffin seems unphased.
griffin with a lazy takedown attempt

and Thornton counters with a nice double leg into side control. griffin won't be happy with that.
Thornton in side control, throwing shots but griffin defends.
griffin is trying to buck Thornton off.
Thornton happy to just control the position for now.
griffin is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Thornton off and has taken his back!

griffin tightening his grip on Thornton, looking for the choke.
griffin misses with a punch to the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thornton is in bad spot here.
Thornton is keeping busy.
Thornton tries to escape the position.

That's two 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.
Thornton trying to control the position but griffin manages to sink in the hooks.
Thornton looking very determined here, making life difficult for griffin.
I really don't envy Thornton right now.
griffin wants to control but Thornton manages to buck him off and is now in griffin's guard! Nice work there by Thornton!

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Thornton fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Thornton scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Thornton throwing shots but griffin is blocking nicely.
Thornton not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Thornton working over griffin with some ground and pound. griffin looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Thornton tries to pass the half guard into mount. griffin knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Thornton drops an elbow to the side of griffin's head.
Thornton thows a huge punch but griffin dodges it nicely.
griffin is looking for a sweep. Thornton is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
griffin is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Thornton scores with a couple of nice shots.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
griffin slips under a jab.

Thornton gets a takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
griffin is trying to get back to full guard.
griffin trying to control here.
griffin slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now griffin is on top in guard.
Thornton wants to get back to his feet but griffin is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Josh Thornton showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Thornton 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 Saam Ante scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Josh Thornton!