PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jean Leclair (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ash Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Leclair's entrance music is king crimson - 21st century schizoid man . A fine choice. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Leclair
vs
Thomas

175 cm
27
183 lbs
14 - 9 - 0

182 cm
32
178 lbs
20 - 10 - 0

Decent wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

Popeye’s Spinach - 159 + 158 Proof Supps

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jean Leclair!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Ash Thomas!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Yves DeLean and William Peck.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thomas throws a leg kick which misses Leclair's front leg but catches the back leg as Leclair tries to avoid it.
Leclair fails with an attempt to clinch.

Leclair gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Leclair tries a knee to the head but Thomas blocks it.
Thomas misses with some punches.
Thomas lands a nice uppercut.
Thomas avoids a wild elbow strike from Leclair.
Thomas makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Thomas lands a left hand that snaps the head of Leclair backwards.
Leclair putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Thomas in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

Thomas's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Good standup being displayed there by Thomas as he connects with a hook.
Leclair with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.

Leclair moves into the clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Leclair is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Thomas is defending well for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas controlling the action here for a moment.
Leclair is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Thomas is keeping busy.
Leclair controlling the action here for a moment.
Thomas doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Thomas has a couple of punches blocked by Leclair.
Thomas is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Come on Leclair - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Leclair is trying to maintain a safe position but Thomas gets an underhook and turns Leclair into the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Jean Leclair.
Leclair takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Thomas looks to land a body kick but Leclair moved away.
Thomas tries a head kick but it misses.
Leclair takes a jab right on the kisser.
Thomas looks to land a body kick but Leclair moved away.
Thomas throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Thomas scores with a head kick. Leclair tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Thomas throws a poor cross that misses
and Leclair makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Thomas.
Thomas avoids a kick to the body.
Leclair feints and then cracks Thomas's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Thomas down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Leclair cracks the inside of Thomas's front leg.
Thomas loads up on a big right hand but Leclair slips the punch.
Leclair keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Good work by Leclair as he checks the leg kick.
Thomas lands with an overhand left.
Thomas attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Thomas takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
A cross from Leclair lands.
Thomas will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Leclair tries to clinch up but Thomas circles away and keeps his distance.
Thomas thows a leg kick but Leclair checks it
and Leclair finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Leclair doesn't manage to clinch there - Thomas circles away.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Thomas throws a hook but Leclair blocks it.
Thomas throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
A leg kick checked by Leclair.
Thomas lands an overhand right.
Thomas throws a body kick that misses.
Thomas throws a lazy uppercut
and Leclair counters with a slapping leg kick.
Leclair pivots, looking for a leg kick but Thomas is out of range and Leclair settles back down.
Thomas fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Leclair is out of range.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Leclair blocks a head kick by Thomas.
Thomas takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Thomas stuns Leclair with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Jean Leclair will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Thomas dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Thomas checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Leclair moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Thomas lands with a right hand.

Leclair has Thomas up against the cage in a clinch.
Leclair missing with knees to the body.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Thomas is trying to break the clinch but Leclair is controlling him.
Leclair throws an elbow that misses.
Leclair missing with knees to the body.
Leclair trying to land knees to the body.
Leclair holding his opponent close, against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Thomas wants to break the clinch but can't.
Leclair misses with an elbow strike.
Leclair stalls.
Thomas managing to block the knees to the body from Leclair.
Thomas has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
A right handed body shot lands from Leclair.
Leclair is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Thomas is keeping busy.
Leclair is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Jean Leclair.
Thomas throws a leg kick that is checked
and Leclair counters with a body kick that stops Thomas in his tracks momentarily.
Jean Leclair is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Leclair misses with an attempted mid kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Leclair feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Thomas's calf.
Thomas throws a wild body kick that Leclair sees coming a mile off.
Leclair fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Thomas.
Thomas's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Leclair tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Thomas manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Thomas misses with a leg kick
and Leclair counters with a solid body kick.
Thomas throws a body kick that misses.
Thomas throws a low kick but Leclair avoids it.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Thomas in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas circles away from the clinch attempt.
Thomas tries a low kick but Leclair avoids it.
Thomas lands a body shot.
Thomas throws a body kick that misses.
Leclair tries to close the distance and clinch up but Thomas swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leclair scores with a push kick.
Leclair works Thomas's body with a nice hook.
Leclair stuns Thomas with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Leclair tries to land a front kick but Thomas steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Thomas throws the left hand but Leclair avoids the punch easily.
Thomas darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
A nice inside leg kick there by Leclair. That's going to slow Thomas down.
Ash Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Leclair throws a sloppy head kick
and Thomas counters with a leg kick.
Thomas avoids a punch combination nicely.
Jean Leclair is winning the standup battle so far.
Thomas attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas throws a chopping leg kick but Leclair manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Leclair scoring well with a low kick there.
An inside leg kick lands from Thomas.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Thomas swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Thomas misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Thomas gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Leclair.
Thomas throws a leg kick but Leclair sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Thomas goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Leclair throws a wild body kick that Thomas sees coming a mile off.
Thomas uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Leclair has time to react.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jean Leclair dominated that second round.
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!

A telegraphed right hand from Leclair misses the target.
Leclair uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Thomas.
Leclair on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Thomas swings for the body but Leclair moves out of range.
Leclair fails in his attempt to clinch.
Leclair gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Leclair takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Thomas lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Leclair blocks the body kick.
Leclair scores with a head kick. Thomas tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Leclair tries to clinch there but Thomas circles away.
Thomas throws a head kick that misses
and Leclair counters with a stiff right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas throws a half hearted mid kick.
Leclair misses with an uppercut. Thomas saw that one coming.
Leclair is looking to clinch.
Leclair lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Thomas.
Thomas takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Leclair moves out of range of the body kick.
Leclair tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A big right from Thomas misses.
Leclair feints a jab promting Thomas to slip. Leclair then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Thomas slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Thomas misses with a looping right.
Ash Thomas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thomas tried to score with a low kick but Leclair checks it.
Leclair tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Thomas counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Thomas lands a high kick!
Thomas throws an off balance right hand
and Leclair counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Thomas avoids the head kick by Leclair.

Leclair gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Thomas is trying to break the clinch but Leclair is controlling him.
Thomas lands a body punch.
Leclair pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Leclair trying to control the position but instead, Thomas has worked for underhooks and has pushed Leclair into the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leclair looking to throw knees to the head but Thomas is blocking nicely.
Leclair keeps control of Thomas as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Leclair is looking to control Thomas's arms but Thomas gets an underhook and turns him. Now Leclair has his back to the cage.
Jean Leclair is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Thomas pressing his opponent against the cage.
Leclair missing with knees to the body.
Leclair holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Leclair gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice elbow from Leclair.
Leclair lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Leclair blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Thomas lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Leclair backwards.
Leclair tries to throw a body punch but Thomas avoids it by throwing Leclair back against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Thomas lands an uppercut.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Jean Leclair.
Well Leclair 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:29
Judge William Peck scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Ash Thomas!
Ash Thomas bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.