PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Dale English (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jonny Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

English
vs
Thomas

180 cm
22
153 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
22
150 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

FIT FOR LIFE
FIT FOR LIFE

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dale English!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jonny Thomas!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Seu Braga and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No luck for English with that takedown attempt.

English clinches with his opponent.
English makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
English has Thomas pressed against the cage.

English manages to break the clinch.
Thomas fails to land with a series of punches.
Thomas has his takedown stuffed

and English counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by English.
Thomas is trying to control the position but English postures up.
English postures up in Thomas's guard and throws a big left but Thomas blocks it.

English drops back looking for a leg! Thomas is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Thomas manages to kick English off! English jumps back into Thomas's guard.
Thomas keeping moving, preventing English from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Thomas kicks English off and gets to his feet.
Thomas throws an overhand right that lands on English's shoulder, as English tries to avoid the shot.
Nice sprawl there from Thomas as English shoots in.
English looks to throw the jab but Thomas is out of range.
English throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
English tries to clinch but Thomas moves out of range.
Thomas throws a lazy body kick
and English counters with a nice low kick that buckles Thomas's knee momentarily.
English misses with a takedown attempt
letting Thomas counter with a right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dale English. That's going to take a lot out of him.
English is breathing heavily.
Thomas throws a combination but it was largely blocked by English.
Thomas ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Thomas looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? English is fending him off so far but Thomas persists. Nope, English circles away and we're back to standing.
Thomas with a lazy takedown attempt
and English counters with a good low kick that Thomas was not able to check.
Dale English seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
English has his takedown stuffed
and Thomas counters with an inside leg kick.
A head kick misses from Thomas.
Thomas shoots in and drives through. English sprawls well.
Thomas avoids the head kick by English.
Thomas stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from English.

English clinches with his opponent.
English effectively controlling the action here.
English crunches a lovely knee into Thomas's ribcage.
Thomas lands a nice knee to the body.

English breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
English with a poor takedown

and Thomas counters with a nice double leg into side control. English won't be happy with that.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Thomas has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Horrible takedown by English or perhaps it was just good defense by Thomas which made him look bad.
English tries to clinch but Thomas moves out of range.
Thomas darts in trying to clinch

and English moves into the clinch.

English pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Thomas fails with the takedown.
Thomas stuffs the takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

English moves into the clinch.

English breaks the clinch.
English shoots in for a double leg but Thomas sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Thomas fails to land the takedown.

English shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Thomas's guard.
Thomas looking to control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Thomas looking for a guillotine here but English defends easily.
Thomas is controlling English's posture.
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 Dale English will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

English shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Thomas as he avoids it easily.
Thomas with a lazy takedown attempt
and English counters with a nice kick to the body.
Thomas on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by English. English obviously looking to wear him down.
English misses with a takedown
and Thomas counters with a lovely straight right hand!
English pushes Thomas away with a front kick.

English darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Thomas is trying to stand.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
English is thwarting Thomas's attempts to control the position.
Thomas is trying to stand up here but English is controlling him well.

English escapes and gets back to his feet.
English tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Thomas paws at him with a jab and circles away.
English shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Thomas as he jumps to the side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dale English. That's going to take a lot out of him.
English closes this distance looking for a takedown but Thomas circles away.
English tries a head kick but it misses.
Horrible takedown by Thomas or perhaps it was just good defense by English which made him look bad.
Horrible takedown by Thomas or perhaps it was just good defense by English which made him look bad.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
English has his takedown stuffed
and Thomas counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Thomas avoids the head kick by English.
Thomas misses with the body kick

and English counters with a shoot takedown. Thomas fights it but they end up in guard.
English is looking to work some ground and pound but Thomas has wrist control.
English wants to get up but he can't break Thomas's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Thomas is looking to stand up but English isn't so interested in that idea.
Dale English overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Thomas has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but English can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas keeping moving, preventing English from controlling successfully.
Thomas is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as English accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Thomas trying to keep a closed guard but English is proving a slippery customer.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
English fails with the takedown.
English tries to clinch but Thomas moves out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Thomas misses with a takedown
and English counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
English shoots for a takedown but Thomas saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Thomas throws a lazy body kick
and English counters with an outside leg kick.
Thomas lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as English backs up against the cage.
Thomas scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
English shoots for a double leg takedown but Thomas sprawls well. He's pushed English's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Thomas fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
English looks for a takedown but Thomas sprawls well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dale English dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

English walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
English tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Thomas paws at him with a jab and circles away.
English slips a jab and a cross from Thomas.
Thomas shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says English as he avoids it easily.
English shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
English just misses with a punch to the body.
English misses with an uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

English has taken the fight to the clinch.

English gets control of Thomas's arms and successfully pulls guard. English will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Thomas wants to stand but English has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Thomas wants to control from the top but English keeps moving.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas wants to stand but English is controlling his posture from full guard.
English has Thomas pulled in close to control his posture.
Thomas preventing the sweep.
Thomas wants to stand and escape but instead English has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Thomas striking off his back but it's not causing English any problems.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
English controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Thomas looking to hit a scissor sweep but English is one step ahead there.
English tries to free his leg and advance position but Thomas is retaining full guard.
Thomas wants to get back to his feet but English is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Thomas keeping moving, preventing English from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
English slips a jab and a cross from Thomas.
English scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
English shoots in for a double leg but Thomas sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
English misses with a takedown attempt - Thomas sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dale English. That's going to take a lot out of him.
English misses with a combination
and Thomas counters with a nice uppercut.
English misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Thomas tries to clinch up
and English counters with a flying knee. Nice.

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.
English tries to clinch there but Thomas circles away.
Dale English is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Thomas looks to clinch
and English counters with a low kick, right behind Thomas 's knee.
English shoots in and drives through. Thomas sprawls well.
English fails in his attempt to clinch.
Thomas moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

English gets the takedown into side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
English is looking to take a break and control but Thomas is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Thomas is trying to control English's posture but English avoids it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dale English showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for English, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dale English!