PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Derrick Thomas (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eric Staal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thomas comes to the ring accompanied by Shinedown - "State Of My Head". These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Thomas
vs
Staal

191 cm
22
197 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

180 cm
24
192 lbs
5 - 2 - 1

Good wrestling
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Victory! Sports Nutrition
Unity Clothing

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 New York, Derrick Thomas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 1, fighting out of New York, Eric Staal!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Sosuke Kotani and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Thomas tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.

Thomas has managed to clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Thomas fails to land.
Staal misses with a short punch on the inside.
Thomas using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Staal has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Thomas manages to break the clinch.
Thomas throws a one two combo.
Thomas lands a jab to Staal's midsection.
Thomas misses with a low kick.
Thomas wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Thomas blocks a head kick by Staal.
Thomas was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Staal pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Thomas quickly followed up with a counter body kick but doesn't connect.
No joy there for Thomas, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Staal tried to score with a low kick but Thomas checks it.
Thomas tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Staal manages to circle out of the way.

Thomas clinches up with Staal and pushes him back against the ropes.
Thomas lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Thomas goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas tries a body shot but Staal blocks it.
Thomas softening up his opponent with strikes, against the ropes.

Staal has picked Thomas up - he's going for a ride! Staal dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Staal seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
My spies in Hunter MMA inform me that Staal has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Thomas is looking to control Staal's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Thomas avoid being mounted?
Thomas blocking the ground and pound attempt from Staal.
Thomas is trying to stand back up but Staal is controlling him
Thomas is looking for a sweep. Staal is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Thomas has a hand on Staal's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Staal takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Thomas regains half guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staal lands strikes from half guard.
Thomas knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Staal on the ground.
Thomas is looking to improve his position.
Thomas wants to get back to his feet.
Thomas is looking for a sweep. Staal is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Thomas is refusing to be controlled, as Staal sits in half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Staal lands a nice short elbow.
Staal has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas controlling the position for now.
Staal is trying to control the action in half guard but Thomas is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Staal passes to side control.
Thomas has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Staal wants to control but Thomas is keeping him busy.
Staal scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Thomas to see if he's OK.
Thomas is trying to improve his position.
Thomas is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Staal landing a few strikes.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Thomas tries to improve position but can't.
Staal in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Staal works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Thomas is looking to regain half guard here but Staal keeps moving and retains side control.
Staal cracks Thomas with an elbow. That is naaassty.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas is trying to get back to half guard.
Thomas is not content to let Staal control the position.
Staal scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Thomas to see if he's OK.
Thomas is looking to reverse the position.
Staal lands some shots froms side control.
Thomas is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Staal working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Eric Staal will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Staal throws the kick towards the body but Thomas avoids it.
Thomas throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Staal counters with a low kick, right behind Thomas 's knee.
Thomas swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Thomas scores with a sloppy right hand. Staal should have avoided that one.
Thomas has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Staal.
Thomas throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Staal sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Staal feints the counter takedown.
Thomas misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
A nice inside leg kick there by Thomas. That's going to slow Staal down.
Derrick Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Staal shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Thomas as he avoids it easily.
Thomas has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by Staal.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas moves out of range of the strikes.
Thomas looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
A solid leg kick lands there for Staal.
Staal swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thomas takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Thomas throws a sloppy head kick

and Staal counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Staal slips a nice elbow through Thomas's hands, connecting with Thomas's forehead.
Staal working Thomas over with strikes.
Staal working Thomas over with strikes.
Thomas taking some punishment here, with Staal in his half guard.
Thomas trying to hold on to Staal's head to control him but Staal postures up.
Thomas blocking the ground and pound attempt from Staal.
Staal wants to take a breather but Thomas is having none of it.
Thomas works his way to full guard. Good work.
Staal throws a big elbow that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Staal working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Staal forces his way into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas pushes Staal off looking to stand but Staal dives back in and keeps control.
Staal seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Thomas does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Staal working over Thomas with some ground and pound. Thomas looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Staal takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Thomas is not content to let Staal control the position.
Thomas trying to hold on to Staal's head to control him but Staal postures up.
Thomas tries to get to full guard but Staal has control of the leg.
Staal seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas wants to control but Staal is keeping busy.
Thomas trying to get back to full guard but Staal takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Staal landing strikes from the mount.
Staal is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Thomas can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Staal unloading with bombs!
Staal landing punches.
Thomas sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Eric Staal has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Thomas is trying to stand.
Staal is looking to take a break and control but Thomas is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Staal lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Thomas is not content to let Staal control the position.
Staal seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Thomas is looking to control Staal's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Thomas avoid being mounted?
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Staal lands a nice short elbow.
Thomas moves into full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eric Staal showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Staal lands a body shot.
Thomas lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Staal at a distance.
Thomas misses the body punch

and Staal counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Staal won't allow Thomas to sweep him here.
Staal looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Staal throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Thomas works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas trying to keep a closed guard but Staal is proving a slippery customer.
Staal seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Staal working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Staal lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Thomas being controlled here, momentarily.
Let's hope that Staal has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Staal scoring with punches to the head and body.
Staal throwing strikes but missing.

That's two 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 preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Staal postures up.
Thomas avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Staal keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Thomas's head.
Staal has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Staal loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Thomas is on top in guard.

Staal looking for a sweep. Not yet Staal, not yet.
Thomas slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Thomas trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Thomas stopping the sweep attempt from Staal.
Derrick Thomas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas takes a decent strike to the side of the head.
Staal has a closed guard, preventing Thomas from standing up.
Staal controls Thomas momentarily but Thomas frees himself.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Thomas trying to control the position from guard on top but Staal is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Staal tries to land a sweep but no joy.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Derrick Thomas is winning the standup battle so far.
Staal feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Thomas's calf.
Thomas tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Staal fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Thomas.
Staal throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Eric Staal is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Staal.
Thomas throws a leg kick but Staal checks it.
Staal tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
A leg kick checked by Staal.
Thomas looks to land a left hand but Staal moved out of range nicely.
Staal catches Thomas with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
A decent looking cross lands there for Staal.
Nice body punch from Staal.
A good leg kick by Staal.
Staal cracks the inside of Thomas's front leg.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Thomas looks to throw a body kick

and Staal counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Staal winds up and cracks Thomas with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Thomas scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Staal manages to mount him!

And that's the end of the fight!
Eric Staal comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Staal winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight for Eric Staal!
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight for Eric Staal!
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight for Eric Staal!

Eric Staal wins by unanimous decision!