PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dean Howard (ranked 1248 p4p, 1830 weight class) and Thijs De Koning (ranked 196 p4p, 268 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Howard
vs
De Koning

185 cm
25
191
5 - 0 - 0

185 cm
21
189
3 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Dean Howard!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Thijs De Koning!
The judges for this bout are David Schapiro, Alyssa Summers and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard misses with a body shot.
De Koning tries to counter with a clinch but Howard shakes him off and moves away.
De Koning wants to clinch.
An attempted straight right counter from Howard misses the target.
De Koning is trying hard to land a takedown here. Howard sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Howard swats away the attempt to clinch by De Koning.
Nice sprawl there from Howard as De Koning shoots in.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Koning shoots in looking for a takedown. Howard tries to sprawl out of it but De Koning keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Howard manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Howard has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Dean Howard has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Thijs De Koning.
De Koning shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Howard but Howard pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Koning fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Howard sizes up De Koning with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
De Koning looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Howard is fending him off so far but De Koning persists. Nope, Howard circles away and we're back to standing.
It looked like Howard was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from De Koning.
De Koning wants to clinch
and Howard counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Howard misses the shot to the body.
De Koning tries to clinch there but Howard circles away.
De Koning throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Howard.
De Koning dives in for a single leg takedown but Howard sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice sprawl there from Howard as De Koning shoots in.
De Koning finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Howard swats away the attempt to clinch by De Koning.
Howard appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
De Koning fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
De Koning fails with a takedown attempt.
De Koning shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Howard pinned against the cage. Howard gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Koning shoots and misses
and Howard counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps De Koning thinking.
Howard misses with a wild body shot.

De Koning gets a takedown into half guard.
De Koning is just content to waste time from the top position. Howard takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Howard pulls De Koning in close to prevent any damage.
De Koning preventing the sweep.
Howard is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Howard looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
De Koning controlling from the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Koning pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Howard is keeping the position for now.

De Koning has gone for a leg lock! Howard slips out almost immediately though and dives into De Koning's guard.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Howard postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Howard won't allow De Koning to sweep him here.
Howard trying to control but De Koning is working from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Howard is in close to De Koning's body, working some short punches and elbows.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Howard pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. De Koning is keeping the position for now.
De Koning controls Howard momentarily but Howard frees himself.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Dean Howard dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Howard misses with a body shot.
Howard pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
De Koning avoids the body shot from Howard.
De Koning throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Howard's waist but Howard gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing De Koning off to one side.
De Koning tries to clinch up but Howard circles away and keeps his distance.

Howard scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Howard content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

De Koning looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Koning is looking to improve his position.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Howard lands a nice short elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Koning trying to control from the bottom.
Howard has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
De Koning has hold of Howard's hands but Howard slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Still in half guard, Howard seems content to control.
Howard is nestled in close to De Koning, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Howard tries to pass to full mount but De Koning defends it.

Howard is looking for a kimura here.
Howard drops an elbow to the side of De Koning's head.
Howard is looking to advance position but De Koning won't allow it.

De Koning looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

De Koning looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Howard prevents De Koning from improving his position.
De Koning is trying to control but Howard passes into side control!
De Koning is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Dean Howard overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Howard wants to control but De Koning is keeping him busy.
De Koning is working to avoid the ground and pound but Howard connects with a decent elbow.
De Koning tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Howard lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear De Koning down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Howard has hold of De Koning's arm here. He's working for an Americana. It looks like he might have it! De Koning tries to escape but he's just digging himself in deeper - Howard cranks the arm and De Koning screams in pain! The ref makes a decision and ends the fight before the tap - no complains from De Koning, who is just happy to have his arm attached to his body.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:20 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Dean Howard!
Dean Howard retains his middleweight title!
Dean Howard thanked the fans post fight for their support.