PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Thiago Lourenco (ranked 3172 p4p, 3440 weight class) and Darius Morgandorffer (ranked 324 p4p, 341 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Lourenco
vs
Morgandorffer

170 cm
20
155
3 - 2 - 0

170 cm
23
142
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Very strong

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Experienced

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Lourenco!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Darius Morgandorffer!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, Dean Styles and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Morgandorffer drives through and clinches with Lourenco against the cage.
Lourenco tries to pull guard but Morgandorffer won't allow it.

Lourenco pulls guard effortlessly.
Lourenco not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Morgandorffer works over Lourenco with some ground and pound from guard.
Morgandorffer wants to pass the guard but Lourenco is keeping the position.
Morgandorffer scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Lourenco is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Lourenco wants to control but Morgandorffer is keeping him busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lourenco looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Lourenco perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lourenco prevents Morgandorffer from improving his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Morgandorffer manages to get to full guard.
Morgandorffer keeping moving, preventing Lourenco from controlling successfully.
Lourenco pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Morgandorffer is keeping the position for now.
Morgandorffer keeping moving, preventing Lourenco from controlling successfully.

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.

Morgandorffer looking for a guillotine here but Lourenco defends easily.
Lourenco controls from within his opponent's guard.
Lourenco pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Morgandorffer is keeping the position for now.
Morgandorffer pulls Lourenco in close to prevent any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lourenco trying to control but Morgandorffer is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Lourenco tries to bum rush Morgandorffer with a series of wild strikes but Morgandorffer uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Morgandorffer tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Lourenco swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Morgandorffer tries to clinch there but Lourenco circles away.
Lourenco throws a solid leg kick but Morgandorffer takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Lourenco.
Morgandorffer tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Lourenco manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Lourenco on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Morgandorffer. Morgandorffer obviously looking to wear him down.

Morgandorffer closes the distance and pushes Lourenco back into the cage.

Lourenco jumps into guard, dragging Morgandorffer to the mat.
Lourenco manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Morgandorffer manages to get himself to full guard.

Morgandorffer isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Lourenco stacks Morgandorffer on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Lourenco!
Morgandorffer is looking for a sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lourenco throws an elbow but Morgandorffer slips to the side and avoids it well.
Lourenco lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Morgandorffer down.
Morgandorffer is looking to regain half guard here but Lourenco keeps moving and retains side control.
Lourenco is looking to take a break and control but Morgandorffer is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Morgandorffer gets back to half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Morgandorffer is staying active underneath Lourenco, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Lourenco dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Morgandorffer tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Morgandorffer dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Lourenco. That did some damage!
Lourenco throws a big shot that misses.
Morgandorffer ducks under a wild hook from Lourenco.
Morgandorffer tries a quick counter leg kick but Lourenco is wise to it.
Morgandorffer fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Lourenco has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Morgandorffer has closed the distance and engaged Lourenco in a clinch.
Lourenco tries to pull guard but Morgandorffer holds him up against the cage and eventually Lourenco drops back down to his feet.
Lourenco fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Morgandorffer tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Morgandorffer leaning against his opponent.
Lourenco is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Morgandorffer to keep the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Thiago Lourenco. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morgandorffer using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Lourenco has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morgandorffer misses with a knee strike.
Morgandorffer tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Lourenco tries to pull guard but Morgandorffer forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Morgandorffer has hold of one of Lourenco's legs. Lourenco is fighting the takedown attempt but Morgandorffer gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Lourenco looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Morgandorffer is pushing down on Lourenco's leg trying to pass to half guard. Lourenco is fighting to maintain full guard but Morgandorffer has managed to sneak the leg through.
Lourenco is looking to improve his position.
Lourenco is not content to let Morgandorffer control the position.
Morgandorffer passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Lourenco!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morgandorffer throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

Morgandorffer goes for an armbar but Lourenco turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Lourenco.
Morgandorffer trying to keep a closed guard but Lourenco is proving a slippery customer.
Morgandorffer 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.
Lourenco looking to sit in guard and control but Morgandorffer gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lourenco bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Morgandorffer's guard.

Morgandorffer working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Lourenco doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Lourenco manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Lourenco tries to free his leg and advance position but Morgandorffer is retaining full guard.
Morgandorffer working a defensive guard but Lourenco manages to pass into side control anyway.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morgandorffer tries to bench press Lourenco off him but Lourenco keeps the position.
Morgandorffer regains half guard.
Lourenco controlling the action here.
Lourenco is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgandorffer manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Lourenco manages to get himself to full guard.

Morgandorffer looking to sit in guard and control but Lourenco gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Lourenco pushes down on Morgandorffer's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Lourenco tries to pass the half guard into mount. Morgandorffer knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Lourenco is controlling the pace.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Darius Morgandorffer showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Lourenco scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Lourenco tries to move into full mount but can't pass Morgandorffer's legs.
Morgandorffer is trying to improve his position.
Morgandorffer is trying to control Lourenco's posture but Lourenco avoids it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lourenco remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

Lourenco tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morgandorffer is trying to improve his position.
Lourenco is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Morgandorffer's shoulder. That is not cool.
Thiago Lourenco overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Morgandorffer is looking for a sweep.
Morgandorffer sneaks back into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Lourenco trying to control from half guard but Morgandorffer is working away.
Morgandorffer is pressing down on Lourenco's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Lourenco trying to control the position from guard on top but Morgandorffer is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Morgandorffer lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Morgandorffer tries to clinch up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lourenco shoots in for a takedown but Morgandorffer shows good takedown defense.

Lourenco gets a takedown into half guard.
Lourenco trying to control from half guard but Morgandorffer is working away.

Morgandorffer looking for submissions off his back.
Lourenco takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Morgandorffer looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Lourenco is trying to control the action in half guard but Morgandorffer is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morgandorffer trying to control here.
Morgandorffer wants to get back to full guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Morgandorffer moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Lourenco trying to control but Morgandorffer is working from the bottom.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Morgandorffer looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago Lourenco showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Lourenco has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Anthony Taglia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thiago Lourenco!
Thiago Lourenco decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.