PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight kickboxing rules bout between Jerome Le Banner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lucian Thrope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Lucian Thrope struggled to make weight for this fight. He only made it down to 147.6lbs at the first attempt and had to take the additional two hours to make the official bout weight. Let's see how much it's taken out of him. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Le Banner
vs
Thrope

160 cm
18
152 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

175 cm
25
156 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Excellent MT
Granite chin

Dangerous knees
Tends to cut

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jerome Le Banner!
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, Lucian Thrope!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Alexandre Firmino and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Thrope clinches up against the ropes.
Thrope lands a knee to the body.
Le Banner avoiding damage as Thrope throws knees to the body.
Le Banner blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Thrope with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Le Banner avoiding damage as Thrope throws knees to the body.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Thrope taking a breather.
Le Banner wants to break free but Thrope has control.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thrope unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Thrope prevents a body shot from Le Banner.
Le Banner on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Le Banner being controlled against the ropes.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the head but Le Banner blocks with his arms.
Thrope is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Le Banner is defending well for now.
Knees to the body from Thrope.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Le Banner on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Thrope using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Le Banner has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Thrope missing with knees to the body.
Le Banner managing to block the knees to the body from Thrope.
Thrope looks winded!
Le Banner avoiding damage as Thrope throws knees to the body.
Le Banner on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Le Banner on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Le Banner is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Le Banner wants to break the clinch but can't.
Le Banner can't find room to land a body shot as Thrope controls the action.
Le Banner trying to stall but Thrope improves his position.
Le Banner blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Le Banner is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Thrope is keeping busy.
Thrope struggles to land a body shot inside as Le Banner controls his hands.
Le Banner tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Thrope avoids it.
A head punch on the inside from Le Banner fails to land.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Thrope looking to slow down the pace here.
Le Banner is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Thrope is defending well for now.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Le Banner is trying to break the clinch but Thrope is controlling him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lucian Thrope dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Thrope clinches with his opponent.
Thrope misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Le Banner.
Thrope misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Knees in the clinch landing for Thrope.
With the two fighters working up against the ropes, Le Banner just misses with a elbow thrown towards Thrope's brow.
Thrope is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Le Banner is defending well for now.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Le Banner is trying to break the clinch but Thrope is controlling him.
Le Banner wants to get back to striking at distance but Thrope won't allow it.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Thrope obliges.
Lucian Thrope seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Thrope misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Le Banner.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Le Banner is trying to push Thrope away but Thrope has him pressed against the ropes, so he's going nowhere.
Le Banner managing to block the knees to the body from Thrope.
Le Banner blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Le Banner avoiding damage as Thrope throws knees to the body.
Thrope is breathing heavily.
Le Banner can't find room to land a body shot as Thrope controls the action.
Thrope has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Le Banner takes a knee to the side of the body.
Le Banner trying to control the position but instead, Thrope has worked for underhooks and has pushed Le Banner into the ropes.
Thrope blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Knees to the body from Thrope.
Thrope missing with knees to the body.
Knees to the body from Thrope.
Thrope prevents Le Banner from breaking the clinch.
Thrope keeps control of Le Banner as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Thrope connects with a nasty looking knee right to Le Banner's face.
Le Banner tries a body shot but Thrope blocks it.
Thrope taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Thrope tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Thrope scores with a knee to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Le Banner has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Le Banner misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Le Banner is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
Le Banner looking to stall.
Thrope tries to land knees in the clinch but Le Banner avoids the damage to the body.
Le Banner is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Le Banner could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Le Banner misses with a short punch on the inside.
Le Banner tries to break free but Thrope pushes him back against the ropes.
Thrope goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Thrope is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Le Banner is defending well for now.
Le Banner managing to block the knees to the body from Thrope.
Le Banner throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Thrope blocks it with crossed arms.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lucian Thrope showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Le Banner doesn't manage to clinch there - Thrope circles away.
Le Banner throws a head kick but Thrope moves out of range.

Thrope closes the distance and clinches.
Thrope tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Le Banner creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Le Banner breaks from the clinch.

Thrope has taken the fight to the clinch.
Thrope missing with knees to the body.
A head punch on the inside from Le Banner fails to land.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thrope working aggressively here.
Le Banner on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Le Banner taking a breather.
Le Banner on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Thrope takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Thrope throws a knee to the head but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Thrope trying to land knees to the body.
Thrope blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Thrope is pushing Le Banner up against the ropes, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Le Banner avoiding damage as Thrope throws knees to the body.
Le Banner stalling in the clinch but Thrope improves position.
Thrope is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Le Banner is defending well for now.
Thrope blocks an elbow strike from Le Banner.
Le Banner trying to land knees to the body.
Le Banner is trying to break the clinch but Thrope has him pressed against the ropes.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Le Banner blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Thrope blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Le Banner looking to slow down the pace here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Thrope has Le Banner pressed against the ropes, preventing Le Banner from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Thrope taking a breather.
Le Banner avoids a wild elbow strike from Thrope.
Thrope blocks an uppercut.
Thrope tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Le Banner avoids it.
Le Banner tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Thrope avoids it.
Le Banner looking to stall.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Thrope keeps control of Le Banner as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Le Banner can't break the clinch.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Le Banner trying to stall but Thrope improves his position.
Thrope misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Le Banner.
Jerome Le Banner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Le Banner struggles to land a body shot inside as Thrope controls his hands.
Thrope looking to stall.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lucian Thrope comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Thrope 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 27:30
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 27:30
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lucian Thrope!