Strikeforce on NBC 5/4 Re-Cap

Strikeforce on NBC 5/4 Re-Cap

Last week we saw Eugene “The Wolf” Jackson and a very impressive showing from Josh “The Punk” Thomson.” This week looks like we will have another Josh Thomson match against Nam Phan.

They show a hype video for Josh Thomson. Focusing on how much he enjoys what he does.

Lightweight Fight- Josh “The Punk” Thomson (10-2-1) vs. Nam Phan (12-2)

R1- Phan leads with jabs to start. Thomson gets some knees in and then they clinch against the cage. Phan is a BJJ fighter who is coming in with 7 straight wins. No clear advantage so far but Phan takes Thomson down. They mention that Thomson was a wrestler at Stanford and then joke about what a Stanford man is doing in MMA. Thomson does well on the bottom and then goes after Phan when they get to their feet with knees and strikes and really pushes Phan. Phan clinches him up but Thomson takes him down. Thomson is in Phan’s guard and is getting some decent shots in. Back to their feet after a sprawl and Thomson nails two knees and then another. R1 I’ll give to Thomson but Phan is still very much in this fight and has avoided any bad damage.

R2- Thomson connects early in R1 and Phan falls to the ground. Phan grabs a guillotine but Thomson gets out quickly and is in Phan’s guard. Phan gets Thomson’s back but Thomson quickly gets out of it. They are exchanging on their feet now, Thomson gets a knee and then they clinch again. Thomson with 2 or 3 really nice punches in stand up before they clinch. They are mixing it up pretty good and fighting pretty evenly in the later stages of this round. Thomson grabs a brief Muy Thai clinch and hits a knee. Thomson takes this round also as he got a knockdown, hit several good clean punches and just overall pushed the pace of the round and controlled the action. He’s not quite dominating but he is controlling.

R3- Round Three they are standing up and throwing. Thomson with some kicks. About mid-way through the round and Thomson lands three knees in a row. Phan is having more luck this round with strikes but just as I say that Thomson lands a nice spinning heel kick and then clamps on a guillotine but it doesn’t look to be applying enough pressure. Thomson lets go and know he’s in full mount with Phan against the cage and Thomson is landing some blows. Phan gets back in guard but Thomson still landing blows and finishes the round strong.

I’ve got Thomson 30-27 in this fight. Thomson looked good and Phan looked good in defeat as he hung with Thomson for the most part although he never really had control of the match. And the judges agree with me- 30-27 across the board.

Winner: Josh Thomson by Decision (Unanimous)