PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Diego Sanchez (ranked 921 p4p, 1296 weight class) and Fortunado Sampaio (ranked 140 p4p, 203 weight class). Sampaio has chosen Corre Riba Corre Baixo as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Sanchez
vs
Sampaio

190 cm
29
205
8 - 5 - 0

190 cm
26
217
5 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Heavy handed

Urban Fighter
Savage Fightwear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Diego Sanchez!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Fortunado Sampaio!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Tiny Johnson and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sampaio misses the shot to the body.
Sampaio on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Sanchez thuds his right hand into Sampaio's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Sampaio scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Sanchez throws a right hand that misses
and Sampaio counters with a low kick, right behind Sanchez 's knee.
Sampaio slaps away a takedown attempt from Sanchez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
A countering left hand to the body from Sampaio misses.
Sampaio has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Sanchez scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Sanchez throws a sloppy body shot
and Sampaio counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Sampaio does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.

Sanchez moves into the clinch successfully.
Sanchez prevents a body shot from Sampaio.
Sanchez swings wildly with an uppercut but Sampaio uses good head movement to avoid it.
A short uppercut from Sanchez.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampaio throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Sanchezs head.
Sampaio can't find room to land a body shot as Sanchez controls the action.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Sampaio.
Sampaio gets through Sanchez's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Sanchez misses with a punch to the body.
Sampaio doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Sampaio misses with a punch to the body.
Sampaio lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Sanchez backwards.
Sampaio has a couple of punches blocked by Sanchez.
Sanchez lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Sanchez lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Sampaio has a couple of punches blocked by Sanchez.
Sampaio misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Sanchez blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Sanchez has a couple of punches blocked by Sampaio.
Sampaio misses with a punch to the body.
Sampaio tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sanchez's elbow.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Sampaio.
Sanchez drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Sampaio gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Sanchez blocks a body shot from Sampaio.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sanchez swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Sanchez blocks a body shot from Sampaio.
Sampaio misses with a short punch on the inside.
Sampaio fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Sanchez can't find room to land a body shot as Sampaio controls the action.
Sampaio scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Sampaio misses with a punch on the inside.
Sanchez cracks Sampaio with a nice body shot.
Sanchez blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Sampaio tries to stall but Sanchez uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Sampaio prevents a takedown attempt there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Diego Sanchez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sanchez lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Sanchez lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Sampaio.
Sanchez tries a body shot but Sampaio blocks it.
A short uppercut from Sanchez.
Sampaio scores with a shot to the side of Sanchez's head.
Sanchez prevents a body shot from Sampaio.
Sampaio swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Sanchez fails to land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sanchez has picked Sampaio up - he's going for a ride! Sanchez dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Sanchez throwing shots but Sampaio is blocking nicely.
Sampaio is controlling Sanchez's trapped leg to prevent Sanchez from advancing to side control.
Sanchez is looking to take a break and control but Sampaio is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sanchez throwing shots but Sampaio is blocking nicely.
Sampaio blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sanchez.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Sampaio can do anything to dispel that myth.
Sampaio keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Sanchez is nestled in close to Sampaio, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Sanchez wants to control but Sampaio is keeping him busy.
Nice strikes from Sanchez there.
Sanchez trying to control from half guard but Sampaio is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Sanchez keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Sanchez is looking to take a break and control but Sampaio is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Sanchez in particular looking to stall.
Sampaio has his hands clasped together around Sanchez's back. He's all about the action.
Sampaio is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Sanchez jumps into side control!
Sanchez working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Sanchez throwing strikes but Sampaio manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sampaio taking a breather here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Diego Sanchez will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Good exchange - Sanchez coming out on top.
Sanchez connects with a leg kick.
Sampaio uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Sanchez.
A nice side step and Sampaio releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Sanchez pivots, looking for a leg kick but Sampaio is out of range and Sanchez settles back down.
Sampaio staying out of range there.
Sanchez swings and misses with a shot to the body
letting Sampaio counter with a right hand.
Sanchez lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sanchez misses with a left hand
enabling Sampaio to counter with a crisp jab.
Sanchez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Sampaio counters with a lovely straight right hand!
A solid leg kick lands there for Sanchez.
Sampaio lands with a right hand.

Sanchez is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampaio on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Oh Sanchez is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Sanchez looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Sanchez misses with a hook
and Sampaio counters with a massive hook, right on the button! He's out cold! Damn, that was naaaaaasty! Hopefully he'll be OK.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:10 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Fortunado Sampaio!
Fortunado Sampaio is the new light heavyweight champion!
Fortunado Sampaio was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.