PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Hudson Oliveira (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gabriel Sassaki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sassaki comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Apaga mais não bate kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Oliveira
vs
Sassaki

185 cm
20
220 lbs
2 - 8 - 0

183 cm
22
218 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hudson Oliveira!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Gabriel Sassaki!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Luis Engracia and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sassaki misses with a head kick.

Sassaki shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Oliveira napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Oliveira tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Oliveira wants to control but Sassaki postures up.

Sassaki is trying to get an arm triangle but Oliveira is defending well.

Sassaki stands up.
Oliveira with a lazy takedown attempt

and Sassaki decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Oliveira's guard.
Sassaki is working Oliveira over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sassaki trying to control the position from guard on top but Oliveira is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Oliveira had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Sassaki defends it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sassaki looking to sit in guard and control but Oliveira gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Oliveira trying to control but Sassaki is working from the bottom.

Oliveira avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Oliveira wants to control from the top but Sassaki keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Oliveira preventing the sweep.
Oliveira looking to sit in guard and control but Sassaki gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Sassaki throwing strikes from guard but Oliveira blocks nicely.
Sassaki in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

Oliveira looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Oliveira is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sassaki scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Oliveira wants to stand but Sassaki is controlling the position.
Sassaki slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Sassaki stands up over Oliveira, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Oliveira keeping moving, preventing Sassaki from controlling successfully.
Sassaki sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Sassaki pushes down on Oliveira's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Oliveira wants to get back to his feet.
Oliveira tries to roll over but Sassaki keeps him under control.
Sassaki should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Ground and pound from Sassaki.
Sassaki controlling the action here.

Sassaki is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Oliveira sees it coming and defends easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sassaki takes the fight into the clinch.
Oliveira jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Sassaki walks away with a smile on his face. Oliveira gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Oliveira slips a jab and a cross from Sassaki.
Sassaki has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Oliveira finds it's way round the side to connect with Sassaki's head.
Sassaki with a lazy takedown attempt

and Oliveira counters by clinching up.

Sassaki's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sassaki chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Gabriel Sassaki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sassaki misses with a series of wild punches.
Sassaki has his takedown stuffed

and Oliveira counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Sassaki's guard now.
Oliveira wants to control from the top but Sassaki keeps moving.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Sassaki is pulling down on Oliveira's head to control his posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sassaki avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Sassaki holds on and takes a little breather.
Sassaki 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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Oliveira throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Sassaki closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sassaki lands in his opponent's guard.
Sassaki loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Oliveira working a defensive guard here.
Oliveira keeping moving, preventing Sassaki from controlling successfully.
Sassaki passes into half guard.
Sassaki wants to take a breather but Oliveira is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sassaki is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Oliveira defends it well.
Sassaki trying to control the action but Oliveira is working from the bottom.
Oliveira is controlling Sassaki's trapped leg to prevent Sassaki from advancing to side control.
Well, if Sassaki is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Gabriel Sassaki.
Oliveira on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Oliveira looks to clinch
and Sassaki counters with a leg kick.

Sassaki forces Oliveira back against the cage and clinches.

Sassaki breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Oliveira tries to clinch but Sassaki is having none of it.

Sassaki clinches up against the cage.

Sassaki turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Sassaki manages to end up in side control.
Sassaki controlling from side mount.
Sassaki wants to lay and pray for a moment but Oliveira keeps working.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Gabriel Sassaki will probably get the nod - 10:9.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Sassaki looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Oliveira!
Sassaki scoring with strikes but Oliveira is staying in there.
Oliveira is desperately trying to improve his position but Sassaki has a good base and remains in mount.
Sassaki lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Oliveira is working to get back to half guard.
Sassaki trying to control but Oliveira is having none of it.
Oliveira is desperately trying to improve his position but Sassaki has a good base and remains in mount.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sassaki with a couple of short strikes.
Gabriel Sassaki has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sassaki pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Oliveira is in a horrible position here. Sassaki smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sassaki with a couple of short strikes.
Sassaki lands a big elbow.
Sassaki tries to control but Oliveira wriggling away.
Sassaki lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Oliveira hang on?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sassaki controlling from mount.
Sassaki can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Oliveira is looking to escape.
Oliveira is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Sassaki looking to finish Oliveira with some ground and pound. This is bad for Oliveira!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sassaki lands a heavy elbow.
Sassaki in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Sassaki takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sassaki is landing with some decent strikes but Oliveira is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

Oliveira defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Sassaki.
Sassaki with shots to the head and body - Oliveira looks very uncomfortable down there.
Sassaki cracks Oliveira with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sassaki working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Oliveira is squirming around, avoiding Sassaki's attempts to control the action.
Sassaki controlling the pace for now.
The referee warns Oliveira that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
BOOM! Sassaki connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Sassaki postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Oliveira looks a forlorn figure.
Hudson Oliveira has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gabriel Sassaki is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Oliveira keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gabriel Sassaki comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Sassaki 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 26:30
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 26:30
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gabriel Sassaki!