PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Renato Sobral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nelson Mandela (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sobral comes into the arena with the jam town called malice blaring out of the sound system. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Sobral
vs
Mandela

185 cm
21
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Attliction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Renato Sobral!
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, Nelson Mandela!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Alexandre Firmino and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mandela tries a head kick but it misses.
Sobral fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sobral stuffs the takedown attempt from Mandela. Mandela gets slowly back to his feet.
Sobral shoots in but Mandela avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Sobral fails with the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Renato Sobral. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mandela throws a head kick that misses.
Sobral swats away the attempt to clinch by Mandela.

Sobral drives through and clinches with Mandela against the cage.
Mandela throws a knee to the head but misses.
Sobral managing to block the knees to the body from Mandela.
Mandela tries to break the clinch but Sobral is controlling the position.
Mandela with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Sobral decides to pull guard.
Mandela pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Sobral is keeping the position for now.
Mandela trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sobral wants to sweep here but Mandela controlling him for the moment.
Sobral controlling Mandela's posture.
Sobral looking for a sweep. Not yet Sobral, not yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mandela is looking to stand up but Sobral won't let him.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Sobral crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Mandela - the referee stops the clock and Sobral gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Mandela. Sobral manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Mandela clinches but Sobral breaks the clinch
and Sobral finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.

Sobral shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Sobral is breathing heavily.
Mandela preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sobral distracts Mandela with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Mandela is trying to keep Sobral in close.
Sobral keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Mandela's head.
Mandela keeping full guard, as Sobral tries to pass.
Mandela is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sobral with a flurry of punches that miss.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Sobral fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Mandela tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Sobral counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Mandela's guard now.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sobral stopping the sweep attempt from Mandela.
Sobral advances position into side control!
Sobral tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Sobral connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Mandela some visible discomfort.

Sobral is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Mandela is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Sobral working the head and body with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sobral is putting a hurting on Mandela here, landing some big shots from side control.
Sobral lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Mandela takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.

Mandela is rocked!
Sobral postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Sobral lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Mandela is still in real trouble! Can Sobral finish him?
Check out the look on Sobral's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Sobral lands an elbow.
Mandela takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Sobral is looking to take a break and control but Mandela is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
You can see the frustration on Mandela's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Sobral working the ground and pound from side control.
Sobral trying to control the position but Mandela is working away.
Mandela seems to have recovered his senses.
Sobral landing a few strikes.
Sobral is putting a hurting on Mandela here, landing some big shots from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Check out the look on Sobral's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Mandela is working to avoid the ground and pound but Sobral connects with a decent elbow.
Mandela manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sobral flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Sobral misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Sobral punching from the bottom.
Mandela wants to pass the guard but Sobral is defending well.

Mandela is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Sobral is just riding it out for now. Mandela eventually gives up the hold.
Sobral tries to get to full guard but Mandela has control of the leg.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sobral is trying to maintain the position but Mandela is very close to passing his half guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
A head kick misses from Mandela.
Mandela throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Renato Sobral dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Mandela throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Mandela has his takedown stuffed

and Sobral counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Mandela's guard now.
Sobral showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Sobral distracts Mandela with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Sobral passes Mandela's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Sobral passes to full mount!
Sobral lands a big shot there that rocks Mandela but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Sobral trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sobral lands a heavy elbow.
Sobral dominating with strikes here.
Sobral takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Sobral looking to finish with strikes here!
Sobral working the ground and pound effectively.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mandela can't escape the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sobral looking to finish with strikes here!
Sobral throws some wild stikes that Mandela manages to avoid easily.
Mandela tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sobral sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Sobral won't let Mandela get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Sobral lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Mandela hang on?
Mandela working to try and regain half guard.

Sobral looking to secure an arm triangle but Mandela defends it well.
Sobral working the ground and pound effectively.
Mandela takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sobral postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Mandela looks a forlorn figure.
Sobral can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Mandela is looking to escape.
Sobral in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Sobral pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Sobral raining down shots from the mount!
Sobral punishing his opponent with strikes.
Sobral controlling the pace for now.
Mandela is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
A nice elbow there by Sobral.
Sobral scoring with strikes but Mandela is staying in there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mandela in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Mandela is trying desperately to improve position.
Sobral controlling the pace for now.

Sobral has control of Mandela's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Mandela regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Sobral working Mandela over with strikes here.
A nice elbow there by Sobral.
Sobral in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Mandela sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Mandela regains full guard. Nicely done.
Sobral working some strikes from top position.
Sobral slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sobral trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sobral pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Mandela is keeping the position for now.
Mandela wants to sweep but no luck.
Sobral stands and throws Mandela's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Sobral works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
Sobral is looking to take a break and control but Mandela is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sobral scores with a couple of short elbows.
Sobral in side control here. He's dropped a big elbow there and Mandela looks hurt! Oh, he is hurt! Sobral turns on the heat and pounds him out for a TKO victory! Good killer instinct there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Renato Sobral!