PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ej Balingit (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Renato Sanches (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Balingit
vs
Sanches

205 cm
37
290 lbs
37 - 17 - 0

192 cm
34
291 lbs
31 - 16 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 37 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ej Balingit!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Renato Sanches!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Shigeki Fujiwara and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sanches dips to his left and cracks Balingit with an uppercut!

It looks like Ej Balingit has been cut.
Balingit connects with the punch.

Sanches lands a big right hand that sends Balingit crashing to the mat! Sanches stays standing though and waves Balingit back to his feet!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Sanches lands with a light punch inside.

Balingit is rocked!
Balingit using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Sanches has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Sanches lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Balingit.
Sanches blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Sanches lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Oh Balingit is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Our sources have told us that Balingit has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.

Sanches escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Balingit seems to have got his legs back now.
Sanches 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.
Sanches thuds a left hand into Balingit's body.
Sanches misses with a body shot.
Balingit takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Sanches tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Balingit was well out of range. Poor timing from Sanches.
Sanches throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Balingit.
Balingit slips under a jab from Sanches.
Balingit takes a swing at Sanches's ribcage but misses.
Balingit looks to land a left hand but Sanches moved out of range nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balingit connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Sanches's hands.
Sanches misses with a body shot.

Sanches drops Balingit with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Balingit looks back up at him and smiles so Sanches waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sanches misses the shot to the body.
Look low, kick high! Sanches uses the oldest trick in the book to send Balingit tumbling to the canvas, in a truly brutal knockout! Sanches is absolutely delighted - when Balingit wakes up, I doubt he'll be quite so happy!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:21 of round 1, we have a winner by way of KO (Head Kick). Renato Sanches!
Renato Sanches seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.