PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Jordi Sampson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Sanchez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thiago Sanchez has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Sampson
vs
Sanchez

180 cm
19
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
176 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Jordi Sampson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Thiago Sanchez!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Andrew Berry and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sampson closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Sanchez striking from the bottom but nothing landed.
Sanchez manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Sampson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Sanchez passes to side control.
Sampson is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
An elbow from Sanchez crashes against the mat.
Sampson taking punishment in the form of punches.
Sampson is trying to control Sanchez's posture but Sanchez avoids it.
Sanchez tries to advance to mount but can't.
Sampson struggling a bit here.
Sanchez working the head with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez works to advance to full mount. Sampson defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sampson is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Sanchez putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
A nice elbow there by Sanchez.
Sanchez is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Sampson can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Sampson working to try and regain half guard.
Sanchez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Sanchez lands a big shot there that rocks Sampson but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Sanchez lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sanchez lands with some strikes.
Sampson is breathing heavily.
Sampson taking shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Sampson tries to lock up and control but Sanchez gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Sampson is in all sorts of trouble here.
Sanchez working the ground and pound effectively.
Sanchez with shots to the head and body - Sampson looks very uncomfortable down there.
Sanchez is landing with some decent strikes but Sampson is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sanchez connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Sanchez putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Sanchez lands a heavy elbow.
Sampson is looking to improve his position but Sanchez isn't that keen on the idea.
Sanchez lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez lands with some strikes.
Sampson tries to hold on but Sanchez postures up.
Sanchez with good strikes from the mount here!
Sanchez raining down shots from the mount!
Sanchez putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Sampson is trying desperately to improve position.
Sanchez fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Sanchez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Sanchez lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez with good strikes from the mount here!
Sampson working to try and regain half guard.
Sampson wants to control but Sanchez is having none of it.
Sanchez cracks Sampson with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Sampson is looking to improve his position but Sanchez isn't that keen on the idea.
Sanchez landing strikes from the mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sanchez landing strikes from the mount.
Sanchez lands with some strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Sanchez dominated that round.
That's time! Sampson's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Sanchez shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Sampson fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sanchez.
Sanchez working the head with strikes.
You can see the frustration on Sampson's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Sampson takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Sampson is trying to control Sanchez's posture but Sanchez avoids it.
Sanchez creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Sanchez misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Sampson is trying to control Sanchez's posture but Sanchez avoids it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampson is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Sanchez's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Sanchez drops an elbow to the side of Sampson's head.

Sampson looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Sanchez is nestled in close to Sampson, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Sanchez takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Sanchez thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Sampson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sanchez.
Sanchez scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sanchez missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

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.
Sanchez scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sanchez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sampson's head.
Sanchez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Sanchez feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Sanchez passes into half guard.
Sanchez working over Sampson with some ground and pound. Sampson looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Sanchez tries to pass to full mount but Sampson defends it.
Sanchez scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sampson manages to get to full guard.
Sanchez lands a couple of decent looking shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sampson trying to keep a closed guard but Sanchez is proving a slippery customer.
Sanchez lands a couple of elbows.
Sanchez chips away with some ground and pound.
Sanchez content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Sanchez advances position into side control!
Sanchez scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Sampson to see if he's OK.
Sampson takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.

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.
Sanchez advances to mount.
BOOM! Sanchez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Sanchez lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Thiago Sanchez has got the better of the ground game so far.
The referee warns Sampson that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Sampson is bucking up trying to escape but Sanchez cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Sanchez scoring with strikes but Sampson is staying in there.
Sanchez putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Sanchez avoids the attempt from Sampson to control.
Sanchez landing shots from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Sanchez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Sampson's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

A lazy left from Sampson finds it's target.
Some wild striking there from Sampson.
Sanchez tries for a takedown but Sampson circles away easily
and Sampson counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Sanchez is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Sampson throws a right and a left that both miss.

Sanchez closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Sanchez connects with a nice short shot to Sampson's temple.
Sampson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Sanchez uses his free foot to push down on Sampson's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Sampson.
Sanchez lands a heavy elbow.
Sampson is looking to get to half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sanchez punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampson is bucking up trying to escape but Sanchez cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Sanchez pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Sanchez landing shots from mount.
Sanchez lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Sanchez lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Sampson tries to lock up and control but Sanchez gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Sanchez dominating with strikes here.
BOOM! Sanchez connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Sampson takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Sanchez lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sampson is wriggling around trying to escape.
Sanchez postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Sampson looks a forlorn figure.
Sanchez with good strikes from the mount here!
Sanchez with a couple of short strikes.
Sanchez scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Sampson?
Sanchez landing punches.
Sanchez pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Sampson is desperately trying to improve his position but Sanchez has a good base and remains in mount.
Sanchez lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Sanchez lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Sampson hang on?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Sanchez lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sampson is working to get back to half guard.
Sanchez working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Sanchez raining down shots from the mount!
Sanchez avoids the attempt from Sampson to control.
Sanchez with the ground and pound from mount.
Sanchez has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Sampson is in a horrible position here. Sanchez smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sanchez raining down shots from the mount!
Jordi Sampson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Sanchez dominating with strikes here.
Sampson tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sanchez lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Sampson hang on?
Sanchez looking to finish Sampson with some ground and pound. This is bad for Sampson!
Sanchez lands a nice shot to the head.
Sampson is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Sanchez fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Sanchez pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Thiago Sanchez is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sanchez lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago Sanchez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Sanchez 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 Sam Margolis scores the fight 26:30
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thiago Sanchez!