PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nate Barnes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Les Sobrante (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Barnes comes to the cage accompanied by Black Eyed Peas - Imma Be. Sobrante has chosen Primus - Fisticuffs as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Barnes
vs
Sobrante

185 cm
40
210 lbs
37 - 27 - 0

185 cm
26
221 lbs
11 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 37 - 27 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Nate Barnes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Les Sobrante!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shigeki Sano and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sobrante checks a leg kick.
Barnes with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Barnes takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Barnes keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Barnes is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sobrante.
Barnes cracks the inside of Sobrante's front leg.
Sobrante blocks a low kick nicely.
Sobrante feints a counter leg kick.
Barnes cracks Sobrante with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

It looks like Les Sobrante has been cut.
Barnes throws a quick inside leg kick.
Barnes steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Sobrante.
Barnes tried to counter with a leg kick but Sobrante avoided it.
That kick from Sobrante tenderised Barnes's leg. Barnes is trying to keep his angry face on.
Barnes 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.
Barnes misses with a body shot.
Barnes looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Barnes ducks under a wild hook from Sobrante.
Barnes slips a jab and a cross from Sobrante.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sobrante throws a body shot but no joy.
Barnes throws a big counter combination but Sobrante scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
A leg kick checked by Sobrante.
Barnes misses with a shot to the body
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Sobrante shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Barnes but Barnes pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Barnes is looking to counter punch.
A cross from Sobrante lands.
Sobrante ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Barnes moves away.
Barnes fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Sobrante fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Barnes is out of range.
Nate Barnes seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Barnes scores with a shot to the body.
Barnes throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sobrante is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Barnes with a body shot.

Barnes gets caught flat footed, as Sobrante shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Sobrante stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Barnes swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes looking for a sweep. Not yet Barnes, not yet.
Barnes managing to control the position.
Sobrante passes easily into side control. Nice work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sobrante working the head with strikes.
Barnes stops Sobrante from passing to mount.
Barnes struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Barnes is trying to control Sobrante's posture but Sobrante avoids it.

Sobrante goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Barnes has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Sobrante but great work by Barnes.
Sobrante tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Barnes presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Sobrante is trying desperately to improve position.
Barnes controlling the pace for now.
Sobrante really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Sobrante is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Barnes tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Barnes tries to control but Sobrante wriggling away.
Sobrante is wriggling around trying to escape.
Barnes tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Sobrante gets back to half guard.
Sobrante gets back to full guard.
Barnes stays in close to Sobrante's body and controls the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Nate Barnes will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Les Sobrante's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Barnes fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Sobrante has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Nate Barnes is winning the standup battle so far.
Barnes throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Sobrante throws a nice looking combination but Barnes bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Barnes misses with a body shot.
Sobrante throws out a counter right but Barnes avoids it with no problem.
Barnes is looking to wear down Sobrante with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
A cross from Barnes lands.
Sobrante slips a jab from Barnes.
Barnes throws a push kick but Sobrante slaps the foot to one side.
Sobrante feints the counter takedown.
Sobrante on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Sobrante misses with a body kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barnes throws a half hearted mid kick.
Sobrante now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Sobrante chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Barnes can pounce on him.
Barnes misses with a hook to the body
and Sobrante counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Sobrante throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Barnes scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Barnes fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Sobrante.
Barnes tries a low kick but Sobrante avoids it.

Sobrante decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Sobrante wants to pass to mount but Barnes is defending the position.
Barnes wants to improve his position but Sobrante is controlling well.
Barnes moves into full guard.
Sobrante tries to free his leg and advance position but Barnes is retaining full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes 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.
Sobrante works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Barnes moves into full guard.
Sobrante stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Barnes swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Barnes working a defensive guard here.
Sobrante looking to pass the guard.
Sobrante advances to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sobrante is trying to work for a kimura but Barnes is defending well.
Sobrante wants to pass to mount but Barnes is defending the position.
Les Sobrante has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sobrante is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Barnes reverses the position - he's now on top in Sobrante's guard.

Barnes decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Barnes takes a swing at Sobrante's ribcage but misses.
Barnes throws a low kick but Sobrante avoids it.
Sobrante is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A clash of legs there as Sobrante blocks the low kick.
Barnes checks a leg kick nicely.
Sobrante listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Barnes leaves Sobrante with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Sobrante takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Nice defenses there by Sobrante.
Sobrante blocks a head kick by Barnes.
Sobrante throws a fast counter high kick but Barnes manages to duck under it in time.
Sobrante shoots in and drives through. Barnes sprawls well.
Barnes misses with a low kick as Sobrante jumps back.
Sobrante let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Sobrante shoots and misses
and Barnes counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Nate Barnes has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Les Sobrante.
Sobrante is breathing heavily.
Barnes thumps Sobrante with a low kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nate Barnes dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Les Sobrante's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Barnes misses with a low kick.
A cross from Sobrante lands.
Barnes scores with a jab to the head.
Sobrante's coach down at Tōshi was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Sobrante's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
Sobrante slips under a jab.
Barnes throws a 1-2 combo that connects squarely on Sobrante's jaw, knocking him onto his back! Barnes dives in looking to finish as Sobrante flails his arms in a desperate attempt to block Barnes's strikes! Barnes is raining down hammerfists and the ref stops it! Sobrante's desperate flailing just didn't constitute intelligent defence. Some people will probably question the ref's decision but Sobrante was definitely hurt and the ref saved him from taking unnecessary punishment. A fighter's safety is paramount in this sport.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:24 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Nate Barnes!
After winning the bout, Nate Barnes thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.