PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joe Sapp (ranked 4773 p4p, 4949 weight class) and Danil Bezalt (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sapp comes to the cage accompanied by Walk-Pantera. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Sapp
vs
Bezalt

192 cm
25
205
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
25
210
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 The Island, Joe Sapp!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Danil Bezalt!
The judges for this bout are Bart Greer, Daniel Franklin and Sandra Marshall.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sapp doesn't manage to clinch there - Bezalt circles away.

Sapp clinches up against the cage.
Bezalt tries to break free but Sapp pushes him back against the cage.

Sapp breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Bezalt closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Sapp shoots in and bounces Bezalt off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sapp is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Sapp passes Bezalt's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sapp is taking a breather. Bezalt says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Sapp has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Sapp seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Bezalt for as long as he can get away with.

Sapp is looking for a kimura here.
Sapp passes the guard and advances to mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sapp won't let Bezalt get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Sapp looking to control and managing it successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Sapp has control of Bezalt's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Bezalt regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Sapp controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Sapp.

Sapp working for a guillotine from mount but Bezalt is in no mood to give up.
Sapp controlling from mount.
Bezalt is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Sapp 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.

Sapp closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Sapp lands in his opponent's guard.
Sapp is stalling in the full guard.
Bezalt wants to stand and escape but Sapp is having none of it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sapp looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Sapp instigates a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Sapp manages to break the clinch.
Bezalt feints and then cracks Sapp's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Sapp down.

Sapp shoots in and bounces Bezalt off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Sapp sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Sapp advances position into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bezalt trying to remain calm as Sapp controls from the top position.
Sapp's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Sapp tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.

Sapp tries for a kimura but Bezalt is defending well.
Bezalt is trying to escape the position but Sapp is controlling the position.
Joe Sapp overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Sapp tries for a kimura but Bezalt is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sapp taking a breather here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Sapp working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Sapp has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Bezalt!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joe Sapp dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Sapp throws a big shot that misses.

Sapp forces Bezalt back against the cage and clinches.
Sapp stalling the fight.
Sapp is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Bezalt gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Sapp is trying to pull guard but Bezalt turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Sapp is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Bezalt can do to turn this around?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sapp keeps control of Bezalt as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sapp escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Bezalt swats away the attempt to clinch by Sapp.
Bezalt scoring well with a low kick there.
Bezalt lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.

Sapp pushes Bezalt up against the cage in a clinch.
Sapp's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Bezalt is defending well against a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Joe Sapp. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sapp has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Bezalt after a bit of a struggle.
Bezalt is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Sapp breaks the clinch.
Sapp has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Bezalt.
Joe Sapp seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sapp changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.

Sapp gets the takedown into side control.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Bezalt trying to remain calm as Sapp controls from the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sapp working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Sapp slows the pace down.
Further stalling from Sapp.
Danil Bezalt has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

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.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Joe Sapp is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joe Sapp showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sapp, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Bart Greer scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joe Sapp!
Joe Sapp was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.
Danil Bezalt was interviewed post fight and said 'Fucking blyat, didnt want to stand and bang cause he is a pussy, Fuck sake.'.