PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between DJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dan Sinclair (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Penn comes to the cage accompanied by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. Dan Sinclair has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Penn
vs
Sinclair

188 cm
22
196 lbs
8 - 6 - 0

186 cm
25
205 lbs
5 - 9 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

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 8 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, DJ Penn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dan Sinclair!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Tiny Johnson and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Decent striking displayed by Penn there.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Sinclair will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Sinclair rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Penn moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Penn slips a jab and a cross from Sinclair.
A combination from Sinclair does no damage.
Penn jabs at Sinclair's body.
Penn connects with the punch.

Penn drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Penn working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

Penn tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Penn has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Penn swings around for an armbar but Sinclair sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Penn's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sinclair is one step ahead there.
Penn bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sinclair's guard.
Sinclair keeping full guard, as Penn tries to pass.
Penn wants to control from the top but Sinclair keeps moving.
Sinclair really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Penn. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sinclair looks gassed!
Penn is in close to Sinclair's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Penn postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Sinclair is keeping the position for now.
Penn has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Penn trying to move into half guard but instead Sinclair has managed to sweep!
Penn manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Sinclair manages to get himself to full guard.
Penn throwing strikes but missing.
Penn stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Sinclair swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Penn accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Penn looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Penn trying to control but Sinclair is working from the bottom.
Penn throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Sinclair works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

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.
Penn tries to free his leg and advance position but Sinclair is retaining full guard.
Penn sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Sinclair's guard.
Sinclair is refusing to be controlled, as Penn sits in half guard.
Sinclair blocking the ground and pound attempt from Penn.
Penn sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Sinclair defending well though.
Penn trying to control the action but Sinclair is working from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Penn pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Penn pushes Sinclair up against the cage in a clinch.
A right hook to the body lands for Penn.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

DJ Penn dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Sinclair takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Sinclair looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Sinclair throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Penn lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.

Penn gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Penn has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Sinclair is trying to keep an underhook but Penn manages to get the takedown into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Penn lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Penn missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Penn thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Sinclair's head.
Penn throwing shots but Sinclair is blocking nicely.
Penn takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

Penn is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Penn throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn tries to pass the half guard into mount. Sinclair knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Penn is trying to control the action in half guard but Sinclair is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Good exchange - Penn coming out on top.
Penn misses with a wild combination.

Penn darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Penn tries to pass to full mount but Sinclair defends it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn passes to full mount!
Penn working the ground and pound effectively.
Penn lands with some strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Penn is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Sinclair is surviving well by controlling Penn's body position as best he can.
Penn throwing strikes here but Sinclair is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.

Penn has control of Sinclair's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Sinclair regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Sinclair's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn takes Sinclair's back.
Penn throws a big right hand but he misses and hits the mat. Ouch.

Penn sinks in the hooks and is looking for the choke. He's got it! Sinclair taps out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:42 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). DJ Penn!