PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Melvin Manhoef (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Sagat (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Manhoef
vs
Sagat

185 cm
18
195 lbs
0 - 1 - 1

177 cm
24
197 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Melvin Manhoef!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, John Sagat!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Nard Betker and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sagat moves into range and clinches up with Manhoef.
Sagat connects with a nasty looking knee right to Manhoef's face.
Sagat throws a knee to the head but misses.
Manhoef is trying to break the clinch but Sagat is controlling him.
Sagat landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

Sagat has the Thai clinch. He lands a big knee to the head and Manhoef goes down! Sagat dives on top of him - Manhoef manages to get guard.

It looks like Melvin Manhoef has been cut.
Sagat throws and elbow that misses. Manhoef uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sagat's guard. Nice move by Manhoef!

Sagat working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Manhoef doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Manhoef manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Sagat throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Manhoef trying to control but Sagat is working from the bottom.

Manhoef got a little sloppy there for a moment and Sagat has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Manhoef has managed to get both his arms back between Sagat's legs - danger averted.

Manhoef avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Manhoef working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sagat has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Manhoef can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Manhoef wants to get up but he can't break Sagat's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Manhoef is breathing heavily.

Sagat has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Manhoef off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Sagat takes the fight into the clinch.
Manhoef swings wildly with an uppercut but Sagat uses good head movement to avoid it.
Sagat putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Manhoef in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Sagat unloads a knee to the mid-section. Manhoef lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

Sagat gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Sagat trying to control but Manhoef is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sagat looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Manhoef looking to control.
Sagat advances position into side control!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sagat working the ground and pound.
Manhoef taking punishment in the form of punches.
Manhoef is looking for a sweep.
Manhoef knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Sagat on the ground.
Manhoef managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Sagat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manhoef takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Sagat cracks Manhoef with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Manhoef is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sagat works to advance to full mount. Manhoef defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Sagat lands a big shot there that rocks Manhoef but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Sagat controlling the pace for now.

Sagat is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Manhoef is surviving well by controlling Sagat's body position as best he can.
Manhoef is trying to escape the mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sagat postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Manhoef looks a forlorn figure.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Sagat has hold of Manhoef's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Manhoef manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Sagat lands with some strikes.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Sagat is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Manhoef has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Sagat dominating with strikes here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Sagat dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Melvin Manhoef'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.

Sagat is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Manhoef's half guard.
Manhoef won't allow Sagat to pass to mount.

Manhoef manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Sagat feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Manhoef's calf.

Sagat shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Manhoef napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Sagat wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Manhoef, who protects the arm well.
Manhoef looks to move to half guard but instead Sagat has passed into mount! Damn!
Sagat has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Manhoef defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Sagat.

Sagat looking for a guillotine from mount but Manhoef is having none of it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sagat is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Manhoef has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Sagat looking to control but Manhoef is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Manhoef squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

That's two 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.

Sagat looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Sagat landing punches.

Sagat looking to secure an arm triangle but Manhoef defends it well.
John Sagat has got the better of the ground game so far.

Sagat looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Manhoef really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Sagat working Manhoef over with strikes here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Manhoef is trying to stand up.

Sagat is controlling this nicely and is looking to make no mistakes. Manhoef is trying to wiggle out of this horrible position. Manhoef flips to his side and attempts to get a leg in for half guard. Sagat anticipates the leg and manages to get behind Manhoef and secures both hooks! This could be bad! Sagat slips an arm under Manhoef chin and tries to position for a rear naked choke. Sagat has worked the choke in now and it looks tight. Sagat is squeezing on Manhoef like an anaconda would it's prey. Manhoef fails to tap and has fallen unconscious! We've got ourselves a winner by way of a rear naked choke!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:32 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). John Sagat!