PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ragnar Irish (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Wand Sapp (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Irish
vs
Sapp

168 cm
23
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

165 cm
21
145 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ragnar Irish !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Wand Sapp!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Vladimir Khabensky and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Irish pulls out of a head kick attempt.

Sapp darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Sapp is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Irish is looking to improve his position.
Sapp is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Irish taking some punishment here, with Sapp in his half guard.
Sapp seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sapp frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sapp is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!
Irish gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Sapp counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Sapp.

Sapp breaks from the clinch.
Sapp misses with an uppercut. Irish saw that one coming.

Sapp shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Sapp wants to pass the guard but Irish is keeping the position.
Irish is trying to keep Sapp in close.
Sapp content to stall in guard here.
Sapp postures up.

Irish is looking for a triangle but Sapp pushes his legs off easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sapp stands and steps away. Irish gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Irish tries to keep at a distance but Sapp has taken the fight into the clinch.

Sapp escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Irish with a poor takedown

and Sapp holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Irish is breathing heavily.
Irish wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Sapp manages to pull guard.
Sapp controlling the position.
Sapp looking to hit a scissor sweep but Irish is one step ahead there.
Irish has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Sapp is proving hard to escape from.
Sapp trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Irish won't allow Sapp to sweep him here.
Sapp wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Sapp is trying to control the position but Irish postures up.
Irish tries to free his leg and advance position but Sapp is retaining full guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Irish shoots and misses

and Sapp decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Irish 's guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ragnar Irish . That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sapp controlling from the top position.
Sapp looking to pass the guard.
Irish can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Sapp controls the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sapp trying to control but Irish is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sapp tries to free his leg and advance position but Irish is retaining full guard.
Irish is looking to stand up but Sapp isn't so interested in that idea.

Irish throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Sapp scoring with some ground and pound.

Irish is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Irish being controlled here, momentarily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wand Sapp dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Sapp 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.

Sapp stands and steps away. Irish gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Sapp moves into range and clinches up with Irish .
Sapp pressing his opponent against the cage.
Sapp wants a takedown.
Irish is working for takedown but Sapp is calmly controlling the position for now.
Sapp drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Irish gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Irish tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Irish wants to get back to striking at distance but Sapp won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Sapp.

Irish successfully pulls guard.

Irish looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Sapp is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Irish looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Sapp thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Irish has his foot on Sapp's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Sapp works his way back into a safe position though.
Sapp looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Sapp stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Irish swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sapp tries to stand but Irish is controlling from the bottom.
Irish controlling the position.
Sapp is stalling in the full guard.
Irish looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sapp is one step ahead there.
Wand Sapp has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sapp looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Sapp must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Sapp cracks Irish with a solid left hand.
Irish trying to strike off his back.
Sapp seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Irish is looking to stand up but Sapp isn't so interested in that idea.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Irish gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Sapp counters with a nice double leg into side control. Irish won't be happy with that.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ragnar Irish . That's going to take a lot out of him.

Sapp stands up and beckons Irish to his feet.

Sapp looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Irish tries to get to full guard but Sapp has control of the leg.
Sapp moves nicely into side control.
Irish being controlled for a moment.
Irish sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wand Sapp showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Irish lands a two punch combo.

Sapp instigates a clinch.
Irish blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Sapp breaks from the clinch.
Irish misses with a takedown attempt
and Sapp counters with a one-two to the body.
Irish tries for a takedown but Sapp circles away easily

so Sapp counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

Irish working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Sapp has passed into half guard!

Sapp is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
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. Sapp connects with a nice short shot to Irish 's temple.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Irish is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Sapp scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sapp wants to lay and pray for a moment but Irish keeps working.

Sapp is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Sapp wants to work for an arm triangle but Irish is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Irish slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Irish has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sapp can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Irish trying to keep a closed guard but Sapp is proving a slippery customer.
Ragnar Irish has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Irish bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sapp's guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Sapp is on top in guard.

Irish looking for a guillotine here but Sapp defends easily.
Irish is looking to stand back up but Sapp counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Irish .
Sapp with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Sapp prevents Irish from standing back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Irish trying to control but Sapp postures up.
Irish is trying to stand.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Ground and pound from Sapp.
Irish trying to control here.

Sapp is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Irish defends it well.

Sapp stands up and beckons Irish to join him on the feet.
Wand Sapp is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ragnar Irish seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Irish tries for a takedown but Sapp circles away easily

and Sapp counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ragnar Irish . That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sapp not doing much here.
Sapp prevents Irish from improving his position.
Irish is trying to stand up here but Sapp is controlling him well.
Sapp controlling the action here.
Irish is looking to control Sapp's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Irish avoid being mounted?
Sapp looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

And that's the end of the fight!
Wand Sapp comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Sapp has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 27:30
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 27:30
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Wand Sapp!