PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Seb Williams (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Neil Sankar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Neil Sankar will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Williams
vs
Sankar

168 cm
23
148 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

190 cm
19
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Determined

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 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Seb Williams!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 1, fighting out of London, Neil Sankar!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Sam Margolis and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Williams 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.
Williams content to stall in guard here.
Williams might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Sankar is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Williams won't allow Sankar to sweep him here.

Williams gets to his feet - Sankar follows without any prompting.

Sankar drives through with a takedown into Williams's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Williams preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Williams is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Williams slows the pace down in half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sankar trying to control here.

Williams is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Sankar sees it coming and defends easily.
Williams trying to pass the guard but Sankar defending well.
Williams wants to take a breather but Sankar is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Sankar avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Williams.
Williams not doing much here.
Sankar really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Williams. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

We're going to have a standup here because Seb Williams wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Williams shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Sankar is trying to defend but Williams finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sankar is not content to let Williams control the position.
Williams tries to pass the half guard into mount. Sankar knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Sankar is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Sankar is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Williams's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Williams's back!
Sankar trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Sankar is hanging on to Williams's back as he tries to escape.
Williams is breathing heavily.
Sankar lands shots from the back.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Williams prevents Sankar from getting a body triangle.
Sankar throwing lazy shots from the back mount that aren't doing any damage.
Sankar lands a shot to the body.
Williams manages to reverse the position and now he's in Sankar's guard. Nice work there by Williams.
Sankar wants to sweep here but Williams controlling him for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Seb Williams 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.

Sankar gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Williams counters with a nice double leg into side control. Sankar won't be happy with that.
Sankar holds on tight, trying to prevent any damage.
Williams trying to control the action but Sankar is working from the bottom.
Sankar is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sankar wants to control but Williams postures up.
Sankar tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Williams wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Sankar trying to control but Williams flips him over like a cheap hooker and has his back!
Sankar trying to control the position but Williams manages to sink in the hooks.
Williams tries to get the hooks in deep but Sankar pushed the leg off.
Sankar is defending well here and trying to improve his position.

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.
Williams trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Sankar tries to roll but Williams sticks to his back.
Williams doesn't have the hooks in and Sankar manages to turn into his guard.
Sankar is looking to work some ground and pound but Williams has wrist control.
Williams is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Sankar trying to control the position from guard on top but Williams is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Williams has momentary wrist control but Sankar slips an elbow through the middle.
Sankar scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Sankar must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sankar stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Williams swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sankar stands up over Williams, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sankar stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Williams swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Williams looking for a sweep. Not yet Williams, not yet.
Sankar throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Williams works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sankar looking to pass the guard.
Sankar throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Williams works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sankar trying to control but Williams is working from the bottom.
Sankar tries to free his leg and advance position but Williams is retaining full guard.
Williams looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sankar is one step ahead there.

That's four 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.
Williams trying to control the position.
Sankar trying to control but Williams is working from the bottom.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

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

Sankar darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Sankar scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Sankar wants to control but Williams is keeping him busy.
Sankar throwing shots but Williams is blocking nicely.
Sankar is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Sankar is trying to control the action in half guard but Williams is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Seb Williams will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Williams gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Seb Williams overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sankar works over Williams with some ground and pound from guard.
Sankar with a nice head shot there.
Sankar looking to pass the guard.
Sankar trying to control the position from guard on top but Williams is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sankar accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sankar trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Sankar is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sankar passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Williams is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Sankar scoring with punches from side control.
Williams taking a bit of punishment here - Sankar scoring with strikes.
Williams is not content to let Sankar control the position.
Williams takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The strikes coming from Sankar are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Sankar landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Sankar lands a decent elbow from side control.
Williams is not content to let Sankar control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Williams takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Sankar wants to lay and pray for a moment but Williams keeps working.
Check out the look on Sankar's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Sankar cracks Williams with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Sankar in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Williams takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Sankar is looking to take a break and control but Williams is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sankar in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sankar working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Williams is not content to let Sankar control the position.
Sankar working the ground and pound but Williams is defending the strikes.
Sankar scores with a couple of short elbows.
Sankar cracks Williams with a big elbow.
Williams tries to buck Sankar off but Sankar is having none of it.
Sankar misses with the ground and pound.
Sankar trying to control the action but Williams is working from the bottom.
Sankar lands a few punches from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sankar lands a nice forearm strike.
Sankar lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Williams down.
Sankar creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Sankar working the body and head with strikes.
Williams takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Williams tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sankar trying to control the position but Williams is working away.
Neil Sankar has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Seb Williams is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Sankar looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

And that's the end of the fight!
Neil Sankar comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Williams has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29
Judge William Gold scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Seb Williams!