PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Frank Little (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Steve Sampson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Little
vs
Sampson

188 cm
21
189 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
22
185 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Intelligent

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Frank Little!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Steve Sampson!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, John Mangel and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Sampson shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Sampson showed some decent athleticism there.
Sampson controlling the pace.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Little is looking to improve his position.
Sampson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Little does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Sampson wants to free his trapped foot but Little is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Little trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Little is looking to improve his position.
Little wants to control but Sampson is keeping busy.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Little fails with the takedown

and Sampson counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Sampson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Little. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Little wants to control but Sampson is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Sampson slows the pace down in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sampson trying to pass the guard but Little defending well.

Little looking for submissions off his back.
Little misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Little has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Sampson is working away from the top position though.
Little regains full guard. Nicely done.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sampson slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Little is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Sampson slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Sampson tries to free his leg and advance position but Little is retaining full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Little tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Sampson slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Little controls Sampson momentarily but Sampson frees himself.
Little trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Little is trying to control the position but Sampson postures up.
Sampson tries to free his leg and advance position but Little is retaining full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Little shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Sampson counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Little is breathing heavily.
Little looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sampson clinches.
Sampson is stalling here.
Sampson is pressed up against the ropes. Little has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Sampson down to the mat. Sampson avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sampson.
Little is trying to escape the position but Sampson is controlling the position.
Little can't do much from the bottom here.
Sampson wants to take a breather but Little manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Sampson.
Little is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Little working for a triangle but Sampson defends it easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Little wants to stand but Sampson is controlling the position.
Little throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Sampson must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Sampson throwing strikes but missing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Sampson not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

Little is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Sampson prevents Little from getting back to his feet.
Sampson stopping the sweep attempt from Little.
Sampson is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Sampson looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Little is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Little trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sampson controlling the position easily from mount.
Little is looking to get to half guard.
Sampson trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Little is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Sampson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Little looks to clinch

and Sampson counters with a single leg into guard. Little didn't expect that.
Little looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Sampson puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Sampson slows the pace down in half guard.
It looks like Sampson is going to stand back up.
Steve Sampson has got the better of the ground game so far.
Little misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Sampson has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Little wants to hold on but Sampson pushes him away.
Sampson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sampson can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Little is looking to escape.
Little is looking to get to half guard.
Sampson controlling the pace for now.
Little really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's two 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.
Sampson avoids the attempt from Little to control.
Little is desperately trying to improve his position but Sampson has a good base and remains in mount.
Sampson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Little wants to use the ropes to get back to his feet here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sampson wants to control the pace but Little is squirming around nicely.
Little wants to control but Sampson is having none of it.
Little is desperately trying to improve his position but Sampson has a good base and remains in mount.

Sampson goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Little is on top in guard.
Sampson is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's four 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.
Little is looking to stand up but Sampson won't let him.
Sampson avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sampson working a defensive guard but Little passes into half guard.
Little is keen to just control but Sampson is a slippery customer.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Little is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Sampson is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Frank Little has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Little looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Sampson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Sampson 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 27:30
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Sampson!