PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Sheldon Sykes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shaun Lee (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shaun Lee has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Sheldon Sykes's chin.

Sykes
vs
Lee

216 cm
24
151 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

168 cm
25
152 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Brown Belt
Good kicks
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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Sheldon Sykes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Shaun Lee!
The judges for this bout are Joseph Jones, Franklyn Lucas and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lee shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Sykes but Sykes pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Lee throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Lee dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Lee closes the distance and clinches up with Sykes, looking for a takedown. Lee pushes Sykes against the cage but Sykes circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Sykes really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Lee gets caught napping as Sykes dives in and scores a takedown. Lee manages to retain guard.
Sykes lands a couple of digs.
Sykes trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sykes would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Sykes postures up in Lee's guard and throws a big left but Lee blocks it.
Lee wants to sweep but no luck.
Sykes is looking to work some ground and pound but Lee has wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sykes throws a big right hand that misses.
Sykes scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Sykes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lee works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sykes cracks Lee with a solid left hand.
Sykes throws a strike but Lee rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Sykes wants to stand but Lee is controlling the position.
Sykes tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Lee tries to free his leg and advance position but Sykes is retaining full guard.
Lee stops Sykes from standing up.

Sykes has an active guard here but Lee has managed to pass into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lee prevents Sykes from standing back up.
Lee is trying to control the action in half guard but Sykes is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Sykes is looking for a sweep. Lee is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Sykes is breathing heavily.

Sykes looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Lee wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sykes keeps working.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sykes is trying to stand back up but Lee is controlling him
Lee is looking to take a break and control but Sykes is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Shaun Lee.
Lee is looking to chop away at Sykes's legs.
Lee misses with a double jab.
Horrible takedown by Lee or perhaps it was just good defense by Sykes which made him look bad.
Sheldon Sykes has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shaun Lee.
Lee slaps away a takedown attempt from Sykes, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Sykes throws a series of strikes that have Lee backpedaling.
Nice sprawl there from Lee as Sykes shoots in.
Lee misses with a straight left.
Sykes fails to land the takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sykes dives in and grabs Lee's left leg, looking for a takedown. Lee pushes down on Sykes's head and hops out.
No luck for Lee with that takedown attempt.
Lee stalks Sykes and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Sykes's face. Sykes staggers backwards, shaken.
Sykes scores with a head kick. Lee tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Lee gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
enabling Sykes to counter with a crisp jab.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Sykes looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Lee!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sykes throws an elbow but Lee slips to the side and avoids it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sheldon Sykes dominated that round.
That's time! Sykes's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Sykes looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Sykes throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Lee to regain full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sykes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lee works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Lee looking to control.
Sykes has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Lee is proving hard to escape from.
Lee avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lee manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Sykes manages to get himself to full guard.
Lee trying to control the position from guard on top but Sykes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lee is breathing heavily.
Lee looking to sit in guard and control but Sykes gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Sykes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lee works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sykes working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Sykes stands up from Lee's guard - Sykes perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lee falls off balance throwing a combination
and Sykes counters with a big head kick but Lee shrugs it off.
Lee throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Sykes counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Sykes changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Lee tries to avoid it but Sykes manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Lee to the ground. Lee escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Lee misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Sykes counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Shaun Lee seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Lee misses with a hook
and Sykes counters with a straight right hand.
Sykes shoots in for a double leg but Lee sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Sykes looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sykes postures up in Lee's guard and throws a big left but Lee blocks it.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Sykes's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sykes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Sykes throws a big elbow that misses.
Lee avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sykes keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Lee's head.
Sykes with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Sykes with a flurry of punches that miss.
Lee controls Sykes momentarily but Sykes frees himself.
Sykes lands a couple of decent looking shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sykes works over Lee with some ground and pound from guard.
Sykes postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Sykes is looking to work some ground and pound but Lee has wrist control.
Lee working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Sykes.
Sykes content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Sykes lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sykes throws a big elbow that misses.
Sykes will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Lee avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sykes cracks Lee with a solid left hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sheldon Sykes dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Sykes gets a double leg takedown into Lee's guard.
Lee tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Sykes postures up in Lee's guard and throws a big left but Lee blocks it.
Lee looking for a sweep. Not yet Lee, not yet.
Sykes keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Lee's head.
Sykes trying to stand up but can't free himself from Lee's guard.

Sykes stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Sykes drives through with a takedown into Lee's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sykes working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lee trying to control the position.
Sykes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Sykes would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Sykes works over Lee with some ground and pound from guard.
Sykes throws a big right hand that misses.
Lee has a closed guard, preventing Sykes from standing up.
Lee is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sykes won't allow Lee to sweep him here.
Sykes lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Sykes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Lee works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Sykes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Sykes keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Lee's head.
Sykes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Sykes chips away with some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sykes landing some decent shots from guard.
Sykes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Lee avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Sykes throwing strikes from guard but Lee blocks nicely.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sykes accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sheldon Sykes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Lee utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Sykes cracks Lee with a solid left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sykes throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Sykes missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sykes missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sykes working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Sykes with a nice head shot there.
Sykes is working Lee over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sykes scoring with some ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sykes in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Sykes's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

And that's the end of the fight!
Sheldon Sykes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sykes, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Joseph Jones scores the fight 30:27
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 30:27
Judge Columbo Gatti scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sheldon Sykes!