PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Marion May (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nic Sanderson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Nic Sanderson was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

May
vs
Sanderson

158 cm
24
151 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

175 cm
24
156 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Marion May!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Nic Sanderson!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, Steven Brown and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
May displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Sanderson.
Sanderson tries to score a power double leg takedown but May sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Sanderson somewhat.
May could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Sanderson shoots and misses

and May decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Sanderson's guard.
Marion May has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nic Sanderson.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as May accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
May loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Sanderson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Sanderson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from May.
May is standing up over Sanderson. Sanderson looks to escape but May dives into side control.
Sanderson dodges the ground and pound from May.

That's one minute gone in the round.
May scores with a couple of short elbows.
An elbow from May crashes against the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sanderson parries the strikes from May easily there. May is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Sanderson to escape.
Sanderson is looking to work his way out of this bad position but May is controlling him well.
May looks up at the clock and then as Sanderson takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, May smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanderson taking punishment in the form of punches.
May working the ground and pound but Sanderson is defending the strikes.
Sanderson is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
May prevents Sanderson from escaping the position.
May throwing shots but missing, from side control.
May wants to stand but Sanderson is controlling his arm.
Sanderson defending against the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
May misses with the ground and pound.
Sanderson wants to get back to his feet.

May decides to stand back up.
May wants to clinch.
Horrible takedown by Sanderson or perhaps it was just good defense by May which made him look bad.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanderson fails with a takedown attempt.
May tries to clinch up but Sanderson circles away and keeps his distance.
May shoots in and drives through. Sanderson sprawls well.
Sanderson goes for a double leg but May avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as May continues to drive forward.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
May wants to stall.
May can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

May moves into the clinch.

Sanderson has clasped his hands together around May's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.

Sanderson is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but May is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sanderson grinds an elbow into May's temple.
Sanderson looking to control but instead May has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
Sanderson is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
May gets full guard.
Sanderson trying to control the position from guard on top but May is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sanderson throws an elbow that misses. May uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sanderson's guard. Nice move by May!

That's one minute gone in the round.
May throws a big right hand that misses.
May wants to stand but Sanderson has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
May in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
May scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

May gets to his feet - Sanderson follows without any prompting.
Sanderson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Sanderson keeps the fight on the outside.
Sanderson shoots in looking for a takedown. May tries to sprawl out of it but Sanderson keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. May manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
May closes the distance but Sanderson moves to the side
letting Sanderson counter with a right hand.

May gets caught napping as Sanderson dives in and scores a takedown. May manages to retain guard.
May wants to stand up but Sanderson is controlling him.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sanderson is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanderson has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of May is proving hard to escape from.
Sanderson is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Sanderson trying to control the position from guard on top but May is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sanderson postures up in May's guard and throws a big left but May blocks it.
Sanderson throws an elbow that misses. May uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sanderson's guard. Nice move by May!
May has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Sanderson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Sanderson can do anything to dispel that myth.
May is looking to work some ground and pound but Sanderson has wrist control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanderson wants to get back to his feet but May passes into half guard.
May tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Sanderson.
May throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
May missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nic Sanderson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. And we move into the final round!

May leaves Sanderson with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
May tries to close the distance and clinch but Sanderson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sanderson has his takedown stuffed
and May counters with a nice uppercut.
Sanderson dives in for a single leg takedown but May sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Marion May has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Nic Sanderson.
Sanderson has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. May is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Sanderson is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

May breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Sanderson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
May tries to clinch up.
May shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Sanderson defends it nicely.
Sanderson looks for a takedown but May sprawls well.

That's one minute gone in the round.

May darts in and clinches Sanderson up against the cage.
May working some nice short punches in the clinch.
May slowing the pace effectively.

May has Sanderson pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. May pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Sanderson tumbling to the mat - May dives into Sanderson's guard.
Marion May overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sanderson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from May.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
May won't allow Sanderson to get back to his feet.
Sanderson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from May.
Sanderson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with May. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sanderson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

May stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Sanderson rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but May moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Sanderson fails with the takedown
and May cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Marion May is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanderson tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but May defends well and Sanderson ends up having to push May into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
A frustrated look appears on May's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Sanderson is looking to break free of the clinch but May has double underhooks.

May pulls guard effortlessly.
May is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Sanderson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Sanderson throwing strikes from guard but May blocks nicely.
May tries to land a sweep but no joy.
May is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Sanderson is controlling him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanderson trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sanderson tries to free his leg and advance position but May is retaining full guard.
May keeping moving, preventing Sanderson from controlling successfully.

May is looking for a triangle here but Sanderson uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Sanderson swings around for an armbar but May sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Sanderson's guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marion May showed his dominance in that final round.
Well May has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Steven Brown scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marion May!
The defeated Nic Sanderson had this to say: 'Sorry guy! I gave it my best tonight but the adrenaline buzz is keeping this smile on my face wether I win or lose, its you fans that keep me fighting on'.