PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Koji Sobando (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eric Be (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Be has chosen I Ain't No Joke as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Sobando
vs
Be

169 cm
27
169 lbs
8 - 8 - 0

183 cm
26
177 lbs
5 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Powerful

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Koji Sobando!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, Eric Be!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Richard Clark and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sobando slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Be tries a head kick but it misses.
Be tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Sobando manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Sobando closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Be quickly recovers to half guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Be is staying active underneath Sobando, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Sobando tries to pass the half guard into mount. Be knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Sobando stalling.
Be keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Be tries to roll over but Sobando keeps him under control.
Be wants to get back to full guard but Sobando has mounted him!
Sobando 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.
Sobando wants to control the pace but Be is squirming around nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Be is trying to escape the mount.
Sobando lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Be can do anything to dispel that myth.
Sobando prevents Be from getting the reversal.
Be tries to hold on but Sobando pushes him away.
Sobando tries to control but Be wriggling away.
Sobando looking to ground and pound but Be is blocking nicely.
Be is in a horrible position here. Sobando smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Be is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sobando working Be over with strikes here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Be is working to get back to half guard.
Be is still trying to improve position.
Sobando scoring with strikes but Be is staying in there.
Sobando trying to control but he's not successful this time.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Sobando jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Be manages to avoid the submission attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sobando tries for a kimura but Be is defending well.
Sobando trying to control the action but Be is working from the bottom.
Be is trying to improve his position.
Sobando is looking to take a break and control but Be is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sobando is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Be is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Sobando tries to advance to mount but Be instead regains half guard.
Sobando seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Sobando trying to control the action but Be is working from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sobando throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Be drives through and clinches with Sobando against the cage.
Be has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Sobando avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Sobando tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Be avoids it.
Sobando is trying to break the clinch but Be has him pressed against the cage.
Sobando can't get the takedown.
Be swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Sobando as Be tries to tie him up.
Be is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Sobando gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Be as Sobando tries to tie him up.

Be breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Be displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Sobando.
Be tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Sobando paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Be tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Sobando was well out of range. Poor timing from Be.
Be misses with a double jab

and Sobando counters with a shoot takedown. Be fights it but they end up in guard.
Sobando makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Sobando advances to half guard.
Be avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sobando.
Be wants to get back to full guard.
Be is looking to control Sobando's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Be avoid being mounted?
Sobando seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Be does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Sobando not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sobando wants to lay and pray for a moment but Be keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Be actively working from the bottom here.
Sobando is looking to advance position but Be won't allow it.
Be wants to improve his position but Sobando is controlling well.
Be blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sobando.
Sobando passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Be!
Sobando with a couple of short strikes.
Sobando content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sobando tries to control but Be wriggling away.
Be is looking to improve his position but Sobando isn't that keen on the idea.
Sobando looking to control but Be is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sobando controlling the pace for now.
Be is squirming around, avoiding Sobando's attempts to control the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Be tries to hold on but Sobando postures up.
Sobando trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sobando can't control as he wanted to and Be manages to get the fight back to his half guard.
Koji Sobando overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sobando is keen to just control but Be is a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Koji Sobando dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Sobando looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Be is looking to control Sobando's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Be avoid being mounted?
Sobando prevents Be from improving his position.
Be is staying active underneath Sobando, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Be is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sobando stalling away here and it's allowed Be to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Sobando stops Be from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sobando looking to sit in guard and control but Be gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Be lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Sobando keeping moving, preventing Be from controlling successfully.
Sobando manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Be manages to get himself to full guard.
Sobando might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Be trying to control the position.
Sobando throwing strikes from guard but Be blocks nicely.
Sobando throwing strikes from guard but Be blocks nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Be wants to hit a switch here but Sobando passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Be there!
Be is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Be tries to reverse the position but Sobando maintains control.
Poor strikes thrown by Sobando there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Sobando throwing strikes here but Be is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Be wants to control but Sobando is having none of it.
Be tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sobando sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Be is looking to improve his position but Sobando isn't that keen on the idea.

Sobando goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Be is on top in guard.

Be avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Be's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sobando uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Sobando swinging wildly here.
Sobando rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Be moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Sobando tries to clinch there but Be circles away.
Koji Sobando seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sobando fails in his attempt to clinch.
Be is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Sobando.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sloppy strikes from Be. Those never looked like landing.
Be tries to clinch but Sobando moves out of range.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sobando throws out a leg kick but Be moves out of range and Sobando only half commits.
Be dodges the punch combination from Sobando.
Eric Be has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Koji Sobando is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sobando wants to clinch up but Be keeps it at a distance.

And that's the end of the fight!
Koji Sobando showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sobando, 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 30:27
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Koji Sobando!
Koji Sobando took to the microphone after his victory and thanked his sponsors, Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40) for their support in the buildup to the fight.