PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Anwar Sadat (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jeff Li (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Anwar Sadat has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sadat
vs
Li

165 cm
26
155 lbs
9 - 6 - 1

171 cm
23
155 lbs
3 - 6 - 1

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Anwar Sadat!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 6 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Jeff Li!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Jack Bonds.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sadat misses with a takedown attempt - Li sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Li connects with a right hand. Sadat shakes it off.
Li fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Li cracks Sadat with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Sadat moves out of range as Li strikes.
Sadat closes the distance and clinches up with Li, looking for a takedown. Sadat pushes Li against the cage but Li circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Li has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Sadat is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Li works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Li pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Li lands with a good body shot.
Sadat slips a jab and a cross from Li.
Li tries to bum rush Sadat with a series of wild strikes but Sadat uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Sadat fails with the takedown

and Li counters with a takedown into side control.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Anwar Sadat. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Li tries to stand but Sadat is controlling his head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sadat is trying to escape the position but Li is controlling the position.
Li tries to stand but Sadat is controlling his head.
Sadat manages to get back to half guard.
Sadat won't allow Li to pass to mount.
Li is looking to stand up but he'll have to free his leg first. Instead, Sadat manages to get to full guard.
Li would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Li looking to sit in guard and control but Sadat gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sadat passes Li's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Sadat wants to pass the guard but Li is defending well.
Sadat passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Li!
Sadat wants to control the pace but Li is squirming around nicely.
Li is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Li is in all sorts of trouble here.
Li prevents Sadat from taking his back.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sadat can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Li is looking to escape.
Sadat fails to advance to Li's back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sadat works his way to his opponent's back.

Sadat tightening his grip on Li, looking for the choke.

Sadat is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Li is defending well though. Sadat let's go of the attempt for now.
Sadat not allowing Li to control his hands.
Li is trying to stand back up.
Sadat doesn't have the hooks in and Li manages to turn into his guard.
Sadat has his hands on Li's head, controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sadat utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sadat is trying to keep Li in close.
Sadat seems keen to control Li's posture.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Li wants to stand but Sadat has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jeff Li will probably get the nod.
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.

Li cracks Sadat with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Sadat on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Li goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Sadat closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Li did well to prevent Sadat getting side control.
Sadat is looking to pass Li's guard but actually Li recovers to full guard.
Li looking for a sweep. Not yet Li, not yet.
Sadat wants to control from the top but Li keeps moving.
Li is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Li manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Sadat is looking light on his feet compared to last time was saw him fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sadat closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Li did well to prevent Sadat getting side control.
Li looks like he's trying to stand up.
Anwar Sadat overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sadat wants to pass to mount but Li is defending the position.
Li controlling the position well.

Li is defending against the submission attempts here by Sadat.
Li is in trouble now - Sadat has advanced to mount!
Sadat can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Li is looking to escape.

Sadat jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Li manages to avoid the submission attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sadat tries to advance to mount but Li instead regains half guard.
Li trying to control here.
Li wants to improve his position but Sadat is controlling well.

Sadat wants to work for an arm triangle but Li is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Sadat stops Li from getting back to his feet.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Sadat is trying to work for a kimura but Li is defending well.
Sadat has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sadat tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Sadat working for a guillotine from mount but Li is in no mood to give up.
Sadat fails to advance to Li's back.
Sadat sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Li is looking to improve his position but Sadat isn't that keen on the idea.
Sadat wants to take Li's back but he can't do it this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sadat is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Li has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Sadat can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Li is looking to escape.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Li is trying desperately to improve position.

Sadat has hold of Li's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Li manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Sadat avoids the attempt from Li to control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Anwar Sadat dominated that second 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Li digs a good hook to Sadat's body.
Li misses with a wild combination.
Li with a hook.
Li ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sadat moves away.
Li throws a hook but Sadat avoids it easily.
Li throws a nice looking combination but Sadat bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Li misses with a combination
and Sadat cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Li misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sadat with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Sadat slips a jab from Li.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sadat shoots for a takedown but Li saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Li misses with a body shot.
Li connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Sadat momentarily.
Sadat shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Li sprawls well. Li wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Sadat gets slowly back to his feet.
Jab by Li.
Sadat looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Anwar Sadat. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Li misses with a wild combination.
No joy there for Li, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li scores with a nice head shot.
Li misses the jab.
Li misses with a few strikes there.
Li ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Jeff Li is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sadat is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Li wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Li stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Li wants it to stay on the feet.
Sadat takes a body punch but keeps moving.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Li throws an off balance right hand
enabling Sadat to counter with a crisp jab.
Li connects with a crisp jab.
Li scores with a nice body kick.
Li connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Li misses.
Nice shot by Li.
The fighters circle momentarily. Li darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.

Sadat closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Li did well to prevent Sadat getting side control.
Sadat trying to pass the guard but Li defending well.
Sadat is looking to take a break and control but Li is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sadat is pressing down on Li's thigh, looking to free his foot. Li is holding on for now.
Sadat is thwarting Li's attempts to control the position.
Li has his hands clasped together around Sadat's back. He's all about the action.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Li throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.

Sadat closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Li to the mat! Li manages to get full guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sadat slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Sadat has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Sadat wants to take his opponent's back but Li doesn't allow it.
Li wants to hold on but Sadat pushes him away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Li is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Sadat wants to control the pace but Li is squirming around nicely.
Li sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jeff Li comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Li has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 28:29
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 28:29
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jeff Li!
In his post fight interview, Jeff Li started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.