PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Masakazu Aoki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Julio Sobral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aoki comes to the cage accompanied by Sandstorm by Darude. Julio Sobral will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Aoki
vs
Sobral

155 cm
47
147 lbs
46 - 31 - 2

181 cm
35
168 lbs
33 - 19 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Excellent grappler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Spartan Nutrition

KAISER Nutrition - Q160/$250

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 46 - 31 - 2, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Masakazu Aoki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 33 - 19 - 1, fighting out of London, Julio Sobral!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Thiago Cunha and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Aoki shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Sobral keeping moving, preventing Aoki from controlling successfully.
Aoki content to stall in guard here.
Aoki trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Aoki wants to control from the top but Sobral keeps moving.
Aoki is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Aoki tries to free his leg and advance position but Sobral is retaining full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aoki throwing strikes but missing.

Sobral had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Aoki defends it easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Sobral escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Aoki gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki wants to control from the top but Sobral keeps moving.

Sobral looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Aoki got a little sloppy there for a moment and Sobral has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Aoki has managed to get both his arms back between Sobral's legs - danger averted.
Aoki looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Sobral is a very stocky fighter. Infact he's such a weird shape that he's almost like some sort of comedy character - it's hard to believe he's real.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

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.
Sobral wants to sweep here but Aoki controlling him for the moment.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Sobral scores with a nice head shot.
Sobral misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Aoki.
Sobral closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
A big left from Aoki misses.
Aoki scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

Aoki looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Sobral is trying to get back to full guard.
Aoki working Sobral over with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aoki working Sobral over with strikes.
Aoki is pressing down on Sobral's thigh, looking to free his foot. Sobral is holding on for now.
We've been hearing good reports from Aoki's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Sobral missing with punches from the bottom.
Sobral regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Aoki.
Aoki controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Aoki pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Sobral is keeping the position for now.
Aoki might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Aoki 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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
A decent looking cross lands there for Sobral.

It looks like Masakazu Aoki has been cut.
Aoki misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Good shot there by Aoki.
Aoki misses with a hook. Sobral ducked under it nicely.
Aoki misses with a straight left.
Aoki throws a jab when Sobral was well out of range.
Aoki lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Sobral circles away quickly and effectively.
Aoki misses with a straight right.
Sobral misses with a few strikes there.
Sobral getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Aoki jabbing away but nothing is landing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sobral stuffs the takedown.
Aoki tries to move into range but Sobral moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Sobral keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Masakazu Aoki dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Masakazu Aoki's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Aoki throws out a loose jab but Sobral uses good head movement to avoid it.
Aoki is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sobral can do to turn this around?
Sobral slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Masakazu Aoki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Aoki throws a leg kick but Sobral moved away.
Sobral unleashes a big counter combination but Aoki bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Aoki scores with a jab to the body.
Good leg kick by Aoki there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Sobral slaps away a takedown attempt from Aoki, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Sobral misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Aoki.
Sobral misses the jab.
Sobral looks to land a left hand but Aoki moved out of range nicely.
Aoki is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sobral.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Sobral shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Aoki is looking to control Sobral's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Aoki avoid being mounted?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aoki is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Sobral lands with a punch from half guard.
Aoki gets back to full guard.
Aoki pulls Sobral in close to prevent any damage.
Sobral working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Aoki's head.
Sobral with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Sobral's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Sobral chips away with some ground and pound.
Sobral trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sobral throws a big right hand that misses.
Sobral is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Sobral stands and throws Aoki's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Aoki struggling a bit here.
Sobral is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
The strikes coming from Sobral are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sobral advances to mount.
Sobral working Aoki over with strikes here.
Aoki is in all sorts of trouble here.
Aoki wants to control but Sobral is having none of it.
Sobral with the ground and pound from mount.
Sobral avoids the attempt from Aoki to control.
Aoki is working to get back to half guard.
Sobral has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Sobral working from mount. He moves in close and looks like he might be going for an arm triangle... He's hopped off to the side and he's transitioned into an Anaconda choke. Aoki turning a nasty shade of purple. He's refusing to tap but he's gone! He's out! The ref rips Sobral off and cradles Aoki's limp body as Sobral celebrates with his corner.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Anaconda Choke). Julio Sobral!
A victorious Julio Sobral thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.