PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Chico Sanchez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Iker Dedal (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chico Sanchez has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Sanchez
vs
Dedal

185 cm
27
110 lbs
10 - 8 - 0

170 cm
32
147 lbs
9 - 13 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Chico Sanchez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Iker Dedal!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Josh West and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dedal looks to land a combination but Sanchez avoids it well.

Sanchez closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Dedal did well to prevent Sanchez getting side control.
Still in half guard, Sanchez seems content to control.
Dedal avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sanchez.

Sanchez is working for a submission of some sort.
Dedal won't allow Sanchez to pass to mount.
Sanchez really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Sanchez trying to mount his opponent but Dedal defends it.
Sanchez keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Sanchez will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Sanchez wants to pass the guard but Dedal is defending well.
Dedal keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Sanchez tries to pass the half guard into mount. Dedal knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Sanchez sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Dedal defending well though.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Dedal shoots in looking for a takedown. Sanchez tries to sprawl out of it but Dedal keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Sanchez manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Sanchez needs to keep his hands up - Dedal had a free shot at his head there.
Sanchez looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Dedal rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sanchez moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Sanchez closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Sanchez breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Sanchez turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
A swing and a miss from Dedal.

Sanchez takes the fight into the clinch.
Sanchez content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Sanchez will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Dedal up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez just leaning against Dedal, taking a breather.
Sanchez gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.

Sanchez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Sanchez slips under a jab.

Sanchez clinches.
Sanchez doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Dedal working hard to break the clinch.
Sanchez slowing the pace effectively.
The referee calls for Sanchez to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez slowing the pace effectively.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Chico Sanchez.
Dedal misses with a two punch combination.
Dedal swings for the body but Sanchez moves out of range.

Sanchez looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Dedal!

Sanchez thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Sanchez trying to control the position but Dedal is working away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chico Sanchez dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Dedal fails to land with a series of punches.
Sanchez throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Dedal's waist but Dedal gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Sanchez off to one side.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Sanchez here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Dedal misses with a takedown attempt
and Sanchez connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Dedal tries to bum rush Sanchez with a series of wild strikes but Sanchez uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Sanchez shoots in but no luck this time.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Sanchez.
Sanchez wants to control but Dedal is keeping him busy.

Sanchez thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Sanchez trying to control the position but Dedal is working away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Sanchez misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Sanchez tries to move to mount but Dedal blocks the move with his legs.
Sanchez content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Dedal can do anything to dispel that myth.
Sanchez has knee on belly and moves into mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Sanchez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Dedal is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sanchez thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!

Sanchez is working for a guillotine from mount but Dedal frees his head quite easily.
Dedal really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Sanchez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Sanchez controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dedal taking shots to the head.
Sanchez wants to control but instead Dedal manages to regain half guard.

Sanchez is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Sanchez wants to control but Dedal is keeping him busy.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Sanchez lands a nice short elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez moves into full mount! Dedal won't be happy about that!
Sanchez looking to control but Dedal is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Sanchez is landing with some decent strikes but Dedal is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Sanchez wants to control the pace but Dedal is squirming around nicely.
Sanchez 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.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chico Sanchez dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - 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.

Sanchez lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Some wild striking there from Dedal.
Dedal throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Sanchez counters with a right hand to the body.
Sanchez scoring well with a low kick there.
Dedal throws a right and a left that both miss.
Sanchez bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Dedal tries to pull guard but Sanchez won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dedal fails to pull guard.

Sanchez pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Dedal throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Sanchez is looking for a counter combo.
Sanchez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Dedal throws a counter combo.
Sanchez is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Dedal can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sanchez moves into the clinch.
Dedal drops down looking for an ankle pick but Sanchez pulls his leg out and moves away.
Chico Sanchez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Iker Dedal.
Sanchez lets loose with a powerful body kick. Dedal will feel that in the morning.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Sanchez pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Good leg kick by Sanchez there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.

Sanchez closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Dedal did well to prevent Sanchez getting side control.
Sanchez not doing much here.
Dedal is looking to escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Sanchez controlling the action here.
Sanchez throwing shots but Dedal is blocking nicely.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Sanchez closes the distance and pushes Dedal back into the cage.

Sanchez breaks the clinch.

Sanchez closes the distance and clinches.
Sanchez scores with a nice hook to the head.
Sanchez pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Dedal takes a shot to the head.

Sanchez breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sanchez shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Dedal keeping moving, preventing Sanchez from controlling successfully.
Chico Sanchez is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sanchez sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Iker Dedal has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

And that's the end of the fight!
Chico Sanchez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sanchez, 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 30:27
Judge Josh West scores the fight 30:27
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chico Sanchez!