PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Sandro Almeida (ranked 7274 p4p, 281 weight class) and Jose Sanchez (ranked 4166 p4p, 181 weight class). Jose Sanchez has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Sandro Almeida's chin.

Almeida
vs
Sanchez

165 cm
18
135 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

169 cm
18
140 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Fanatic Inc.
IniTech Nutrition

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sandro Almeida!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jose Sanchez!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Alan Glass and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Almeida swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Almeida throws a left and a right that both miss

and Sanchez counters by clinching up.
Come on Sanchez - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Sanchez scores a nice knee to the body.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Sanchez.
Sanchez unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Sanchez content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Sanchez lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Sandro Almeida has been cut.
A short right from Almeida.
Almeida tries to circle away but Sanchez has him pinned against the cage.
Almeida lands a body shot.
Sanchez with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sanchez keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Almeida's efforts to push away.
A frustrated look appears on Almeida's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Sanchez tries to land knees in the clinch but Almeida avoids the damage to the body.
Sanchez digs a right hand into Almeida's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Almeida's gas tank.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez misses with a short punch on the inside.
Almeida tries to circle away but Sanchez has him pinned against the cage.
Almeida takes a knee right on the jaw!
Almeida lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Almeida tries to break free but Sanchez pushes him back against the cage.
Sanchez struggles to land a body shot inside as Almeida controls his hands.
Almeida wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Sanchez has him pressed against the cage.
Almeida stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Almeida wants to break free but Sanchez has control.
Almeida digs a right hand underneath Sanchez's ribcage. Sanchez let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Almeida takes an elbow to the temple.
Sanchez tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Sanchez dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Almeida blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Sanchez is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Almeida stalls.
Almeida looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Sanchez scores with a knee to the head.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Sanchez takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Sanchez working Almeida over with knees to the body.
Sanchez scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Almeida is trying to break the clinch but Sanchez has him pressed against the cage.
Sanchez using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Almeida is trying to break free.
Sanchez working Almeida over with knees to the body.
Sanchez struggles to land a body shot inside as Almeida controls his hands.
Sanchez throws a punch but it's blocked by Almeida.
Sanchez wants to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez looking to throw knees to the head but Almeida is blocking nicely.
Sanchez keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Almeida's efforts to push away.
Sanchez doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Almeida scores with a shot to the side of Sanchez's head.
Almeida wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Sanchez.
Sanchez stalls.
Almeida holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Sanchez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Sanchez as Almeida tries to tie him up.
Almeida on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez lands a shoulder strike.
Almeida wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Almeida blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Almeida has had enough of the clinch but Sanchez keeps him there for the moment.
Sanchez missing with knees to the body.
Almeida taking a breather.
Sanchez working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Almeida managing to block the knees to the body from Sanchez.
Sanchez is leaning against Almeida and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Sanchez misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Almeida.
Almeida takes a knee to the side of the body.
Sanchez lands a good knee to the midsection. Almeida won't want to take too many of those.
Sanchez slows down the pace here.
Almeida is looking to break free of the clinch but Sanchez has double underhooks.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jose Sanchez dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Sandro Almeida's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Almeida throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Almeida throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Sanchez.
Sanchez tries to clinch there but Almeida circles away.
Sanchez tries to clinch up.
Sanchez takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Almeida tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Sanchez paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Almeida closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Almeida clinches.
Almeida is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sanchez's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Sanchez lands a good knee to the midsection. Almeida won't want to take too many of those.
Almeida has had enough of the clinch but Sanchez keeps him there for the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Almeida is trying to break the clinch but Sanchez has him pressed against the cage.
Sanchez is pushing Almeida up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Sanchez holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Sanchez continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.
Sanchez has Almeida pressed against the cage.
The crowd are getting on Sanchez's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.
Sanchez prevents Almeida from breaking the clinch.
Sanchez content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Almeida is pushing Sanchez up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Sanchez pressing his opponent against the cage.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Jose Sanchez.
Almeida swats away the attempt to clinch by Sanchez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Almeida swats away the attempt to clinch by Sanchez.
Almeida misses the shot to the body.
Almeida connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

Sanchez throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Almeida was covering up waiting for the punch and Sanchez finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Sanchez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Almeida swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sanchez is still trying to improve position.

Almeida pushes Sanchez off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Almeida has closed the distance and engaged Sanchez in a clinch.
Sanchez lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Almeida wants to break free but Sanchez has control.
Almeida wants to get back to striking at distance but Sanchez won't allow it.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Almeida wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Sanchez tries to land knees in the clinch but Almeida avoids the damage to the body.
Stalling in the clinch from Sanchez.
Almeida tries to break the clinch but Sanchez is controlling the position.
Almeida looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Almeida trying to control the position but instead, Sanchez has worked for underhooks and has pushed Almeida into the cage.
Almeida wants to get back to striking at distance but Sanchez won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Almeida working hard to break the clinch.
Almeida lands a body punch.
Sanchez using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Almeida has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Sanchez tries to land a knee to the head but Almeida blocks with his arms.
Sanchez stalling the fight.
Almeida wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Sanchez has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Almeida.
Almeida working hard to break the clinch.
Almeida wants to get back to striking at distance but Sanchez won't allow it.
Sanchez tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Almeida wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Almeida is looking to break free of the clinch but Sanchez has double underhooks.
A frustrated look appears on Almeida's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Sanchez tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Sandro Almeida dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Sandro Almeida's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Almeida cracks Sanchez with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Almeida will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Sanchez tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Almeida throws a nice looking combination but Sanchez bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
A combination from Almeida does no damage.
Almeida tries to clinch but Sanchez is having none of it.
Almeida misses with a double jab
and Sanchez counters with a lovely straight right hand!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sanchez tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Almeida counters with a series of strikes. Sanchez will be more careful next time no doubt.

Sanchez has Almeida up against the cage in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Sanchez lands an elbow inside that Almeida shrugs off.
Sanchez avoiding damage.
Sanchez tries a knee to the head but Almeida blocks it.
Knees in the clinch landing for Sanchez.
Sanchez's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Sanchez displaying some good clinch control by pressing Almeida up against the cage.
Sanchez misses with a body punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Almeida taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Sanchez.
Almeida takes an elbow to the forehead.
Sanchez misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Almeida looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Sanchez prevents a body shot from Almeida.
Stalling in the clinch from Almeida.
Almeida is looking to control Sanchez's arms but Sanchez gets an underhook and turns him. Now Almeida has his back to the cage.
Almeida can't break the clinch.
Sanchez is struggling to control the position.
Almeida tries to circle away but Sanchez has him pinned against the cage.
Sanchez misses with a hook from the clinch.
Sanchez using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Almeida has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Sanchez keeps control of Almeida as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Almeida is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Come on Sanchez - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Almeida lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Sanchez.
Almeida is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Almeida has had enough of the clinch but Sanchez keeps him there for the moment.
Almeida has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Almeida wants to get back to striking at distance but Sanchez won't allow it.
Sanchez works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Almeida has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Sanchez dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Sanchez is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Almeida working hard to break the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Almeida wants to break the clinch but can't.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Almeida wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Sanchez has him pressed against the cage.
Sanchez lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Almeida wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Sanchez is pushing Almeida up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Almeida breaks the clinch.

Sanchez has managed to clinch.
Sanchez lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Almeida wants to get back to striking at distance but Sanchez won't allow it.
Sanchez can't find room to land a body shot as Almeida controls the action.
Jose Sanchez seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Sanchez landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Sanchez keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Almeida's efforts to push away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jose Sanchez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Sanchez 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 Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 28:29
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jose Sanchez!
Our winner, Jose Sanchez, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.