PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mamadou Sakho (ranked 4449 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Leary (ranked 4724 p4p, 0 weight class). I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Sakho
vs
Leary

190 cm
21
216 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

182 cm
30
208 lbs
12 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
World class MT
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

IniTech Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mamadou Sakho!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Chris Leary!
The judges for this bout are Franklyn Lucas, Steve Montenegro and Joseph Jones.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Leary takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Sakho swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Leary has closed the distance and engaged Sakho in a clinch.
Sakho gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Chris Leary has been cut.
Leary takes an elbow to the temple.
Sakho gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Sakho creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Leary's defenses.
Sakho being controlled against the cage.
Sakho has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Leary fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Sakho throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Leary blocks it with crossed arms.

Leary decides to pull guard.
Sakho tries to free his leg and advance position but Leary is retaining full guard.
Leary is trying to keep Sakho in close.

Leary is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sakho is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leary trying to control the position.
Sakho trying to control the position from guard on top but Leary is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sakho slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Sakho wants to control from the top but Leary keeps moving.
Leary looking to control.
Sakho knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Leary on the ground.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Leary is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Sakho defends well.
Sakho trying to control but Leary is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Sakho works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Leary is pressing down on Sakho's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

Leary working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Sakho has passed into half guard!
The fighters are battling for position here. Leary manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Leary keeping moving, preventing Sakho from controlling successfully.

Leary throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Sakho wants to stand but Leary is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakho looking to pass the guard.
Sakho is working hard here to advance position.
Leary keeping moving, preventing Sakho from controlling successfully.
Leary controls Sakho momentarily but Sakho frees himself.

Leary escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Sakho gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Leary wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

That's four 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.
Leary keeping moving, preventing Sakho from controlling successfully.
Sakho trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Leary trying to keep a closed guard but Sakho is proving a slippery customer.

Leary throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Sakho decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Leary, up you get!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sakho misses with a looping left.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Leary checks a leg kick.
Leary blocks the body kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mamadou Sakho dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Chris Leary's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Sakho throws a leg kick that misses.
Sakho misses the jab.
Sakho lands an overhand right.

Sakho moves into the clinch.
Leary is looking to take this one to the mat.
Sakho lands with a left to the head.
Nice elbow from Sakho.
Sakho tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Leary tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Leary slows down the pace here.
Sakho lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A nice right hand lands inside from Sakho.
Sakho lands an elbow just above Leary 's eye.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sakho.
Sakho is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Leary can do to turn this around?
Sakho dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakho lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Sakho doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Leary drops down looking for an ankle pick but Sakho pulls his leg out and moves away.
Leary misses with a hook. Sakho ducked under it nicely.
Leary misses the shot to the body.
Sakho throws a head kick but Leary moves out of range.
Leary missing with a left hand there. Sakho was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Leary stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Sakho.
Sakho lands a jab-cross combination.
Sakho misses with a body shot.
Sakho misses with a body kick.
Sakho throws a leg kick but Leary sees it coming and moves out of range.
Sakho moves out of range as Leary strikes.
Sakho misses with a leg kick.
Sakho lands a nice looking body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakho lands a nice shot to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sakho. Leary does a little dance to reset his feet.
Mamadou Sakho is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Sakho throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Leary sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Mamadou Sakho is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sakho swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Sakho scores with a shot to the body.
Leary misses with a looping right.
Leary shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Sakho but Sakho pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Mamadou Sakho has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Chris Leary.
Sakho tries to land a front kick but Leary steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Sakho moves out of range of the strikes.
Sakho misses with a leg kick.
Sakho tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Leary is able to avoid easily.
Leary fails with a takedown attempt.
It looked like Sakho was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakho pulls out of a head kick attempt.
A swing and a miss from Leary.

Leary closes the distance and pushes Sakho back into the cage.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Sakho.
Leary tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Sakho just stands there and leans against the cage.
Sakho blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Leary takes an elbow to the temple.
Mamadou Sakho has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Nice elbow from Sakho.
Sakho is leaning against Leary and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Sakho lands an elbow just above Leary 's eye.
Leary takes an elbow to the forehead.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Sakho lands a damaging elbow.
Sakho lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sakho lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sakho lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Leary is trying to pull guard but Sakho has him pressed against the cage.
Leary trying to control the position but instead, Sakho has worked for underhooks and has pushed Leary into the cage.
Leary taking a breather.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Nice elbow from Sakho.
Leary tries to pull guard but Sakho forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Sakho lands an elbow that stopped Leary in his tracks for a moment.
Leary avoids the elbow strike from Sakho, against the cage.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Sakho creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Sakho misses with a body punch.
Sakho lands an elbow just above Leary 's eye.
Sakho tries to work over Leary's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mamadou Sakho dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Chris Leary's cut.
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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

A slow jab from Leary misses its intended target.
Sakho misses the shot to the body.
Sakho throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Leary throws a big shot that misses.
A combination from Sakho does no damage.
A little jabbing left from Leary on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
A thudding body kick lands there by Sakho!
Sakho throws a nice looking combination but Leary bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Mamadou Sakho seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sakho scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Leary is really struggling to land any decent head shots against his taller opponent.
Leary moves out of range as Sakho throws a body kick.
Sakho walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Leary checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A punch combination from Sakho misses.
Sakho scores with a leg kick.
Sakho moves away from the strike by Leary.
Sakho is looking to wear down Leary with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Leary fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sakho scores with a nice head shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Leary takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Sakho displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Leary throws out the jab.
Sakho went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
A punch combination from Sakho misses.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Leary taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Leary dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Leary trying to stall but Sakho improves his position.
Leary leaning his opponent against the cage.
Leary avoiding damage as Sakho throws knees to the body.
Sakho creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Leary's defenses.
Leary trying to control the position but instead, Sakho has worked for underhooks and has pushed Leary into the cage.
Chris Leary has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Mamadou Sakho is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Chris Leary.
Sakho throws a right and a left that Leary avoids nicely.

Sakho gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Leary drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Sakho gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Leary misses with some punches.

Leary wants the takedown. Sakho is fighting it off but Leary persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Sakho's guard against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sakho is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Leary drops back looking for a leg! Sakho is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Sakho manages to kick Leary off! Leary jumps back into Sakho's guard.
Sakho wants to stand but Leary is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Leary trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakho is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Leary drops back looking for a leg! Sakho is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Sakho manages to kick Leary off! Leary jumps back into Sakho's guard.
Leary stopping the sweep attempt from Sakho.
Leary trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakho is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Leary throws an elbow that misses. Sakho uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Leary's guard. Nice move by Sakho!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Sakho sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Sakho tries to free his leg and advance position but Leary is retaining full guard.

Leary looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Sakho is defending well. Leary quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Sakho has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! Leary celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:44 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Chris Leary!
After the fight, Chris Leary was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.