PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Leon Pablo Sanchez (ranked 4188 p4p, 0 weight class) and Suren Nazarethyan (ranked 4070 p4p, 0 weight class). Nazarethyan has chosen Amerika as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Pablo Sanchez
vs
Nazarethyan

175 cm
25
156 lbs
5 - 10 - 0

155 cm
52
150 lbs
53 - 58 - 2

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 10 - 0, fighting out of New York, Leon Pablo Sanchez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 53 - 58 - 2, fighting out of Montreal, Suren Nazarethyan!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, David Schapiro and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nazarethyan leaves Sanchez with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Nazarethyan avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sanchez tries to clinch
and Nazarethyan counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Sanchez tries for a takedown but Nazarethyan sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Nazarethyan throws a head kick but Sanchez moves out of range.
Sanchez fails with the takedown
and Nazarethyan counters with a stiff right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Leon Pablo Sanchez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sanchez doesn't manage to clinch there - Nazarethyan circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sanchez moves out of range as Nazarethyan throws a body kick.
Sanchez dodges the punch combination from Nazarethyan.
Sanchez doesn't manage to clinch there - Nazarethyan circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez shoots in for a double leg but Nazarethyan sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
As Sanchez backs off Nazarethyan throws a huge counter combo but Sanchez manages to avoid it all.
Sanchez fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Sanchez closes the distance and clinches up with Nazarethyan, looking for a takedown. Sanchez pushes Nazarethyan against the cage but Nazarethyan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Sanchez shoots in but Nazarethyan avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Sanchez moves in looking to clinch but Nazarethyan pushes him off.
Leon Pablo Sanchez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sanchez looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
A punch combination from Nazarethyan misses.
Sanchez attempts a counter takedown but Nazarethyan avoids it well and moves away.
Nazarethyan circles away from the clinch attempt.
Sanchez is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez throws a head kick that misses.
Sanchez throws a head kick but Nazarethyan moves out of range.
Nazarethyan lands a jab to Sanchez's midsection.
Sanchez lands a lovely overhand right.
Sanchez tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Nazarethyan counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nazarethyan is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Nazarethyan prevents Sanchez from improving his position.
Nice strikes from Nazarethyan there.
Nazarethyan has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Sanchez is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Nazarethyan scores with a couple of nice shots.
Nazarethyan wants to pass the guard but Sanchez is defending well.

Nazarethyan is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Sanchez is just riding it out for now. Nazarethyan eventually gives up the hold.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Nazarethyan.
Nazarethyan winds up and cracks Sanchez with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Sanchez has hold of Nazarethyan's hands but Nazarethyan slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Nazarethyan seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Nazarethyan seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Nazarethyan lands strikes from half guard.
Nice strikes from Nazarethyan there.
Sanchez wants to get back to his feet.
Nazarethyan not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez wants to get back to his feet.
Sanchez trying to control but Nazarethyan postures up.
Sanchez tries to get to full guard but Nazarethyan has control of the leg.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nazarethyan is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Nazarethyan sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sanchez blocking the ground and pound attempt from Nazarethyan.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Nazarethyan lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Suren Nazarethyan dominated that 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.

Sanchez misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Nazarethyan tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Nazarethyan takes a swing at Sanchez's ribcage but misses.
Nazarethyan misses with a wild combination.
Sanchez throws a lazy head kick
and Nazarethyan counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Nazarethyan has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Sanchez throws a sloppy head kick

and Nazarethyan moves into the clinch.
A right handed body shot lands from Nazarethyan.
Nazarethyan is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Sanchez is defending well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nazarethyan leaning his opponent against the cage.
Nazarethyan is pressed up against the cage. Sanchez has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Nazarethyan down to the mat. Nazarethyan avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big left from Nazarethyan misses.
Sanchez shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Nazarethyan but Nazarethyan pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Sanchez moves out of the way of the counter high kick fromNazarethyan.
Sanchez gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Nazarethyan counters with a nice uppercut.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Leon Pablo Sanchez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nazarethyan stuffs the takedown.
As Sanchez backs off Nazarethyan throws a huge counter combo but Sanchez manages to avoid it all.
Sanchez tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Nazarethyan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Sanchez misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Leon Pablo Sanchez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nazarethyan lands with a kick to the ribs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez's corner calls for a 1-2. Sanchez obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Sanchez shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Nazarethyan as he jumps to the side.

Nazarethyan darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Sanchez wants to get back to full guard.
Nazarethyan content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Nazarethyan scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nazarethyan controlling the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nazarethyan is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Sanchez trying to control here.
Sanchez taking some punishment here, with Nazarethyan in his half guard.
Nazarethyan working the head and body with strikes.
Nazarethyan scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Sanchez has hold of Nazarethyan's hands but Nazarethyan slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Nazarethyan with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Sanchez knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Nazarethyan on the ground.
Nazarethyan takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Nazarethyan not doing much here.
Sanchez on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nazarethyan is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Nice strikes from Nazarethyan there.
Nazarethyan looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Suren Nazarethyan has got the better of the ground game so far.
Nazarethyan looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Sanchez with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Ground and pound from Nazarethyan.
Nazarethyan landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Nazarethyan scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sanchez trying to control here.
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Nazarethyan has eaten all the pies!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nazarethyan winds up and cracks Sanchez with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Nazarethyan in particular looking to stall.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Suren Nazarethyan showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Nazarethyan misses with a body shot.
Nazarethyan tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Sanchez has a takedown stuffed.
Sanchez shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Nazarethyan as he jumps to the side.
Sanchez doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Nazarethyan counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Leon Pablo Sanchez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sanchez blocks an elbow strike.
Nazarethyan dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Sanchez is trying to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nazarethyan changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Sanchez fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Nazarethyan looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
A counter left hand to the body from Sanchez misses its target.
Sanchez shoots in but Nazarethyan avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Nazarethyan tries to counter by closing the distance.
Sanchez misses with a takedown attempt
enabling Nazarethyan to counter with a crisp jab.
Sanchez dives in and grabs Nazarethyan's left leg, looking for a takedown. Nazarethyan pushes down on Sanchez's head and hops out.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nazarethyan lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

Nazarethyan fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Sanchez to the ground. Nazarethyan is now in Sanchez's guard.
Nazarethyan trying to control the position from guard on top but Sanchez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nazarethyan trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Nazarethyan stands up over Sanchez, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Nazarethyan's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Nazarethyan lands a couple of digs.
Nazarethyan lands a couple of digs.
Nazarethyan working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Nazarethyan makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Suren Nazarethyan is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Nazarethyan advances position into side control!
Nazarethyan happy to just control the position for now.
Nazarethyan is continuing to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nazarethyan lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Sanchez down.
Check out the look on Nazarethyan's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Nazarethyan lands a decent elbow from side control.
Nazarethyan scores with a couple of short elbows.
Nazarethyan scoring with punches and elbows.
Nazarethyan landing strikes.
Nazarethyan scores with punches from side control.
Nazarethyan controls the position from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The adventures of Nazarethyan the control monster continue. Boring.
Let's hope that Nazarethyan has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Nazarethyan working the body and head with strikes.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Nazarethyan lands a few punches from side control.
Nazarethyan cracks Sanchez with a big right hand but Sanchez just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Leon Pablo Sanchez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Nazarethyan is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Sanchez's shoulder. That is not cool.

And that's the end of the fight!
Suren Nazarethyan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Nazarethyan has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Anthony Taglia scores the fight 26:30
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 26:30
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Suren Nazarethyan!
Suren Nazarethyan thanked the fans post fight for their support.