PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Bronson Hughes (ranked 2355 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bobby Sands (ranked 3364 p4p, 0 weight class). Hughes comes to the cage accompanied by Slam - By: Onyx. Sands has chosen Irish Soldier Song ... Free & Green as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Bobby Sands enters the cage!

Hughes
vs
Sands

170 cm
37
154 lbs
19 - 16 - 1

173 cm
33
150 lbs
25 - 17 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Cardio machine

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 19 - 16 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Bronson Hughes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 25 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Bobby Sands!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Daniel Franklin and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hughes gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Sands to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Hughes wants to sweep here but Sands controlling him for the moment.
Hughes avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Hughes utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Sands trying to control the position from guard on top but Hughes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Hughes has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Sands stopping the sweep attempt from Hughes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sands wants to control from the top but Hughes keeps moving.
Sands chips away with some ground and pound.
Hughes working a defensive guard here.
Sands must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Hughes holds on and takes a little breather.
Sands postures up.
Sands is looking to work some ground and pound but Hughes has wrist control.
Hughes is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Sands postures up in Hughes's guard and throws a big left but Hughes blocks it.
Sands landing with the ground and pound.
Sands trying to control but Hughes is working from the bottom.
Hughes wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Sands throwing strikes from guard but Hughes blocks nicely.
Sands looking to sit in guard and control but Hughes gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sands preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Hughes wants to control from the top but Sands keeps moving.
Sands keeping full guard, as Hughes tries to pass.
Hughes throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Sands works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Hughes loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Sands is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Hughes makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Hughes.
Hughes keeping moving, preventing Sands from controlling successfully.
Hughes is trying to control the position but Sands postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sands scoring with punches to the head and body.
Sands throws a strike but Hughes rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Hughes makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hughes wants to control from the top but Sands keeps moving.
Hughes works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Sands is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Hughes scores with a couple of nice shots.

Hughes seems to be working for a kimura but Sands defends the submission attempt.

Hughes is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Hughes wants to work for an arm triangle but Sands is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sands looking for submissions off his back.
Hughes is looking to stall here but Sands recovers full guard.
Hughes postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sands keeping moving, preventing Hughes from controlling successfully.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Sands preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

The fighters are working up against the cage. Sands manages to wriggle his way back to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Bobby Sands will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Sands takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Hughes misses with a leg kick
and Sands counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Hughes buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
A combination from Sands does no damage.

Hughes closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Hughes tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Sands is trying to improve his position.
Hughes misses with the ground and pound.
Bobby Sands has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sands manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hughes is positioning himself well to prevent Sands advancing to mount.
Hughes makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Hughes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hughes preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Hughes 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.
Sands makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Sands distracts Hughes with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Hughes seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Hughes has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Hughes is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sands advances to half guard.
Hughes trying to control but Sands postures up.
Sands lands strikes from half guard.
Hughes preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hughes is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Sands's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Sands's back!

Hughes looking for the choke but no joy.
Sands wants to get back to his feet.

Hughes is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Sands defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.

Hughes is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Sands is defending well though. Hughes let's go of the attempt for now.
Hughes has the hooks in. Sands is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hughes working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
I really don't envy Sands right now.
Hughes is landing with strikes. Sands can't take much more of this.
Sands trying to control but not successfully.
Hughes throwing strikes from the back - he gets a warning from the referee for striking the back of the head but all these shots are hurting Sands!

Hughes looking to break Sands's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. Sands remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Hughes will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sands wants to escape the position.

Sands is displaying good submission defense - not really looking in danger of submitting to the rear naked choke at the moment. That could change in an instant of course if Hughes gets his way!

Sands showing good submission defense here.
Sands trying to control the hands but Hughes breaks the grip.

Hughes tightening his grip on Sands, looking for the choke.

Sands manages to stand up with Hughes still on his back. Eventually Hughes drops to his feet and we're back in the standing position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bronson Hughes dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Hughes scores with a jab to the jaw.
Sands slips a straight right by Hughes.
Sands moves away from the strike by Hughes.
Hughes throws the left hand but Sands avoids the punch easily.
Sands takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Hughes waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Sands.

Sands shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Sands showed some decent athleticism there.
Hughes is trying to get back to full guard.
Hughes holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hughes wants to get back to full guard.
Sands winds up and cracks Hughes with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Sands prevents Hughes from improving his position.
Hughes is concentrating on defense, preventing Sands from advancing position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hughes tries to roll over but Sands keeps him under control.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Sands lands a nice short elbow.
Sands throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Hughes is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Sands's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Sands's back!

Hughes working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.

Sands manages to stand up with Hughes still on his back. Eventually Hughes drops to his feet and we're back in the standing position.
A left lands for Hughes.
Sands misses with a straight right.
Sands is looking to clinch but Hughes is avoiding it.
Hughes lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Bronson Hughes seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hughes scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sands tries to close the distance and clinch but Hughes swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sands changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Hughes tries to avoid it but Sands manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Hughes to the ground. Hughes escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Hughes feinted with a counter takedown.
Sands works the jab nicely.
Sands takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
A slow jab from Hughes misses its intended target.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Sands.
Hughes throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sands sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sands ducks under a wild hook from Hughes.
Hughes swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Sands swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Hughes lands a body shot.
Hughes connects with a good right hand that stumbles Sands. Sands circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Bronson Hughes is winning the standup battle so far.
Sands pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Hughes tried to counter with a leg kick but Sands avoided it.
Hughes throws a front kick that sends Sands stumbling back into the cage.
Hughes throws a poor cross that misses
and Sands counters with a straight right hand.

Hughes gets tackled into the cage by Sands. Sands maintains the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sands manages to pull guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hughes accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Hughes's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Sands is looking to stand up but Hughes isn't so interested in that idea.
Hughes throws an elbow that misses. Sands uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Hughes's guard. Nice move by Sands!

Hughes is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Hughes had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Sands defends it easily.
Sands postures up and lands a big shot to Hughes's brow.
Hughes keeping moving, preventing Sands from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hughes working a defensive guard here.
Hughes working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Sands.
Sands with a nice head shot there.
Hughes wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Hughes is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Sands is looking to work some ground and pound but Hughes has wrist control.
Sands postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Hughes has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Sands wants to control from the top but Hughes keeps moving.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Bronson Hughes.
I think Hughes has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28
Judge George Francis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bronson Hughes!
A relieved looking Bronson Hughes thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.