PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Matthew Albans (ranked 23964 p4p, 4320 weight class) and Oskari Sankari (ranked 645 p4p, 493 weight class). Oskari Sankari is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Albans
vs
Sankari

167 cm
22
155
1 - 1 - 0

178 cm
23
163
2 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Matthew Albans !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Oskari Sankari!
The judges for this bout are Percy O'Donnell, Don Winkell and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Albans shoots in and bounces Sankari off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Albans forces his way into half guard.

Albans is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Sankari actively working from the bottom here.
Albans wants to control but Sankari is keeping him busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Albans slows the pace down in half guard.
Sankari slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Sankari trying to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sankari had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Albans defends it easily.

Sankari has an active guard here but Albans has managed to pass into half guard.
Sankari trying to hold on to Albans 's head to control him but Albans postures up.

Sankari looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Sankari is defending against the submission attempts here by Albans .
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Sankari is trying to control but can't.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

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.
Albans seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

Albans seems to be looking for submissions.

Sankari is defending against the submission attempts here by Albans .
Albans trying to control the action but Sankari is working from the bottom.
Albans passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Sankari!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sankari is looking to improve his position but Albans isn't that keen on the idea.
Sankari tries to hold on but Albans pushes him away.
Albans is dominating on the ground here - he's now on his opponent's back, looking to sink in the hooks. Sankari is in real trouble.
Albans not allowing Sankari to control his hands.

Albans has got his arm under Sankari's chin working for the choke… has he got it? It looks pretty tight! Oh! Sankari has spun round into Albans 's guard beautifully! Well done that man!
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Albans is on top in guard.

Albans wants to control from the top but Sankari keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Albans postures up.
Albans trying to control the position from guard on top but Sankari is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Albans is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Sankari is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Albans is pushing down on Sankari's leg trying to pass to half guard. Sankari is fighting to maintain full guard but Albans has managed to sneak the leg through.
Sankari wants to improve his position but Albans is controlling well.

Sankari actively working from the bottom here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Sankari moves into full guard.
Sankari keeping moving, preventing Albans from controlling successfully.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Matthew Albans 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.

Sankari slaps away a takedown attempt from Albans , before circling back to the center of the mat.
Sankari ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Sankari scores with a jab to the jaw.
Albans walks into a stiff left hand from Sankari.
Sankari scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Albans takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Sankari throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Albans attempts a counter takedown but Sankari avoids it well and moves away.
Sankari uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Albans has time to react.
Albans jabbing away but nothing is landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sankari throws a body punch but Albans moves out of range.
Sankari takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Sankari throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Sankari gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Albans to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Albans is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Sankari working for a triangle but Albans defends it easily.
Sankari tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sankari is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Sankari can't keep his opponent in guard - Albans advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Albans is trying to control. Sankari wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Sankari trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Albans manages to pass to mount!
Sankari wants to hold on but Albans pushes him away.
Sankari is in all sorts of trouble here.
Sankari tries to lock up and control but Albans gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Albans moves to the back.

Sankari defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Albans 's arms.
Sankari tries to roll but Albans sticks to his back.

Albans working for the choke.

Albans is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Sankari is defending well though. Albans let's go of the attempt for now.

Albans has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Sankari has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sankari is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
Albans is hanging on to Sankari's back as he tries to escape.
Sankari trying to control the position but Albans manages to sink in the hooks.
Albans keeps control of the position as Sankari tries to break free.
Albans not allowing Sankari to control his hands.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sankari can't escape the position.
Sankari keeps trying to improve his position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Matthew Albans will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Sankari throws an overhand right that lands on Albans 's shoulder, as Albans tries to avoid the shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sankari. Albans does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sankari throws a shot from downtown. Albans moves away and avoids it.
Sankari lands with a nice body punch.
Albans is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sankari can do to turn this around?

Albans scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Sankari has guillotine here! It looks pretty tight! Could this be all over! No, Albans escapes and passes into side control at the same time. Nice work there by Albans !
Sankari is trying to get back to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Albans tries for a kimura but Sankari is defending well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sankari stops Albans from passing to mount.

Albans is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Sankari has escaped the position, nice work there.
Sankari is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

Sankari looking for submissions off his back.

Albans is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Sankari has managed to free his arm - good work.
Sankari wants to improve his position but Albans is controlling well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Sankari is in trouble now - Albans has advanced to mount!
Albans wants to control the pace but Sankari is squirming around nicely.
Albans wants to take Sankari's back but he can't do it this time.
Sankari wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Sankari wants to control his opponent's hands but Albans gets his hands free.
Sankari is being controlled on the ground here - he must escape this position otherwise surely the end is near.
Sankari looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Albans is looking for the choke from the back position but Sankari is controlling his hands well.

Albans tightening his grip on Sankari, looking for the choke.
Sankari rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Oskari Sankari has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Albans is looking for a kimura here.
Sankari trying to control from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sankari looking for submissions off his back.
Albans trying to control from half guard but Sankari is working away.
Albans has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Albans is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Sankari can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Albans controlling from the full mount.
Matthew Albans is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Matthew Albans showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Albans , 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Matthew Albans !
Matthew Albans decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.