PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ramon Rabbit (ranked 1067 p4p, 1320 weight class) and Samuel Sanchez (ranked 158 p4p, 184 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Rabbit
vs
Sanchez

179 cm
25
172
11 - 9 - 0

185 cm
24
180
9 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ramon Rabbit!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of New York, Samuel Sanchez!
The judges for this bout are Ben Watson, Winston Howard and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sanchez throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Rabbit makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
Rabbit scores with a nice strike.
Sanchez takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
Rabbit keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Sanchez works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Rabbit fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Sanchez manages to avoid it.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Sanchez has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Ramon Rabbit seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rabbit slaps away a takedown attempt from Sanchez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Rabbit connects with a good right hand that stumbles Sanchez. Sanchez circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Rabbit throws a poor cross that misses
and Sanchez counters with a left to the body.
Rabbit throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Rabbit misses with a hook to the body
and Sanchez counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Sanchez moves out of range of the body kick from Rabbit.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Crunch! Rabbit slams his shin into Sanchez's torso.
Sanchez takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Ramon Rabbit is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sanchez gets a takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rabbit is trying is best to control the position here.
Rabbit won't allow Sanchez to pass to mount.
Rabbit regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Sanchez.
Rabbit is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Rabbit wants to sweep here but Sanchez controlling him for the moment.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sanchez accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sanchez wants to pass the guard but Rabbit is keeping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez throwing strikes from guard but Rabbit blocks nicely.
Sanchez lands a couple of elbows.
Rabbit keeping moving, preventing Sanchez from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rabbit is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Rabbit utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Rabbit looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sanchez is one step ahead there.
Sanchez looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez with a nice head shot there.
Rabbit looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sanchez is one step ahead there.
Rabbit pulls Sanchez in close to prevent any damage.
Sanchez wants to control from the top but Rabbit keeps moving.
Sanchez controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Sanchez changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Rabbit tries to avoid it but Sanchez manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Rabbit to the ground. Rabbit escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's four 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.
Sanchez just misses with a punch to the body.
Rabbit scores with a nice strike.
Sanchez comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Rabbit walks into a straight right hand from Sanchez.
Rabbit throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Sanchez looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.

Rabbit gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Sanchez to score an easy takedown into full guard.

Rabbit is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Sanchez presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Rabbit.
Rabbit throws a head punch that misses.
Rabbit tries to work over Sanchez's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Rabbit lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Rabbit tries to throw a body punch but Sanchez avoids it by throwing Rabbit back against the cage.
A nice right hand lands inside from Rabbit.

Rabbit breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ramon Rabbit dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Rabbit misses with a two punch combination.
Rabbit keeps Sanchez at a distance using the push kick.
Rabbit ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

Sanchez connects with a vicious head kick that knocks Rabbit to the floor! Sanchez dives in looking for the finish!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sanchez throwing shots but Rabbit is blocking nicely.
Sanchez is nestled in close to Rabbit, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Rabbit is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Rabbit blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sanchez.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Sanchez lands a nice short elbow.
Sanchez has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Rabbit controlling the position for now.
Sanchez scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Sanchez landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Rabbit is looking to control Sanchez's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Rabbit avoid being mounted?
Sanchez lands strikes from half guard.
Sanchez thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Sanchez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Rabbit wants to improve his position but Sanchez is controlling well.
Sanchez looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Rabbit trying to control here.
Rabbit has hold of Sanchez's hands but Sanchez slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rabbit blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sanchez.
Rabbit is trying to control but can't.
Sanchez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Sanchez takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Sanchez working Rabbit over with strikes.
Sanchez winds up and cracks Rabbit with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Sanchez missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Sanchez throwing shots but Rabbit is blocking nicely.
Sanchez thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Rabbit regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Sanchez.
Sanchez scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Sanchez is looking to work some ground and pound but Rabbit has wrist control.
Sanchez is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Samuel Sanchez has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rabbit lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Sanchez has control of Rabbit's left arm, preventing Rabbit from doing any damage.
Sanchez manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Rabbit manages to get himself to full guard.

Sanchez missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Sanchez scoring with punches to the head and body.
Sanchez loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez is looking to work some ground and pound but Rabbit has wrist control.
Sanchez makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Sanchez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Rabbit utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Sanchez trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sanchez postures up in Rabbit's guard and throws a big left but Rabbit blocks it.
Sanchez postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Sanchez landing some decent shots from guard.
Rabbit utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Sanchez is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Sanchez with a flurry of punches that miss.
Sanchez content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Samuel Sanchez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Rabbit lands a leg kick that knocks Sanchez off balance momentarily.
Sanchez has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Sanchez looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Rabbit!
Rabbit seems a little lost for a moment, as Sanchez dominates the positioning.
Sanchez in side control lands a decent elbow.
Rabbit struggling a bit here.
Sloppy strikes there by Sanchez.
Sanchez creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Rabbit sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sanchez landing a few strikes.
Sanchez landing strikes.
Sanchez lands a nice forearm strike.
Rabbit is working to avoid the ground and pound but Sanchez connects with a decent elbow.

Rabbit is rocked!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Rabbit some visible discomfort.
Oh Rabbit is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sanchez scoring with punches and elbows.
Sanchez in side control here. He's dropped a big elbow there and Rabbit looks hurt! Oh, he is hurt! Sanchez turns on the heat and pounds him out for a TKO victory! Good killer instinct there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:26 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Samuel Sanchez!