PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Joao Sanchez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and KC Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Joao Sanchez has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sanchez
vs
Howard

185 cm
25
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
24
185 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Inexperienced

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Joao Sanchez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, KC Howard!
The judges for this bout are Gregory Folan, Steve Smith and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard just misses with a punch to the body.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Sanchez misses with a jab, cross combination.
Sanchez thuds his right hand into Howard's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.

Howard closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Sanchez is trying to push Howard away but Howard has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Sanchez is trying to break free.

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Howard lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

Howard has taken the fight to the clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sanchez is trying to push Howard away but Howard has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Howard can't find room to land a body shot as Sanchez controls the action.
Howard scores with a knee to the head.
Sanchez wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Howard gets through Sanchez's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Sanchez wants to get back to striking at distance but Howard won't allow it.
Howard is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sanchez is defending well for now.
Sanchez has had enough of the clinch but Howard keeps him there for the moment.
Howard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Sanchez blocks it with crossed arms.
Nice body punch from Howard - that landed with a thud.

Howard escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Howard pushes Sanchez up against the cage in a clinch.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Howard instigates a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Howard tries to land a knee to the head but Sanchez blocks with his arms.
Sanchez wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Howard has him pressed against the cage.
Sanchez fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Sanchez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Howard trying to land knees to the body.
Howard can't find room to land a body shot as Sanchez controls the action.
Sanchez is trying to break free.
Howard struggles to land a body shot inside as Sanchez controls his hands.
Howard lands with a short shot to the head.
Howard is leaning against Sanchez and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Sanchez is breathing heavily.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Howard.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Howard jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.

Howard moves into the clinch successfully.
Howard lands a good knee to the midsection. Sanchez won't want to take too many of those.
Howard throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Sanchezs head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Howard lands a left hand.
Howard lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Nice body punch from Howard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Howard gets through Sanchez's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Howard scores with a hook to the body.
Howard works on Sanchez's body with a couple of short punches.
A shot in the inside from Howard.
Howard lands a left hand.

Howard breaks from the clinch.
Sanchez avoids a punch combination nicely.

Howard moves into range and clinches up with Sanchez.
Howard lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Sanchez wants to break the clinch but can't.
Howard lands with a short head shot on the inside.
A right handed body shot lands from Howard.
Howard lands a body shot.
Howard lands a nice shot to the body.
Howard lands an elbow just above Sanchez 's eye.
Howard digs a right hand underneath Sanchez's ribcage. Sanchez let out a lung full of air as it connected.

Howard escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Howard fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Sanchez, pushing him back against the cage.

Howard manages to break the clinch.

Howard has taken the fight to the clinch.
A body shot lands from Howard.
Howard lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Howard misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sanchez.
Sanchez avoiding damage as Howard throws knees to the body.
Nice body punch from Howard - that landed with a thud.
A nice right hand lands inside from Howard.
Nice body punch from Howard - that landed with a thud.
A hook to the body from Howard.
Howard tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Howard lands a shoulder strike.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Howard throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Sanchezs head.

Howard escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Howard takes the fight into the clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Howard.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Howard creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Howard lands with a short punch from the clinch.
A hook to the body from Howard.
Howard lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Sanchez or not.
Howard missing with knees to the body.
Howard misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sanchez.
Howard cracks Sanchez with a nice body shot.
Howard lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Nice elbow from Howard.
A left hand lands to the body for Howard.
A body shot lands from Howard.
A short right from Howard.
Howard lands a hook that snaps the head of Sanchez backwards.
A right hook to the body lands for Howard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Howard throws a series of punches but Sanchez moves out of range.

Howard drives through and clinches with Sanchez against the cage.
Howard lands an elbow inside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

KC Howard 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 gets tackled into the cage by Howard. Howard maintains the clinch.
Sanchez tries to break the clinch but Howard is controlling the position.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Howard walks into a left hand.
Howard slips a straight right by Sanchez.

Howard has managed to clinch.
Howard lands with a short shot to the head.
Sanchez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Howard blocks a body shot from Sanchez.
Sanchez wants to break free but Howard has control.
A left hand lands to the body for Howard.
Howard keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sanchez's efforts to push away.
Howard lands a shot to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A left hand lands to the body for Howard.
Howard lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Sanchez.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A short left from Howard.

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Howard stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Howard throws a right hand that Sanchez ducks under and follows up with a left that Sanchez also avoids with ease.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Howard pushes Sanchez up against the cage in a clinch.
Howard stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.

Howard breaks the clinch.
Howard misses with a two punch combination.

Howard clinches up with Sanchez and pushes him back against the cage.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Howard.
Nice body punch from Howard.

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Howard fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Howard breaks from the clinch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Howard fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Howard ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Howard misses with the combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Howard clinches up against the cage.

Howard breaks the clinch.

Howard clinches up against the cage.
Sanchez on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Sanchez misses with a punch to the body.
Howard pushes Sanchez back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Howard missing with knees to the body.
Howard throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Sanchez blocks it with crossed arms.
Sanchez blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Howard pushes Sanchez back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Howard lands a nice shot to the body.
KC Howard seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
A body shot lands from Howard.
Nice body punch from Howard.
A short body shot lands from Howard as the two fighters clinch.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Howard uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Howard scores with a jab to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Howard gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Howard lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
A body shot lands from Howard.
Howard lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Sanchez.
Good body shot from Howard.
Howard gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Howard tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sanchez avoids it.
Howard tries to land knees in the clinch but Sanchez avoids the damage to the body.
Howard gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Howard.
Howard working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Howard misses with a knee strike.
Howard works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Sanchez wants to clinch.
Howard lands a glancing blow to the side of Sanchez's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Howard closes the distance and pushes Sanchez back into the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A hook to the body from Howard.
Howard lands a shoulder strike.
Howard with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Howard digs a right hand into Sanchez's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Sanchez's gas tank.

Howard escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Howard rushes Sanchez and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Good body shot from Howard.
Nice body punch from Howard.
Howard keeps control of Sanchez as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Howard lands a body punch in the clinch.
Nice body punch from Howard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Howard manages to break the clinch.
Howard scores with a jab.

Sanchez gets tackled into the cage by Howard. Howard maintains the clinch.

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

KC Howard 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!

Howard has taken the fight to the clinch.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
KC Howard seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Sanchez throws a shot to the body.
Howard tries to bum rush Sanchez with a series of wild strikes but Sanchez uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Howard closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Howard clinches up against the cage.
A body shot lands from Howard.

Howard's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sanchez looks to land a combination but Howard avoids it well.
Sanchez uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Howard.
Sanchez tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Howard manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Howard closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Howard tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sanchez avoids it.
Howard keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Sanchez's efforts to push away.
Howard digs a right hand underneath Sanchez's ribcage. Sanchez let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Howard lands a shoulder strike.

Howard breaks from the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Howard clinches up with Sanchez and pushes him back against the cage.
Howard lands an elbow that stopped Sanchez in his tracks for a moment.
Howard lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Sanchez.
A short body shot lands from Howard as the two fighters clinch.
Howard lands a body punch.
Howard missing with knees to the body.
Howard looking to throw knees to the head but Sanchez is blocking nicely.
Howard lands a body shot in the clinch.

Howard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Howard throws a right and a left that Sanchez avoids nicely.

Howard has Sanchez up against the cage in a clinch.
Howard throws a knee to the head but misses.
A right hand to the body from Howard.
A short right from Howard on the inside.
Howard is leaning against Sanchez and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Howard pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
KC Howard is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A combination from Howard does no damage.
Howard has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Howard pushes Sanchez up against the cage in a clinch.
Howard gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Howard lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Howard throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Sanchezs head.

Howard's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A slow jab from Howard misses its intended target.
Howard ducks under a wild hook from Sanchez.
Howard with a jab.
Howard moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Sanchez moves in looking to clinch but Howard pushes him off.
Sanchez ducks under a wild hook from Howard.
Sanchez tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Howard manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
A punch lands to the side of Sanchez 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Joao Sanchez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Howard connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Howard looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Sanchez tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Howard was well out of range. Poor timing from Sanchez.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Howard moves into the clinch.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Howard obliges.
Howard comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Howard lands a shot to the body.
Howard stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Sanchez is trying to break free.
Howard misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sanchez.
Howard keeps control of Sanchez as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A nice right hand lands inside from Howard.
Howard lands a nice elbow.
Howard lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Howard lands a nice shot to the body.
Sanchez blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Sanchez avoiding damage as Howard throws knees to the body.
Sanchez is trying to force a seperation but Howard has the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A right hook to the body lands for Howard.
Howard scores a nice knee to the body.
Howard scores with a hook to the body.
A hook to the body from Howard.

Howard manages to break the clinch.
Howard fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Sanchez on the side of the head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sanchez looks to land a left hand but Howard moved out of range nicely.

Howard closes the distance and clinches.
A right handed body shot lands from Howard.
A right handed body shot lands from Howard.
Joao Sanchez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Howard breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Howard works Sanchez's body with a nice hook.
Nice cross by Howard.
Joao Sanchez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Howard moves into the clinch.
Howard lands a shoulder strike.
A right handed body shot lands from Howard.

And that's the end of the fight!
KC Howard comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Howard 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 Gregory Folan scores the fight 26:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 26:30
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... KC Howard!