PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Julio Sobral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcelo Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Julio Sobral has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Sobral
vs
Garcia

181 cm
32
168 lbs
27 - 15 - 1

177 cm
29
165 lbs
15 - 11 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Abraham\'s Laundry Services

SP Ultimate Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 27 - 15 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Julio Sobral!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 11 - 1, fighting out of London, Marcelo Garcia!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, James Ackerman and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garcia shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Sobral scores with a sloppy right hand. Garcia should have avoided that one.
Sobral uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Garcia.
Sobral uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Garcia.
Garcia misses with a right hand

and Sobral counters with a nice double leg into side control. Garcia won't be happy with that.
Sobral tries to advance to mount but can't.

Sobral tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Sobral has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
We've been hearing that Sobral has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Sobral working the head with strikes.
Garcia tries to buck Sobral off but Sobral is having none of it.
Sobral tries to advance to mount but Garcia denies him.
Garcia is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Sobral trying to control the position but Garcia is working away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia can't do much from the bottom here.
Sobral 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 Garcia's shoulder. That is not cool.
Garcia tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Sobral wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Sobral sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Garcia is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Sobral is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Garcia tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Sobral wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Garcia is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Sobral is looking to take a break and control but Garcia is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Sobral scores with a couple of short elbows.
You can see the frustration on Garcia's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Garcia gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

Garcia looking for submissions off his back.
Sobral working Garcia over with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia gets full guard.
Sobral trying to control but Garcia is working from the bottom.

Garcia looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Sobral slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Garcia is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Garcia is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Sobral tries to roll over but Garcia keeps him under control.
Garcia wants to control but Sobral is keeping him busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Garcia is working for a submission of some sort.

Garcia seems to be working for a kimura but Sobral defends the submission attempt.

Garcia is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Sobral is just riding it out for now. Garcia eventually gives up the hold.
Sobral gets full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Garcia postures up.
Garcia trying to control the position from guard on top but Sobral is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Garcia is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Julio Sobral dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Sobral misses the shot to the body.
Marcelo Garcia seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Garcia throws a low kick but Sobral avoids it.
Sobral lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Garcia circles away quickly and effectively.
Garcia throws a right hand that misses

and Sobral counters with a shoot takedown. Garcia fights it but they end up in guard.
Sobral is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Garcia can do to turn this around?
Sobral is looking to advance position but Garcia has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!

Garcia is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Sobral has managed to escape the submission attempt.

Garcia has hold of Sobral's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Sobral manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Sobral is looking to get to half guard.

Garcia moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Sobral has worked his arm free - good work by Sobral!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Garcia is trying to get an arm triangle but Sobral is defending well.
Sobral manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Garcia is trying to maintain the position but Sobral is very close to passing his half guard.
Garcia is pressing down on Sobral's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

Garcia working for a triangle but Sobral defends it easily.

Garcia looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Sobral makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Garcia looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Sobral trying to control but Garcia is working from the bottom.
Sobral is looking to work some ground and pound but Garcia has wrist control.
Sobral trying to control but Garcia is working from the bottom.

Sobral got a little sloppy there for a moment and Garcia has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Sobral has managed to get both his arms back between Garcia's legs - danger averted.

Garcia working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Sobral doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Sobral manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Garcia looking to control.
Garcia tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garcia keeping moving, preventing Sobral from controlling successfully.
Sobral stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Garcia swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Garcia looking for a guillotine here but Sobral defends easily.
Garcia is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Sobral postures up and lands a big shot to Garcia's brow.
Garcia trying to keep a closed guard but Sobral is proving a slippery customer.
Sobral advances position into side control!
Julio Sobral overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sobral trying to control the action but Garcia is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sobral is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Garcia is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Sobral connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Garcia some visible discomfort.

Sobral has hold of Garcia's arm here. He's working for an Americana. It looks like he might have it! Garcia tries to escape but he's just digging himself in deeper - Sobral cranks the arm and Garcia screams in pain! The ref makes a decision and ends the fight before the tap - no complains from Garcia, who is just happy to have his arm attached to his body.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:42 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Julio Sobral!
Julio Sobral retains his lightweight title!
Julio Sobral decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.