PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Steve Sanchez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Nordquist (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sanchez comes to the cage accompanied by Where is My Mind? by Pixies. Steve Sanchez has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Sanchez
vs
Nordquist

178 cm
21
158 lbs
7 - 9 - 0

170 cm
21
148 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Great elbows
Very quick

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
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 7 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Steve Sanchez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, John Nordquist!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Bruno Hogan and Darius Henderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nordquist moves away from the strike by Sanchez.
Nordquist shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Nordquist ducks under a wild hook from Sanchez.
Nordquist feints the counter takedown.
Sanchez lands with a straight right. Nordquist didn't see that one coming.
Nordquist scores with a body shot.
Sanchez throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Nordquist fails with the takedown.
A swing and a miss from Sanchez.
Nordquist steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Sanchez.
Sanchez misses with a jab, cross combination.
Nordquist wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Nordquist throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Sanchez gets tackled into the cage by Nordquist. Nordquist maintains the clinch.
Sanchez lands with a short head shot on the inside.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Nordquist gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Sanchez is looking for a sweep. Nordquist is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Nordquist wants to lay and pray for a moment but Sanchez keeps working.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!
Sanchez is trying to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nordquist seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Nordquist prevents Sanchez from improving his position.
Sanchez is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Nordquist jumps into side control!
Nordquist in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Sanchez takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Sanchez is looking to reverse the position.

Nordquist is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Sanchez has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez tries to improve position but can't.
Sanchez is working hard here to advance position.
Nordquist is putting a hurting on Sanchez here, landing some big shots from side control.
Nordquist lands a nice forearm strike.
Sanchez tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Nordquist is working Sanchez over with some ground and pound from side control.
Nordquist connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Sanchez some visible discomfort.
Sanchez is not content to let Nordquist control the position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Sanchez on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Sanchez is trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nordquist working the ground and pound.

Sanchez is rocked!

Nordquist is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Sanchez knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Nordquist lands a nice forearm strike.
Oh Sanchez is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Sanchez sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Sanchez seems to have got his legs back now.
Nordquist prevents Sanchez from improving his position.
Nordquist lands with a punch from half guard.
Sanchez wants to improve his position but Nordquist is controlling well.
Nordquist trying to control from half guard but Sanchez is working away.
Nordquist is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Sanchez flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Nordquist prevents Sanchez from improving his position.
Nordquist working Sanchez over with strikes.
Nordquist working the head and body with strikes.
Sanchez is not content to let Nordquist control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Nordquist lands strikes from half guard.

Sanchez is defending against the submission attempts here by Nordquist.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Nordquist rushes Sanchez and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Nordquist lands a left hand.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Sanchez.
Sanchez throws a punch but it's blocked by Nordquist.
A shot in the inside from Nordquist.
Nordquist goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
I was talking to Sanchez's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
A nice right hand lands inside from Sanchez.
Nordquist lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Sanchez backwards.
Nordquist controlling the action here for a moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nordquist jumps guard but Sanchez turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

Sanchez is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Nordquist can't fight it off and eventually Sanchez manages to take the fight to the floor. Nordquist looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Nordquist is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez slips nicely into half guard.
Sanchez not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sanchez is pressing down on Nordquist's thigh, looking to free his foot. Nordquist is holding on for now.
Sanchez trying to control the action but Nordquist is working from the bottom.
Nordquist throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Nordquist tries to roll over but Sanchez keeps him under control.
Sanchez trying to mount his opponent but Nordquist defends it.
Sanchez missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Sanchez lands with a punch from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez trying to control the action but Nordquist is working from the bottom.
Nordquist tries to roll over but Sanchez keeps him under control.
Sanchez works his way into full mount!
Nordquist can't escape the position.
Sanchez with good strikes from the mount here!
Nordquist is trying to escape the mount.
Sanchez looking to control but Nordquist is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Nordquist keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nordquist tries to lock up and control but Sanchez gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Nordquist is in all sorts of trouble here.
Nordquist sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
Nordquist tries to get to full guard but Sanchez has control of the leg.
Nordquist is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Sanchez's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Sanchez's back!
Nordquist has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Nordquist keeps control of the position as Sanchez tries to break free.
Nordquist doesn't have the hooks in and Sanchez manages to turn into his guard.
Nordquist has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Nordquist throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Nordquist is looking to sweep but instead, Sanchez has passed into half guard.
Nordquist trying to hold on to Sanchez's head to control him but Sanchez postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nordquist regains full guard. Nicely done.

Nordquist is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Sanchez defends well.
Sanchez throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Nordquist works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Nordquist manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Sanchez manages to get himself to full guard.

Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sanchez wants to sweep here but Nordquist controlling him for the moment.
Nordquist lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Nordquist distracts Sanchez with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Nordquist lands a couple of decent looking shots.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Steve Sanchez will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Sanchez thows a left - swing and a miss!

Nordquist rushes Sanchez and presses him up against the cage.
Nordquist is working for takedown but Sanchez is calmly controlling the position for now.
Nordquist lands a body shot in the clinch.

Nordquist turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Nordquist manages to end up in side control.
Sanchez is looking to regain half guard here but Nordquist keeps moving and retains side control.
Nordquist scoring with punches and elbows.
Sanchez tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
John Nordquist has got the better of the ground game so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nordquist working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Nordquist working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Sanchez wants to control but Nordquist postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Sanchez is trying to get back to half guard.

Nordquist tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Nordquist has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Nordquist scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Sanchez to see if he's OK.
Nordquist scores with a couple of short elbows.
Nordquist lands a strong strike to the head of Sanchez. That's dazed him! Nordquist looking to finish here. Sanchez is waving his arms around trying to block but he's hurt badly - Nordquist lands more strikes and the referee steps in to end the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:54 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Nordquist!
A less than humble John Nordquist misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.