PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Martino Sicari (ranked 1782 p4p, 212 weight class) and Cheikh Holk (ranked 2930 p4p, 326 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Sicari
vs
Holk

178 cm
19
161 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

179 cm
26
165 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Solid Muay Thai
Heavy handed

Level Up!

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Martino Sicari!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Cheikh Holk!
The judges for this bout are Paul Aken, Saam Ante and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Holk tries to clinch up but Sicari circles away and keeps his distance.
Cheikh Holk seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Holk wants to clinch up but Sicari keeps it at a distance.
Sicari swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Holk fails in his attempt to clinch.

Holk moves into the clinch.
Sicari is trying to break free.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Holk.
Sicari blocks a body shot from Holk.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Sicari.
Holk misses with some punches.
Holk has Sicari pressed against the cage, preventing Sicari from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Holk avoiding damage.
Holk tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Holk looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Holk tries a knee to the head but Sicari blocks it.
Holk lands with a short shot to the head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Sicari.
Holk throws a punch but it's blocked by Sicari.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holk misses with some punches.
Holk tries to throw a body punch but Sicari avoids it by throwing Holk back against the cage.
A shot in the inside from Holk.
Holk lands a right hand that snaps the head of Sicari backwards.
Sicari fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Nice body punch from Holk - that landed with a thud.
Holk lands a nice uppercut.
Holk lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Holk keeps control of Sicari as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Come on Holk - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Sicari working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Holk throws a knee to the head but misses.
Holk throws a knee to the head but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sicari scores with a shot to the side of Holk's head.
Holk misses with a short punch on the inside.
Holk has a couple of punches blocked by Sicari.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sicari wants to break free but Holk has control.
Holk misses with a short punch on the inside.
Holk has a couple of punches blocked by Sicari.
Holk working aggressively here.
Holk prevents Sicari from breaking the clinch.
Holk working aggressively here.
Sicari tries to break free but Holk pushes him back against the cage.
Holk misses with some punches.
Sicari is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Holk lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Sicari backwards.
Holk lands a hook that snaps the head of Sicari backwards.
Holk tries to land a knee to the head but Sicari blocks with his arms.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holk blocks an uppercut.
Sicari blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Holk has a couple of punches blocked by Sicari.
Sicari misses with some punches.
Holk tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Holk fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Holk blocks an uppercut.
Sicari misses with some punches.
Sicari can't break the clinch.
Holk misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sicari.

Sicari breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Holk looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Sicari is looking to counter punch.
Holk tries to clinch but Sicari is having none of it.
Holk staying out of range there.
Sicari sets himself, and Holk steps forward looking for the clinch! Sicari avoids it this time.
Holk tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Sicari counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Holk takes one to the side of the head.
Sicari misses with a straight left.
Holk keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Sicari jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Holk takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Holk tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Sicari manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Sicari throws a nice looking combination but Holk bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Holk tries to clinch but Sicari is having none of it.
Sicari missing with a left hand there. Holk was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Holk is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Holk rushes Sicari and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Holk tries to land knees in the clinch but Sicari avoids the damage to the body.
Holk misses with a knee strike.
Holk misses with the head strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Cheikh Holk will probably get the nod.
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.

Holk moves to clinch but Sicari breaks away
and Sicari counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Holk tries to clinch but Sicari moves away
and Sicari counters with a nice uppercut.
Holk misses with a lunging right hand
and Sicari counters with a stiff right hand.
Sicari waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Holk.
It looks like Sicari has been trying to sharpen up his punching technique, as it looks crisper than last time we saw him.
Holk tries to clinch up.
Sicari misses with a straight left.
Holk avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Holk is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Sicari throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sicari swats away the attempt to clinch by Holk.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A jab from Sicari finds it's way through Holk's defenses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Holk looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Sicari throwing a counter right hand but Holk manages to avoid it.
Sicari swats away the attempt to clinch by Holk.
Sicari circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sicari misses with a hook. Holk ducked under it nicely.
Holk tries to counter by closing the distance.
Sicari keeps the fight on the outside.
Holk tries to clinch up.
Nice straight punches there by Sicari. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Sicari.
Holk scores with a jab.
Sicari misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Sicari loads up on a big right hand but Holk slips the punch.
Sicari takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
The fighters circling - Sicari throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Nice uppercut lands for Sicari. That snapped Holk's head back.
Sicari swats away the attempt to clinch by Holk.
Holk tries to clinch but Sicari moves out of range.
Holk tries to close the distance and clinch but Sicari swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Holk wants to clinch
and Sicari counters with a left to the body.
Sicari keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sicari's corner calls for a 1-2. Sicari obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Holk forces Sicari back against the cage and clinches.
Holk stalling.
Holk throws a head punch that misses.
Sicari wants to break free but Holk has control.
Holk blocks an uppercut.
Sicari lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Holk.
Holk swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Holk missing with knees to the body.
Holk swings wildly with an uppercut but Sicari uses good head movement to avoid it.
Holk misses with a knee to the head.
Sicari wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A head punch on the inside from Holk fails to land.
Holk has a couple of punches blocked by Sicari.
A short left from Holk.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sicari wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Holk with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
A head punch on the inside from Holk fails to land.
Cheikh Holk seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Holk tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Holk misses with a short punch on the inside.
Sicari working aggressively here.
Holk misses with a knee to the head.
Holk lands a right hand that snaps the head of Sicari backwards.
Holk throws a knee to the head but misses.
Holk throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Sicari blocks it with crossed arms.
Sicari fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Holk's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A quick uppercut on the inside from Holk.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sicari.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Holk with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Holk blocks an uppercut.
Holk tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Holk with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Holk is pushing Sicari up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Sicari has a couple of punches blocked by Holk.
Holk gets through Sicari's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Holk throws a punch but it's blocked by Sicari.
Holk misses with the head strike.
Holk tries a knee to the head but Sicari blocks it.
A short right from Sicari.
Holk lands a body punch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Martino Sicari dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Holk moves out of range as Sicari strikes.
Holk wants to counter the offense by Sicari and move into the clinch position.
Holk tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Sicari paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Holk tries to close the distance and clinch but Sicari swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sicari waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Holk.
Holk is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Sicari connects with a nice looking jab.
Sicari avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Holk is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Holk lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

Holk moves into the clinch.
Holk tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sicari.
Holk looking to throw knees to the head but Sicari is blocking nicely.
Holk looking to throw knees to the head but Sicari is blocking nicely.
Holk with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Holk tries to work over Sicari's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Holk has a couple of punches blocked by Sicari.
Sicari blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Sicari lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Holk or not.
A head punch on the inside from Sicari fails to land.
Holk using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Sicari has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Holk tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sicari avoids it.
Sicari working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Holk misses with some punches.

Sicari manages to break the clinch.
Sicari throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Holk needs to keep his hands up - Sicari had a free shot at his head there.
Sicari swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Holk tries to grapple but his opponent circles
enabling Sicari to counter with a crisp jab.

Holk gets a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sicari's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Holk moves in looking to clinch but Sicari pushes him off.

Holk moves into the clinch successfully.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Still in the clinch, Holk scores with a nice short uppercut.
Holk looking to throw knees to the head but Sicari is blocking nicely.
Sicari looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Holk controlling the action here for a moment.
Holk tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
A head punch on the inside from Sicari fails to land.
Holk pressing his opponent against the cage.
Holk tries to land knees in the clinch but Sicari avoids the damage to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Holk blocks an uppercut.
Holk is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Sicari is defending well for now.
Holk lands with a short shot to the head.
Sicari blocking some punches.
A head punch on the inside from Holk fails to land.
Sicari misses with a punch to the body.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Sicari.

Sicari manages to break the clinch.
Holk slips a jab from Sicari.
Holk tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Sicari cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Holk tries to close the distance and clinch up but Sicari swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Holk closes the distance but Sicari moves to the side
and Sicari counters with a stiff right hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Holk's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Sicari connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Holk scrambles back to his feet.
Holk avoids the body shot from Sicari.
Sicari works the jab nicely.
Sicari connects with a right hand. Holk shakes it off.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Holk tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Sicari manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Holk tries to clinch but Sicari moves out of range.

Sicari gets tackled into the cage by Holk. Holk maintains the clinch.
Holk tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Sicari avoids it.
Holk blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Holk fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Holk tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Sicari's elbow.
Holk swings wildly with an uppercut but Sicari uses good head movement to avoid it.

Sicari's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sicari circles away from the clinch attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Martino Sicari.
I think Sicari has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Paul Aken scores the fight 29:28
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 29:28
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Martino Sicari!