Peter Sobotta gave Ben Saunders more than he could handle on the feet tonight at UFC Fight Night 109, dropping him in the opening seconds of the fight, then eventually putting him away by TKO after a sustained offensive assault in the second round.
Round One:
Sobotta drops Saunders almost immediately with a powerful left hand, but he’s straight back to his feet and the German doesn’t go for blood.
Hard leg kick for Sobotta. Body kick for the rangey Saunders. Right hand counter for Saunders just grazes his opponent.
Saunders pressuring now with a three-piece combo followed by a kick close to the cage. Missed kicks from Sobotta, but he lands with a jab.
Quick flurry from Sobota. Now a leg kick and left hand combo. Body kick for Saunders. Leg kick for Saunders as Sobotta comes forward with another short burst of punches.
Sobotta working the jab nicely now as Saunders tries to push the pace. BOdy kick for Saunders. Nice jab for Saunders too as blood trickles from an earlier cut to his eye.
Suddenly Sobotta drops Saunders again and then chases him to the mat and blasts away with ground and pound. Saunders is defending though and he’s very comfortable on his back.
Saunders landing elbow strikes from the bottom now and starts to work his usual high guard as the round comes to a close.
Round Two:
Missed kick from Saunders. Soon after he does land a body kick though. Leg kick for Sobotta. Nice jab for Saunders snaps Sobotta’s head back.
Another body kick for Saunders and he follows up with a second one that’s much harder. Sobotta catches that and fires back though nd Saunders is suddenly wobbly on his feet. He’s staying upright, but as Sobotta continues to connect with punches his legs are almost giving way.
Hard straight left buckles Saunders legs, but he rights himself only to eats more strikes, including a powerful knee to the face that floors him, and that’s it, the referee rightly rushes in to save Saunders from further punishment with 2.29mins of the second round gone.
That’s a big win for Sobotta over a solid veteran that confirms he’s finally starting to fire on all cylinders after a stop-start UFC career.
