PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Aleks Nik (ranked 157 p4p, 897 weight class) and Derrick Barnes (ranked 23 p4p, 125 weight class). Barnes is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: We Want The Funk. Derrick Barnes acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Nik
vs
Barnes

178 cm
33
171
14 - 10 - 1

180 cm
31
178
26 - 19 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Fast

NARCOS
© Trap House

Bondi MMA 🏝️

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Aleks Nik!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 19 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Derrick Barnes !
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Wagner Zegers and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nik avoids a punch combination nicely.
A big right from Nik misses.
Barnes bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Nik's head.
Nik scores with a decent looking hook.
Nik fails with the takedown.
Nik fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Barnes manages to avoid it.
Barnes uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Nik.
Barnes throws a leg kick which misses Nik's front leg but catches the back leg as Nik tries to avoid it.
Nik swinging wildly here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barnes looks to land a right hand but Nik moved out of range.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Barnes , as that shot connected.
Barnes keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nik throws an overhand right that lands on Barnes 's shoulder, as Barnes tries to avoid the shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nik rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Nik takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Barnes swings for the body but Nik moves out of range.
Barnes misses with a body shot.
Barnes lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Nik at a distance.
Nik looks to throw the jab but Barnes is out of range.
Barnes swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Barnes throws a right and a left that Nik avoids nicely.
Nik throws an overhand right that lands on Barnes 's shoulder, as Barnes tries to avoid the shot.
Barnes ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Barnes thuds his right hand into Nik's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Nik keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
A telegraphed right hand from Nik misses the target.
Barnes slaps away a takedown attempt from Nik, before circling back to the center of the mat.
And Barnes tries to counter it with a takedown but Nik pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Barnes throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Barnes with a hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes misses with a straight right.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Barnes has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Barnes there as he acknowledges the shot.
Barnes lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Nik's corner calls for a 1-2. Nik obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Nik uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Barnes .
Barnes cracks Nik with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Nik fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Nik scores with a nice head shot.

Nik tries to sprawl but Barnes drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Nik is controlling Barnes 's trapped leg to prevent Barnes from advancing to side control.
Barnes looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Nik blocking the ground and pound attempt from Barnes .
Barnes seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barnes has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Nik is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Barnes throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Barnes looking to finish with strikes here!
Nik is wriggling around trying to escape.
A nice elbow there by Barnes .

It looks like Aleks Nik has been cut.
Nik is desperately trying to improve his position but Barnes has a good base and remains in mount.
Nik wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Barnes .
Nik bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nik sitting in guard here, content to control.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Nik's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barnes manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nik manages to get himself to full guard.

This has been an exciting period of action!
Barnes throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Barnes with a flurry of punches that miss.
Barnes postures up in Nik's guard and throws a big left but Nik blocks it.
Nik keeping full guard, as Barnes tries to pass.
Nik pulls Barnes in close to his closed guard and prevents Barnes from doing any damage or advancing position.
Nik's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Derrick Barnes dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Aleks Nik's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A telegraphed right hand from Barnes misses the target.
Nik throws a hook but Barnes blocks it.
A big right from Nik misses.
Barnes wants to clinch.
Barnes takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

Nik drives through with a takedown into Barnes 's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nik wants to control from the top but Barnes keeps moving.
Nik with a nice head shot there.
Barnes bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Nik's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barnes trying to control but Nik is working from the bottom.
Barnes postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Nik working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Barnes .
Derrick Barnes has got the better of the ground game so far.
Barnes preventing the sweep.
Nik is controlling Barnes 's posture.
Barnes throws a strike but Nik rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Barnes tries to land a sweep but no joy.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Barnes is on top in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barnes wants to control from the top but Nik keeps moving.
Nik wants to sweep here but Barnes controlling him for the moment.
Barnes sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Nik's guard.
Barnes not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Nik is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Barnes winds up and cracks Nik with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Barnes takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Barnes passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Nik!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nik really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Nik gets back to half guard.
Barnes is trying to control the action in half guard but Nik is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Barnes is pressing down on Nik's thigh, looking to free his foot. Nik is holding on for now.
Nik is trying to maintain the position but Barnes is very close to passing his half guard.
Barnes thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Nik's head.
Barnes not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Barnes is keen to just control but Nik is a slippery customer.
Barnes wants to pass the guard but Nik is defending well.
Nik keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Nik is staying active underneath Barnes , who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Barnes wants to advance to full mount but Nik doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Nik is on top in guard.

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Barnes wants to sweep here but Nik controlling him for the moment.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Aleks Nik will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Aleks Nik's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Barnes throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Nik's waist but Nik gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Barnes off to one side.
Barnes has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Barnes dives in and grabs Nik's left leg, looking for a takedown. Nik pushes down on Barnes 's head and hops out.
Nik throws a jab when Barnes was well out of range.
Nik swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Barnes misses with a low kick.
Nik dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Nik avoids the body shot from Barnes .
Nik is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Nik's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Barnes connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Nik scrambles back to his feet.
Barnes closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Nik loads up on a big right hand but Barnes slips the punch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nik slips under a jab from Barnes .

A momentary lapse in concentration from Barnes enables Nik to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Barnes manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Nik cracks Barnes with a solid left hand.
Barnes is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Nik works over Barnes with some ground and pound from guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Barnes looking for a guillotine here but Nik defends easily.
Nik is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Barnes wants to sweep here but Nik controlling him for the moment.

Barnes looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Barnes being controlled here, momentarily.
Nik keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Barnes 's head.
Barnes looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Barnes wants to improve his position but instead Nik has moved into half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Nik in particular looking to stall.
Barnes moves into full guard.
Nik makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Nik's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Nik controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Nik chips away with some ground and pound.
Barnes looking for a sweep. Not yet Barnes , not yet.
Barnes is still trying to improve position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Our spies down at at QUBE Gym inform us that Barnes has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?
Barnes keeping moving, preventing Nik from controlling successfully.
Nik lands a couple of digs.

Barnes is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Barnes has momentary wrist control but Nik slips an elbow through the middle.
Nik won't allow Barnes to sweep him here.
Barnes throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Nik connects with a couple of short punches.
Nik won't allow Barnes to sweep him here.
Nik slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Barnes tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Barnes is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Barnes is on top in guard.

Barnes is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Nik looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Barnes trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Barnes with a flurry of punches that miss.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nik looking for a sweep. Not yet Nik, not yet.
Nik has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Nik is on top in guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Aleks Nik showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Nik 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 Patrick Alders scores the fight 29:28
Judge Wagner Zegers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Aleks Nik!
A very excited looking Aleks Nik made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.