PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ienas Sarandas (ranked 6303 p4p, 6607 weight class) and Riaan Pierce (ranked 604 p4p, 616 weight class). Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Sarandas
vs
Pierce

185 cm
19
170
3 - 1 - 0

188 cm
25
175
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very strong

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

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 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ienas Sarandas!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Riaan Pierce!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Bruno Lombardi and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pierce throws a good cross that connects.
Pierce bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Sarandas's head backwards.
We've been told by Sarandas's head coaches at PEAK MMA Fight Club that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Pierce smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Sarandas lands with a nice body punch.
Sarandas misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Pierce.
Sarandas fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Pierce takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.

It looks like Riaan Pierce has been cut.
Pierce lands a jab to the head.
Sarandas scores with a hook.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sarandas lands a nice hook to Pierce's body. Pierce takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Sarandas throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Pierce stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Pierce scores with a sloppy right hand. Sarandas should have avoided that one.
Sarandas is looking to wear down Pierce with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Pierce connects with a single shot there.
Pierce swinging wildly here.
Pierce defending well as Sarandas loads up on a big left hand.
Pierce tests Sarandas's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Pierce misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sarandas.
Sarandas misses with a looping right.
A slow jab from Sarandas misses its intended target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A jab from Pierce finds it's way through Sarandas's defenses.
Nice body punch from Sarandas.
Pierce scores with a jab. Sarandas acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Sarandas with a nice cross.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Sarandas.
Sarandas just misses with a punch to the body.
A swing and a miss from Pierce.
Nice shot lands for Pierce.
Pierce throws a hook to the side of Sarandas's head but Sarandas sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
It looked like Sarandas wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Pierce scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pierce throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sarandas throwing a counter right hand but Pierce manages to avoid it.
Pierce uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Sarandas.
Pierce feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Sarandass jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
A combination from Sarandas does no damage.
Pierce takes one to the side of the head.
Pierce on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Sarandas throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sarandas misses with a body shot.
Pierce blocks a jab.
Pierce scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Sarandas has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Riaan Pierce seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Oooooh!!! Sarandas has knocked Pierce down with a huge combo! Sarandas steps away and waves a wobbly Pierce back to his feet! This one might not go much longer!

Pierce is rocked!
Pierce defending well as Sarandas loads up on a big left hand.
Pierce looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Pierce throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Sarandas on the side of the head.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sarandas. Pierce does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sarandas ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Pierce moves away.
Pierce scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Sarandas throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Pierce sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Pierce slips under a jab from Sarandas.
Sarandas swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Sarandas gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Sarandas misses with a wild body shot.
Pierce defending well as Sarandas loads up on a big left hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pierce lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Pierce connects with a nice looking jab.
Sarandas bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

That has opened up Riaan Pierce's cut even more.
Sarandas takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Danga de danga de dang - Pierce scores with a four punch combination!
Sarandas moves forwards but Pierce connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Pierce is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Sarandas had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Sarandas fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Pierce manages to avoid it.
Pierce scores with a jab. Sarandas acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Sarandas scores with a crisp jab that stopped Pierce in his tracks.
Sarandas looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pierce takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Sarandas throws a looping overhand right but Pierce ducks down to avoid it.
We've been informed that Pierce has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Pierce connects with a right hand. Sarandas shakes it off.
Sarandas misses with a straight right.
It seemed like Pierce was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Sarandas tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Pierce was well out of range. Poor timing from Sarandas.
Sarandas takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Sarandas throws a hook but Pierce blocks it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sarandas gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Pierce throws a right and a left that both miss.
Sarandas tries to bum rush Pierce with a series of wild strikes but Pierce uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Pierce slips under a jab.
Sarandas takes one on the chin but seems OK.
A slow jab from Sarandas misses its intended target.
Pierce scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Sarandas walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Sarandas throws a jab when Pierce was well out of range.
Pierce with a hook.
Sarandas throws a series of punches but Pierce moves out of range.
Sarandas throws a body punch but Pierce moves out of range.
Sarandas throws a jab when Pierce was well out of range.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Pierce scores with a jab to the head.
A lazy left from Sarandas finds it's target.
Sarandas throws out a loose jab but Pierce uses good head movement to avoid it.
Pierce works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Riaan Pierce will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Riaan Pierce's cut.
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.

A looping hook to the body misses from Sarandas. Pierce does a little dance to reset his feet.
Pierce throws a series of punches but Sarandas moves out of range.
Sarandas throws a jab when Pierce was well out of range.
Pierce moves into range and connects with a jab.
Sarandas throws a body shot but no joy.
A punch combination from Sarandas misses.
Sarandas connects with a body shot.
Sarandas takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Sarandas gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Nice defenses there by Sarandas.
Sarandas is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Pierce.
Pierce defending well as Sarandas loads up on a big left hand.
Sarandas misses with a series of wild punches.
Riaan Pierce is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sarandas misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Pierce.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sarandas throws a big shot that misses.
Pierce listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pierce throws out a powerful jab.
A lazy left from Pierce finds it's target.
Pierce closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Good shot there by Pierce.
Pierce throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Sarandas on the side of the head.
Pierce ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Pierce with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Sarandas walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Pierce misses with a jab, cross combination.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Pierce lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Sarandas misses with a body shot.
Sarandas misses with a straight left.
Sarandas misses with a looping right.
Sarandas has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Sarandas there as he acknowledges the shot.
Sarandas misses with a body shot.
It seemed like Pierce was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Sarandas rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Pierce counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sarandas ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Pierce moves away.
Sarandas swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Pierce will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A quick step to the side and Sarandas tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Sarandas takes a swing at Pierce's ribcage but misses.
A slow jab from Sarandas misses its intended target.
Nice shot lands for Pierce.
Sarandas uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Pierce.
Pierce lands a jab-cross combination.
Pierce connects with the punch.
Sarandas clobbers Pierce with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Sarandas misses with a hook. Pierce ducked under it nicely.
Sarandas throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A little jabbing left from Pierce on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Sarandas thuds a left hand into Pierce's body.
Pierce uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Sarandas has time to react.
Pierce connects with a looping right hand.
Pierce might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Pierce moves out of range as Sarandas strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sarandas on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Pierce!
Sarandas misses with a straight left.
Pierce has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Sarandas throws a hook but Pierce avoids it easily.
Sarandas throws a nice looking combination but Pierce bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
A little jabbing left from Pierce on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Sarandas takes a swing at Pierce's ribcage but misses.
Pierce lands a two punch combo.
Pierce misses the jab.
Pierce lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Pierce takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pierce with a hook.
Sarandas ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Pierce throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sarandas sees it coming and avoids it easily.
A right-left combo lands from Pierce.
Pierce is breathing heavily.
Pierce fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sarandas swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Sarandas looks to score with a jab to the body but Pierce is just out of range.
Pierce slips a straight right by Sarandas.
Pierce swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Pierce lands with an uppercut that bounces Sarandas off the cage and back into range.
Pierce lunges at Sarandas with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Sarandas's hand.
Sarandas throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Pierce scores with a nice head shot.
This entire fight has taken place on the feet so far and you wonder whether Sarandas might be better served trying to take this one to the ground because he's losing the standup battle so far.
Sarandas loads up on a big right hand but Pierce slips the punch.
Sarandas missing with a left hand there. Pierce was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Pierce lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Sarandas lands a head shot.

The cut above Riaan Pierce's eye is starting to cause him problems now.
A swing and a miss from Sarandas.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Pierce ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Pierce swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Pierce defending well as Sarandas loads up on a big left hand.
Pierce keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Riaan Pierce showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Riaan Pierce'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. This is the final round!

Sarandas scores with a jab.
Pierce scores with a decent looking hook.
Pierce lunges at Sarandas with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Sarandas's hand.
The fighters circle momentarily. Pierce darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Riaan Pierce seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Sarandas throws a body shot but no joy.
Pierce throws out a counter right but Sarandas avoids it with no problem.
Sarandas takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Pierce smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Pierce uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Sarandas.
Pierce looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Pierce lands with a hook. Sarandas tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Pierce slips a jab from Sarandas.
Sarandas throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Pierce sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Pierce lunges at Sarandas with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Sarandas's hand.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sarandas misses with a wild body shot.
Sarandas dodges the punch combination from Pierce.
Pierce scores with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nice shot lands for Pierce.
Pierce steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Sarandas.
Pierce connects with a looping right hand.
Pierce lands with a hook. Sarandas tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Sarandas throws a hook but Pierce blocks it.
Pierce takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
A looping hook to the body misses from Sarandas. Pierce does a little dance to reset his feet.
Pierce tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Sarandas was well out of range. Poor timing from Pierce.
Pierce connects with a jab.
Sarandas misses with a body shot.
Sarandas swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Sarandas misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Pierce.
Sarandas throws a hook but Pierce blocks it.
Pierce moves out of range as Sarandas strikes.
Pierce connects with a good right hand that stumbles Sarandas. Sarandas circles away out of range and recomposes himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A looping hook to the body misses from Sarandas. Pierce does a little dance to reset his feet.
Left hook, right uppercut from Pierce.
Pierce throws a jab when Sarandas was well out of range.
Pierce lands with a straight right. Sarandas didn't see that one coming.
Pierce ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Pierce! But no joy.
Pierce misses with the combination.
Sarandas missing with a left hand there. Pierce was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Sarandas connects with a looping right hand.
Sarandas stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Sarandas takes a swing at Pierce's ribcage but misses.
Pierce looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Sarandas gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Pierce.
Sarandas scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Pierce doesn't seem bothered though.
Pierce takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Pierce lands a jab.
Sarandas throws a body shot but no joy.
Sarandas throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Pierce sees it coming and avoids it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sarandas lands an overhand right.
Pierce connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Sarandas lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Sarandas ducks under a wild hook from Pierce.
Sarandas throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Pierce on the side of the head.
Sarandas connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Sarandas avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Good standup being displayed there by Sarandas as he connects with a hook.
Ienas Sarandas has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Pierce is still on wobbly legs! Can Sarandas finish him?

Riaan Pierce's cut is absolute horrible now. This looks like something out of a horror film with blood covering both fighters.
Pierce walks straight into a right hand from Sarandas - that's dropped him! Sarandas jumps into mount and starts pounding away - can he finish?! More strikes go undefended and the referee has to dive in to save Pierce from any more punishment! Pierce complains about the stoppage but falls over as he tries to stand back up, so it was clearly a good stoppage.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:39 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Ienas Sarandas!
Ienas Sarandas thanked the fans post fight for their support.