PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Conrad Rain (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sasa Saric (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

Rain
vs
Saric

164 cm
21
184 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

189 cm
18
198 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Conrad Rain!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Sasa Saric!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick misses from Rain.
Rain is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Saric.
Saric throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Rain's waist but Rain gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Saric off to one side.
Rain fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
No joy there for Rain, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Saric shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Rain as he jumps to the side.

Rain instigates a clinch.
Saric tries to circle away but Rain has him pinned against the cage.

Rain manages to break the clinch.
Rain leaves Saric with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Conrad Rain has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sasa Saric.
Rain throws a right and a left that Saric avoids nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Saric keeps the fight on the outside.
No joy there for Rain, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Rain just misses with a punch to the body.
Rain scores with a crisp jab that stopped Saric in his tracks.
Saric tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Rain swivels and escapes.
Saric ducks under a wild hook from Rain.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rain leaves Saric with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Saric scores with a push kick.
Saric stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Rain.

Rain lands a left and a right that send Saric crashing to the mat, dazed. Rain thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

Saric is rocked!
Saric looks gassed!

Rain clinches up with Saric and pushes him back against the cage.
Rain really is a fat lump.
Rain unloads a knee to the mid-section. Saric lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Stalling in the clinch from Rain.
Rain scores with a shot to the side of Saric's head.
Saric is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Rain has Saric pushed against the cage.
Rain gets underhooks to prevent Saric's takedown attempt.
Rain lands a damaging elbow.

Rain pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Rain gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Saric is trying to drag Rain to the mat but Rain just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rain's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Rain moves into the clinch.
Rain taking a breather.
Still in the clinch, Rain scores with a nice short uppercut.
Rain lands a right hand that snaps the head of Saric backwards.

Rain manages to break the clinch.
Rain changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Rain throws a right and a left that Saric avoids nicely.
Saric avoids a punch combination nicely.

Rain moves into range and clinches up with Saric.

Rain manages to break the clinch.
Rain tries to clinch up.
Rain throws a right hand that Saric ducks under and follows up with a left that Saric also avoids with ease.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saric shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Rain sprawls well. Rain wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Saric gets slowly back to his feet.
Rain throws a series of strikes that have Saric backpedaling.

Rain moves into range and clinches up with Saric.

Rain's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Saric takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Saric tries to keep at a distance but Rain has taken the fight into the clinch.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Rain.

Rain escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Saric is trying hard to land a takedown here. Rain sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Saric wants to clinch but Rain slips to the side
and Rain connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Rain lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Saric circles away quickly and effectively.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rain throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Saric.
Rain moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Saric tries to clinch up
and Rain finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Saric tries to close the distance and clinch but Rain swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Rain fails to land with a series of punches.
Rain buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Saric throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rain counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Rain stuffs the takedown attempt from Saric. Saric gets slowly back to his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Saric scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Conrad Rain seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Rain gets in close and instigates a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Rain goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Saric.

Rain takes the fight into the clinch.
Rain misses with a knee strike.

Rain breaks the clinch.
Rain throws a sloppy head kick and Saric moves out of range easily.
Nice takedown defense from Rain. No joy for Saric on that attempt.
Rain throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Saric counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Rain thinking.

Rain tries to keep at a distance but Saric has taken the fight into the clinch.
Saric avoiding damage as Rain throws knees to the body.

Saric pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Rain lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Rain swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Saric holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rain breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Saric plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

Rain fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Saric, pushing him back against the cage.
Saric wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Rain has Saric pressed against the cage, preventing Saric from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Rain content to slow the pace in the clinch.

Rain breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Conrad Rain is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Rain connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Saric.
Conrad Rain has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sasa Saric.
Saric takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

Rain moves into the clinch.
Saric tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Rain just stands there and leans against the cage.

Rain pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Saric throws a body kick that misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A good leg kick by Rain.
Rain throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Saric shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Rain pushes Saric off looking to stand but Saric dives back in and keeps control.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Saric frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Rain really wants to buck Saric off and get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Saric controlling from mount.
Saric looking to control but Rain is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Rain bucks Saric off and manages to get back to his feet!
Rain misses with a combination
letting Saric counter with a right hand.
Saric throws a left and a right that both miss

and Rain counters by moving into the clinch.

Rain escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Saric lands a nice shot to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Saric shoots in for a double leg but Rain sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Saric looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Rain swings for the body but Saric moves out of range.
Good leg kick by Rain there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Conrad Rain is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Saric tries to score a power double leg takedown but Rain sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Saric somewhat.
Rain throws a lazy head kick
and Saric counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Rain looks to throw the jab but Saric is out of range.
Rain avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Rain swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Saric's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Saric duly obliges.

Rain instigates a clinch.
Rain is trying to break the clinch but Saric is controlling him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Conrad Rain dominated that second round.
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!

Saric throws a leg kick which misses Rain's front leg but catches the back leg as Rain tries to avoid it.
Saric tries to bum rush Rain with a series of wild strikes but Rain uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Rain misses with a wild body shot.
Conrad Rain is winning the standup battle so far.
Saric changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Rain tries to avoid it but Saric manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Rain to the ground. Rain escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Saric misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
An inside leg kick lands from Rain.
A combination from Rain does no damage.
Saric tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Rain cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Saric moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Saric misses with a combination
and Rain counters with a left and a right that stings Saric.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rain clinches.
Rain manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

Rain breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Rain is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Rain looks to throw the jab but Saric is out of range.
Saric looks to clinch
and Rain counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.

Saric feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Saric pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rain is keeping the position for now.
Rain wants to stand up but Saric is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saric wants to control from the top but Rain keeps moving.
Rain wants to stand up but Saric is controlling him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Rain looks to land a combination but Saric avoids it well.
Saric fails to land the takedown.
Conrad Rain has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Sasa Saric.
Saric chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Rain can pounce on him.
Saric keeps the fight on the outside.
Rain misses with a leg kick

and Saric counters with a nice double leg into side control. Rain won't be happy with that.
Rain is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Rain might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Saric decides to take the fight back to the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rain misses with an uppercut.
Rain fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Saric fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Rain gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Rain is pushing Saric up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Saric pulls guard.
Rain has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Saric trying to control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Sasa Saric.
I think Rain 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 29:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Conrad Rain!