PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dan Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and steven sarai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Hardy
vs
sarai

182 cm
20
189 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
18
182 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Dan Hardy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, steven sarai !
The judges for this bout are Gregory Folan, Dillan Fox and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
sarai fails to land the takedown.
Hardy shoots and misses

and sarai counters with a single leg into guard. Hardy didn't expect that.
sarai trying to move into half guard but instead Hardy has managed to sweep!
sarai trying to control the position.

sarai is looking for a triangle but Hardy pushes his legs off easily.

sarai looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Hardy decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on sarai , up you get!

Hardy decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hardy tries to pass the half guard into mount. sarai knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
sarai makes his way to full guard. A much better position for sarai .
sarai bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hardy's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy keeping moving, preventing sarai from controlling successfully.
sarai looks gassed!

Hardy isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. sarai stacks Hardy on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by sarai !

sarai goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Hardy has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for sarai but great work by Hardy.

Hardy goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, sarai has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Hardy but great work by sarai .
Hardy wants to control but sarai postures up.
Hardy tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but sarai wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Hardy is working hard here to advance position.
sarai throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
You can see the frustration on Hardy's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Hardy is looking for a sweep.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch up but sarai swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Hardy tries to clinch up but sarai circles away and keeps his distance.

Hardy shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. sarai manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
sarai looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hardy is one step ahead there.
Hardy postures up in sarai 's guard and throws a big left but sarai blocks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Hardy preventing the sweep.
sarai doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Hardy is looking to stand up but sarai won't let him.
Hardy wants to control from the top but sarai keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hardy tries to work over sarai 's front leg with a kick but sarai checks it.
Hardy shoots and misses

and sarai counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Hardy trying to control the position.
sarai pushes down on Hardy's leg and manages to get into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hardy is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but sarai pulls his head out easily.

sarai seems to be looking for submissions.
sarai stalling away here and it's allowed Hardy to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
sarai looking to pass the guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Hardy is on top in guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

steven sarai dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Hardy shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says sarai as he avoids it easily.
Hardy throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
sarai fails with the takedown

so Hardy counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Hardy throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as sarai works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
sarai seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Hardy postures up.
Hardy wants to stand but sarai is controlling his posture from full guard.
Hardy wants to control from the top but sarai keeps moving.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
sarai seems keen to control Hardy's posture.
Hardy wants to control from the top but sarai keeps moving.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
A nice combination there by Hardy.
Hardy misses with a takedown attempt

and sarai counters with a single leg into guard. Hardy didn't expect that.
sarai working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
sarai tries to free his leg and advance position but Hardy is retaining full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy is trying to control the position but sarai postures up.
sarai loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
sarai wants to pass the guard but Hardy is keeping the position.
sarai won't allow Hardy to sweep him here.
Hardy is trying to control the position but sarai postures up.

sarai drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and sarai jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Hardy throws a leg kick but sarai moved away.
Hardy with a body punch. A glancing blow.

Hardy has managed to clinch.

Hardy pulls guard successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy is trying to keep sarai in close.
sarai throwing strikes but missing.
sarai wants to pass the guard but Hardy is keeping the position.
Hardy keeping moving, preventing sarai from controlling successfully.
Hardy controls sarai momentarily but sarai frees himself.
sarai trying to control the position from guard on top but Hardy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Hardy looking to hit a scissor sweep but sarai is one step ahead there.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Hardy moves in looking to clinch but sarai pushes him off.
Hardy pushes sarai away with a front kick.
Hardy shoots in but sarai avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dan Hardy. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Hardy fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. sarai sprawls well initially but Hardy persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
sarai tries to roll over but Hardy keeps him under control.
sarai blocking the ground and pound attempt from Hardy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Hardy dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Hardy has his takedown stuffed

so sarai counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
steven sarai has got the better of the ground game so far.
sarai stands and throws Hardy's legs to the side, diving into side control.

sarai thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Hardy is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, sarai asserts his dominance and retains side control.
sarai trying to control the action but Hardy is working from the bottom.
Hardy is looking for a sweep.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy wants to control but sarai postures up.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Hardy misses with a takedown attempt

and sarai decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Hardy's guard.
sarai with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
sarai missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
sarai stands and throws Hardy's legs to the side, diving into side control.
sarai postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
You can see the frustration on Hardy's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
sarai postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

sarai tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

sarai tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no sarai has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

sarai tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no sarai has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Hardy tries to buck sarai off but sarai is having none of it.
Hardy defending against the ground and pound.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Hardy fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dan Hardy. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
sarai takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Hardy tries to clinch there but sarai circles away.
Hardy digs a good body shot into sarai 's ribs.
Hardy looks for a takedown but sarai sprawls well.
sarai with a poor takedown

and Hardy counters by clinching up.
sarai tries for a takedown but Hardy manages to get underhooks.
sarai gets underhooks to prevent Hardy's takedown attempt.
Hardy stops a takedown attempt from sarai .
Hardy has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. sarai is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
sarai blocks an elbow strike from Hardy.

Hardy's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Hardy gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and sarai counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Hardy keeping moving, preventing sarai from controlling successfully.

And that's the end of the fight!
steven sarai comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think sarai has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Gregory Folan scores the fight 28:29
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ian Loll scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... steven sarai !