PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Naglis Kaunietis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Varric Tethras (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tethras has chosen Light It Up as his entrance music. This should be a great matchup!

Kaunietis
vs
Tethras

190 cm
18
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

182 cm
25
193 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Solid 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 Hilo, Naglis Kaunietis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Varric Tethras!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kaunietis drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

Kaunietis stands up.
Tethras tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Kaunietis counters by moving into the clinch.

Kaunietis breaks from the clinch.
Kaunietis goes for a high kick. It partially lands.

It looks like Varric Tethras has been cut.
Kaunietis misses with the combination.
Varric Tethras seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tethras looks to clinch

and Kaunietis holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Kaunietis on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Tethras can't break the clinch.
Tethras is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

Kaunietis has clasped his hands together around Tethras's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Kaunietis decides to stand up, so the ref orders Tethras to his feet.
Tethras tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Kaunietis throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Tethras closes the distance looking to clinch

so Kaunietis counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kaunietis throws a big right hand that misses.
Tethras is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Kaunietis is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Kaunietis has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Kaunietis is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Kaunietis advances position into side control!

Kaunietis stands up and beckons Tethras to his feet.
Tethras connects with a solid leg kick.
Tethras tries to clinch but Kaunietis moves away

and Kaunietis counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tethras tries to kick Kaunietis off but Kaunietis keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Kaunietis decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Tethras fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

Kaunietis has closed the distance and engaged Tethras in a clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Kaunietis escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kaunietis takes a jab right on the kisser.
A right-left combo lands from Tethras.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Tethras throws a head kick that misses.
Kaunietis misses with the combination.
Kaunietis tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Kaunietis is breathing heavily.
Kaunietis on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

Kaunietis fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Tethras sprawls well initially but Kaunietis persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Tethras wants to get back to his feet.
Kaunietis moves nicely into side control.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Tethras seems a little lost for a moment, as Kaunietis dominates the positioning.
Tethras is trying to get back to his feet.

Kaunietis stands up and beckons Tethras to his feet.
Tethras wants to clinch but Kaunietis slips to the side
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tethras stalks Kaunietis and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Kaunietis's face. Kaunietis staggers backwards, shaken.
Tethras tries to clinch up but Kaunietis circles away and keeps his distance.
Tethras takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Tethras wants to clinch
and Kaunietis connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Good leg kick by Tethras there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Tethras chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Tethras tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Kaunietis moves into the clinch.
Tethras lands a good knee to the midsection. Kaunietis won't want to take too many of those.
Tethras crunches a lovely knee into Kaunietis's ribcage.

Kaunietis breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kaunietis misses with a two punch combination.
Kaunietis throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Tethras tries to clinch up.
Varric Tethras is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Tethras throws a front kick that sends Kaunietis stumbling back into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tethras is looking to clinch but Kaunietis is avoiding it.
Tethras tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Tethras tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kaunietis swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tethras thuds his right hand into Kaunietis's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Tethras digs a good body shot into Kaunietis's ribs.
Tethras's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Tethras duly obliges.
Tethras moves in looking to clinch but Kaunietis pushes him off.

The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Tethras rushes Kaunietis and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Knees to the body from Tethras.
Kaunietis takes an elbow to the forehead.
Tethras keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Kaunietis's efforts to push away.
Tethras stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Tethras.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kaunietis has Tethras pressed against the cage, preventing Tethras from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Tethras tries to break free but Kaunietis pushes him back against the cage.
Tethras is trying to push Kaunietis away but Kaunietis has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Kaunietis's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Naglis Kaunietis dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Varric Tethras's cut.
That's time! Kaunietis's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Kaunietis is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Tethras.
Tethras connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Kaunietis misses with a straight right.

Kaunietis takes the fight into the clinch.
Tethras looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Tethras landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Tethras scores with a knee to the head.

Kaunietis breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kaunietis tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Tethras stuffs the takedown.
Tethras goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tethras looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Naglis Kaunietis is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Tethras, right into the meat.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Tethras misses with a double jab.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Danga de danga de dang - Tethras scores with a four punch combination!
Tethras scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Tethras wants to clinch

and Kaunietis counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tethras with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Kaunietis displaying some good clinch control by pressing Tethras up against the cage.

Kaunietis breaks from the clinch.
Kaunietis keeps the fight on the outside.
Kaunietis is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Tethras tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Tethras tries to clinch

and Kaunietis decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Tethras's guard.
Tethras keeping moving, preventing Kaunietis from controlling successfully.
Kaunietis slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Kaunietis in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tethras wants to stand and escape but Kaunietis is having none of it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Naglis Kaunietis.
Tethras throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Tethras lands with a good body shot.
Tethras tries to close the distance and clinch up but Kaunietis swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tethras lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tethras tries to clinch up

and Kaunietis counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Kaunietis.
Kaunietis prevents Tethras from breaking the clinch.
Tethras wants to get back to striking at distance but Kaunietis won't allow it.
Tethras is looking to break free of the clinch but Kaunietis has double underhooks.
Kaunietis misses with a body punch.

Kaunietis pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Tethras tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Kaunietis manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tethras fails with an attempt to clinch.
Kaunietis throws a sloppy head kick and Tethras moves out of range easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tethras goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Tethras scores with a three punch combo!
Tethras moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Tethras looks to clinch

and Kaunietis counters with a takedown into side control.
Tethras is trying to get back to his feet.
Kaunietis taking a breather here.
Sloppy strikes there by Kaunietis.
Tethras is pushing Kaunietis's head away, looking to escape. Kaunietis manages to hold on to the position though.

Kaunietis stands up and beckons Tethras to his feet.
Kaunietis misses with a wild combination.
Tethras tries to clinch but Kaunietis is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tethras fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tethras wants to clinch but Kaunietis slips to the side

and Kaunietis counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tethras is trying to stand back up but Kaunietis is controlling him
Tethras really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kaunietis. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Kaunietis gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Kaunietis throws a sloppy head kick and Tethras moves out of range easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tethras looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Kaunietis keeps the fight on the outside.
Tethras lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Tethras tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kaunietis paws at him with a jab and circles away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Tethras throws a series of strikes that have Kaunietis backpedaling.
Kaunietis tries a head kick but it misses.
Tethras tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tethras looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Naglis Kaunietis dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Varric Tethras's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Tethras tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kaunietis paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Kaunietis lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Kaunietis.
Kaunietis will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Kaunietis 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.

Tethras is working an open guard so Kaunietis takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Tethras wants to clinch up but Kaunietis keeps it at a distance.
Tethras lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Tethras stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Tethras wants it to stay on the feet.
Tethras throws a good cross that connects.
Tethras throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Tethras scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Kaunietis throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Tethras's waist but Tethras gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Kaunietis off to one side.
Kaunietis is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Tethras can do to turn this around?
Kaunietis blocks a head kick by Tethras.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Sloppy strikes from Kaunietis. Those never looked like landing.
Tethras tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Kaunietis paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tethras connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Kaunietis throws a poor cross that misses
and Tethras counters with a left and a right that stings Kaunietis.
Tethras lands with a right hand.

Kaunietis darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Kaunietis working Tethras over with strikes.

Kaunietis is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Kaunietis prevents Tethras from standing back up.
Kaunietis throwing shots but Tethras is blocking nicely.

Kaunietis gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Tethras scores with a leg kick.
Tethras throws a right hand that Kaunietis ducks under and follows up with a left that Kaunietis also avoids with ease.
Tethras falls off balance throwing a combination

and Kaunietis counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Kaunietis.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tethras stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Kaunietis tries to break the clinch but Tethras is controlling the position.
Tethras lands a good knee to the midsection. Kaunietis won't want to take too many of those.

Tethras breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Kaunietis looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Naglis Kaunietis. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The fight stays on the outside here - Tethras looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Tethras looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Kaunietis throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
A punch combination from Kaunietis misses.
Tethras tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Kaunietis manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tethras is working the combinations to good effect here.
Kaunietis falls off balance throwing a combination
and Tethras counters with a one-two to the body.
Kaunietis moves out of range as Tethras throws a body kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tethras looks to clinch
and Kaunietis counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Tethras is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Tethras fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Kaunietis throws a body kick the misses
and Tethras counters with a two punch combo.
Tethras feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Kaunietiss jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Kaunietis throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Tethras tries to clinch up
and Kaunietis counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Tethras tries to clinch

and Kaunietis counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Kaunietis.

Kaunietis decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Tethras, up you get!
Tethras throws a series of punches but Kaunietis avoids them all with ease.

Kaunietis gets to his feet - Tethras follows without any prompting.
Tethras tries to clinch up

and Kaunietis counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Kaunietis.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kaunietis looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Varric Tethras has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kaunietis trying to control the position from guard on top but Tethras is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kaunietis with a flurry of punches that miss.

Kaunietis decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Tethras, up you get!
Kaunietis keeps the fight on the outside.
Tethras closes the distance and lands a one-two.

Kaunietis clinches with his opponent.
Tethras trying to control the position but instead, Kaunietis has worked for underhooks and has pushed Tethras into the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A frustrated look appears on Tethras's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Naglis Kaunietis is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Tethras tries to land knees in the clinch but Kaunietis avoids the damage to the body.

Kaunietis breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Naglis Kaunietis showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Kaunietis, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Naglis Kaunietis!