PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Chenchen Li (ranked 3395 p4p, 0 weight class) and Leonardo Nandez (ranked 4874 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Li
vs
Nandez

178 cm
25
156 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

178 cm
25
155 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Chenchen Li!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Leonardo Nandez!
The judges for this bout are Bart Greer, David Hoff and Winston Alpacca.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Li plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

Nandez moves into the clinch.

Nandez escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Li tries to clinch up but Nandez circles away and keeps his distance.
Nandez shapes to counter with a head kick.
Nandez avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Nice uppercut lands for Nandez. That snapped Li's head back.
Li misses with a wild body shot.
Despite the aggression on Nandez's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Nandez throws a body kick that misses.
Li shoots in for a double leg but Nandez sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Li looks for the body kick but Nandez saw that one coming.
Li fails with a takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nandez darts in looking for a takedown but Li gets double underhooks and turns Nandez into the cage.
Nandez scores with a jab to the head.
Li shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Nandez defends it nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Chenchen Li. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Horrible takedown attempt by Li or perhaps it was just good defense by Nandez, which made it look bad.
Nandez defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Li.
Nandez throws a counter combo.
Nandez shoots in for a double leg but Li sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Nandez closes the distance and clinches.
Nandez wants to get back to striking at distance but Li won't allow it.

Li jumps guard and drags Nandez to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Nandez's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Nandez looking to pass the guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nandez content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li looking for a sweep. Not yet Li, not yet.
Nandez is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Nandez's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nandez tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Li swivels and escapes.
Li dives in for a single leg takedown but Nandez sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Li misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Li moves to clinch but Nandez breaks away
and Nandez counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Li.
Li moves in looking to clinch but Nandez pushes him off.
Nandez is looking for the big counter here.

Nandez clinches up against the cage.

Li jumps into guard, dragging Nandez to the mat.
Li looking to control.
Nandez engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Nandez has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Nandez trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Nandez showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Li keeping full guard, as Nandez tries to pass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leonardo Nandez dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

A telegraphed takedown attempt from Nandez is defended easily by Li.
Nandez steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Li.
Li shoots in looking for a takedown but Nandez manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Li's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Nandez darts in and clinches Li up against the cage.
Li wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Li jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Nandez walks away with a smile on his face. Li gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Li fails with the takedown
and Li takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Chenchen Li. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nandez lands with a nice combination. Li backs away looking to recover.
Nandez shoots in for a takedown but Li shows good takedown defense.
Li doesn't manage to clinch there - Nandez circles away.
Nandez wants to counter with a clinch but Li pushes him away.
Nandez has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li tries to clinch up.
Nandez throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Nandez fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Li, pushing him back against the cage.
Li tries to score a body lock takedown but Nandez shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Li tries to score a body lock takedown but Nandez shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Li pulls guard.
Nandez must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Li is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Nandez defends well.
Nandez throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Li works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Li wants to get back to his feet but Nandez is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Li will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nandez controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Li is trying to control the position but Nandez postures up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Nandez looks for the body kick but Li saw that one coming.
Nandez throws a right and a left that Li avoids nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nandez darts in looking for a takedown but Li gets double underhooks and turns Nandez into the cage.
Li goes for a double leg but Nandez avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Nandez continues to drive forward.

Nandez looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Li!
Nandez tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Li tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Nandez wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Li is working hard here to advance position.
Li avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Nandez.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Li is trying to control Nandez's posture but Nandez avoids it.
Nandez tries to stand but Li is controlling his head.

Nandez is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Li knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Nandez slows the pace down.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leonardo Nandez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Nandez throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Li's waist but Li gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Nandez off to one side.
Li buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Nandez defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Li.
Nandez shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Li tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Nandez manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Li will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nandez is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Nandez.
Chenchen Li has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Leonardo Nandez.
Nandez listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Li misses with a two punch combination.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Nandez is defended easily by Li.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Li misses with a double jab.
Li will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Nandez appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Li fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Nandez appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nandez avoids a punch combination nicely.

Nandez gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Nandez is trying to force a seperation but Li has the dominant position.
Li pressing his opponent against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Li is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Nandez to keep the fight standing.
Nandez keeps control of Li as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Li being controlled against the cage.
Nandez fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Li is looking for a takedown.
Li wants to get back to striking at distance but Nandez won't allow it.

Nandez successfully pulls guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Nandez looking for subs off his back but Li has passed one foot through into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nandez wants to stand back up but Li manages to pass into side control.
Both fighters take a look at the clock.
Nandez is trying to get back to his feet.

That's four 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.
Nandez is looking to regain half guard here but Li keeps moving and retains side control.
Li wants to lay and pray for a moment but Nandez keeps working.
Nandez is trying to get back to half guard.

Li tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Nandez really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Li. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
An elbow from Li crashes against the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Chenchen Li.
I think Nandez 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 Bart Greer scores the fight 28:29
Judge David Hoff scores the fight 28:29
Judge Winston Alpacca scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Leonardo Nandez!