PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight kickboxing rules bout between Leo Blanco Gracie (ranked 3964 p4p, 392 weight class) and Ben Saunders (ranked 3782 p4p, 380 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Blanco Gracie
vs
Saunders

177 cm
26
180 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

190 cm
26
180 lbs
4 - 6 - 0

Excellent boxer
Experienced

Dangerous knees
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 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Leo Blanco Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ben Saunders!
The judges for this bout are Radbod Blank, Saam Ante and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Saunders lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
A swing and a miss from Gracie.
Gracie definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Saunders defending well as Gracie loads up on a big left hand.
Gracie throws a jab when Saunders was well out of range.
Gracie wants to land a leg kick but Saunders is out of range.
Saunders scoring well with a low kick there.
Saunders moves out of range of the strikes.
Saunders takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Saunders does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
As Saunders backs away, Gracie returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Saunders connects with a right hand. Gracie shakes it off.
Saunders throws a one two combo.
Gracie takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Saunders shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Gracie displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Saunders throws a leg kick but Gracie sees it coming and moves out of range.
Gracie lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Saunders tried to score with a low kick but Gracie checks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saunders scores with a nice head shot.
Gracie lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Nice defenses there by Saunders.
Gracie attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Gracie fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Saunders.
A jab from Gracie misses.
Saunders uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Gracie.
Gracie throws a lazy right hand but Saunders sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Saunders looks to throw the jab but Gracie is out of range.

Gracie gets tackled into the ropes by Saunders. Saunders maintains the clinch.
Gracie misses with an elbow over the top.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Gracie.

Gracie breaks from the clinch.
Saunders misses with a low kick.
Gracie looks to throw the jab but Saunders is out of range.
Saunders tries a quick counter leg kick but Gracie is wise to it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie cracks Saunders with a right hand to the side of the head.
Gracie throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Saunders keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Gracie.
Gracie avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Saunders throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.

Saunders forces Gracie back against the ropes and clinches.
Saunders using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Saunders scores a nice knee to the body.
A knee to the head by Saunders.
Gracie misses with some punches.
Gracie managing to block the knees to the body from Saunders.
Saunders lands a good knee to the midsection. Gracie won't want to take too many of those.
Saunders misses with a knee to the head.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Saunders blocks an elbow strike from Gracie.
Saunders takes an elbow to the forehead.

It looks like Ben Saunders has been cut.
Gracie avoiding damage as Saunders throws knees to the body.
Saunders tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Saunders throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Gracie blocks it with crossed arms.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Ben Saunders will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Ben Saunders's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Saunders closes the distance and clinches.
Saunders has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Gracie comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Gracie misses with a short punch on the inside.
Gracie scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Gracie blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Saunders with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Saunders misses with a knee strike.
Saunders throws a knee to the head but misses.
Gracie scores with a nice hook to the head.
Gracie throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Saunders avoids the elbow strike from Gracie, against the ropes.
Saunders misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Gracie.
Gracie has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Gracie managing to block the knees to the body from Saunders.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Saunders connects with a nasty looking knee right to Gracie's face.

It looks like Leo Blanco Gracie has been cut.
Gracie avoiding damage as Saunders throws knees to the body.
Saunders is breathing heavily.
Saunders blocks the elbow strike.
Gracie gets through Saunders's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Saunders throws a knee to the head but misses.
Gracie lands a nice elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Saunders throws a lazy body kick
and Gracie counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
The fighters circling - Gracie throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Good standup being displayed there by Gracie as he connects with a hook.
Gracie looks to land a left hand but Saunders moved out of range nicely.
Saunders misses with an attempted mid kick.
Gracie throws a right and a left that both miss.
Saunders lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Ben Saunders is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Gracie connects with a leg kick. Saunders looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Saunders fails in his attempt to clinch.
Gracie lands a head shot.
Saunders jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Saunders moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Gracie feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Saunders's calf.
Saunders defending well as Gracie loads up on a big left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saunders throws a leg kick that is checked
and Gracie counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Gracie throws a lazy right hand but Saunders sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Gracie fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Good shot there by Saunders.
A slow jab from Gracie misses its intended target.
A swing and a miss from Gracie.
Gracie is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Saunders can do to turn this around?
Saunders tries to clinch but Gracie moves out of range.
It looked like Gracie wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
A slow jab from Saunders misses its intended target.
Saunders steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Gracie.
Gracie blocks a low kick nicely.
Gracie swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Saunders tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Gracie paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Gracie appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Gracie throws a looping overhand right but Saunders ducks down to avoid it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leo Blanco Gracie dominated that second round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! 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.

Gracie throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Saunders.
Gracie looks to land a combination. Saunders sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Gracie slips a jab and a cross from Saunders.
Saunders fails in his attempt to clinch.
Gracie scores with a jab. Saunders acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
A clash of legs there as Gracie blocks the low kick.
Saunders misses with a looping left.
Gracie uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Saunders.
Saunders tries to clinch up.
Leo Blanco Gracie is winning the standup battle so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Saunders throws a jab when Gracie was well out of range.
Gracie throws an overhand right that lands on Saunders's shoulder, as Saunders tries to avoid the shot.
Gracie is pinned up against the ropes taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.

Saunders has closed the distance and engaged Gracie in a clinch.
Saunders blocks an elbow strike from Gracie.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saunders utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Saunders prevents Gracie from breaking the clinch.
Saunders tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Gracie lands a hook that snaps the head of Saunders backwards.
Gracie throws an elbow but it misses.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Gracie lands a damaging elbow.
Gracie avoiding damage as Saunders throws knees to the body.
Saunders looking to throw knees to the head but Gracie is blocking nicely.
Saunders tries to land a knee to the head but Gracie blocks with his arms.

Gracie's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Saunders lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
Gracie misses with a combination
and Saunders counters with a left and a right that stings Gracie.
Gracie jabbing away but nothing is landing.
A low kick from Gracie misses
and Saunders counters with a low kick, right behind Gracie 's knee.
Saunders steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Gracie.
Saunders thinks about the counter body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Saunders connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
The fighters circling - Gracie throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Gracie misses the body punch
and Saunders counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Gracie lunges at Saunders with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Saunders's hand.
Saunders connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Saunders avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Despite the aggression on Saunders's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
A telegraphed right hand from Gracie misses the target.
Saunders wants to clinch.
Gracie throws a hook but Saunders blocks it.
Saunders defending well as Gracie loads up on a big left hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Ben Saunders.
I think Saunders 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 Radbod Blank scores the fight 30:27
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Ben Saunders!