Waterville Central School graduate Jonathan Piersma won his Mixed Martial Arts professional debut in the Cage Fury Fighting Championship 91.
Piersma fought Dec. 18 against fellow professional debuting fighter Tyler Bunting. The matches were in Lancaster, Pa.
The fight began with both fighters showing sportsmanship, touching gloves before getting to action. Piersma connected an inside leg kick for the first strike of the fight before blocking a high kick and straight jab.
Piersma then shot for a double-leg takedown, secured it, and took side-control on the mat 15 seconds into the fight.
On the ground, Piersma patiently went to work trying to advance position. After throwing some ground strikes and keeping the pressure on Bunting, Piersma wrapped up Bunting's legs while also securing a guillotine choke position.
Piersma moved to full-mount while hand-fighting to cinch the chokehold.
Piersma brought new meaning to the phrase "choking under pressure" by squeezing Bunting's head to a shade of purple.
After a minute of work on the ground, Piersma got his hands locked despite Bunting's efforts. At 1:36 in the first round, Piersma got the tap to bring his professional record to 1-0 in the cage.
Piersma had plenty of energy left as he celebrated in the cage, letting everyone in the arena know how he felt after getting the win.
In his post-fight interview Piersma, who played football and basketball at Waterville and played college football at St. John Fisher College, looked like he had barely broken a sweat during the match.
The welterweight was 6-1 as an amateur. He lives in Rochester, where he trains.
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