PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Evan Knuckle (ranked 24189 p4p, 24139 weight class) and Joao Gabriel (ranked 563 p4p, 550 weight class). Gabriel has chosen Circo das Galinhas as his entrance music. Joao Gabriel has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Evan Knuckle's chin.

Knuckle
vs
Gabriel

175 cm
24
173
2 - 3 - 0

185 cm
21
177
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Intelligent

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Intelligent

BRAZEN - Fight Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Evan Knuckle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Joao Gabriel!
The judges for this bout are Fedor Mirinova, Illya Tyunina and Valeri Chadov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick misses from Knuckle.
Gabriel with the counter takedown but Knuckle avoids it easily.
Knuckle misses with a combination

and Gabriel counters with a nice double leg into guard.

Gabriel drops back looking for a leg! Knuckle is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Knuckle manages to kick Gabriel off! Gabriel jumps back into Knuckle's guard.
Gabriel scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Knuckle is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Gabriel keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Knuckle's head.
Gabriel postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gabriel drops back looking for a leg! Knuckle is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Knuckle manages to kick Gabriel off! Gabriel jumps back into Knuckle's guard.
Knuckle wants to get back to his feet but Gabriel is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Gabriel drops back, looking for a kneebar! Knuckle looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Knuckle looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Knuckle!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gabriel dodges the ground and pound from Knuckle.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gabriel is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Gabriel is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Knuckle's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Knuckle's back!

Knuckle preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Gabriel.
Gabriel has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Knuckle fending off the submission attempt from Gabriel.

Knuckle defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Gabriel's arms.

Gabriel is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Knuckle is defending well though. Gabriel let's go of the attempt for now.
Knuckle looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.

Gabriel has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Gabriel working for a choke but Knuckle is defending well.

Gabriel looking to break Knuckle's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. Knuckle remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Gabriel will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!

Knuckle defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Gabriel's arms.

Knuckle is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
Knuckle trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.

Knuckle preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Gabriel.
Knuckle trying to control the hands but Gabriel breaks the grip.

Knuckle is trying to get back to his feet. He's worked up on to his knees and now he's on his feet with his head on the canvas, trying to shake Gabriel off. It looks like it's working - Gabriel slides off, much to his dismay, and we're back to standing! Knuckle displaying calm under pressure there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knuckle throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Knuckle looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.

Knuckle darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Gabriel manages to regain full guard. Nice work.

Gabriel is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Gabriel is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Gabriel is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Gabriel working for a triangle but Knuckle defends it easily.
Knuckle stopping the sweep attempt from Gabriel.

Gabriel had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Knuckle defends it easily.
Knuckle with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gabriel had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Knuckle defends it easily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gabriel keeping moving, preventing Knuckle from controlling successfully.
Knuckle stopping the sweep attempt from Gabriel.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Gabriel is on top in guard.

Knuckle is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Gabriel is controlling him.
Gabriel throws a big right hand that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gabriel accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Gabriel thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Knuckle wants to stand but Gabriel is controlling the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Joao Gabriel dominated that round.
That's time! Knuckle's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Gabriel moves out of range of the body kick from Knuckle.
Gabriel is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Knuckle looks to throw a body kick

and Gabriel counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Gabriel trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

Gabriel avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Gabriel postures up and lands a big shot to Knuckle's brow.

Knuckle pushes Gabriel off and gets back to his feet.
Gabriel has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Gabriel avoids the head kick by Knuckle.
Gabriel feints the counter takedown.
Evan Knuckle seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Knuckle scores with a spinning back kick!
A head kick misses from Knuckle.
Gabriel is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
A head kick misses from Knuckle.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Knuckle clinches up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knuckle trying to land knees to the body.
Gabriel tries to pull guard but Knuckle won't allow it.
Knuckle tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Knuckle lands a nice knee to the body.
Gabriel on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Gabriel on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Knuckle lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

Knuckle breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Knuckle throws a sloppy head kick

so Gabriel counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Gabriel tries to free his leg and advance position but Knuckle is retaining full guard.
Gabriel advances to half guard.
Gabriel slips a nice elbow through Knuckle's hands, connecting with Knuckle's forehead.
Gabriel takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gabriel stops Knuckle from getting back to his feet.

Gabriel is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Knuckle doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Gabriel.

Gabriel looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Gabriel is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Gabriel lands with a punch from half guard.

Gabriel is working for a submission of some sort.

Gabriel in half guard on the top. He's looking for a kimura... He's got it locked and he's managed to free his trapped foot. Knuckle tries to escape but it's on too tight and he has to tap! Great BJJ skills there from Gabriel!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:58 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Joao Gabriel!
A determined Joao Gabriel didn't want to dwell on this fight in his post fight interview. Instead he was more keen to state he wants a title shot. Let's see if he gets it!
Evan Knuckle was interviewed post fight and said 'He was lucky'.