PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rickson Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and joe d (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). joe d has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Gracie
vs
d

189 cm
23
210 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

225 cm
19
205 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

Good takedowns
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rickson Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, joe d!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Daniel Cesar and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
d misses with a takedown attempt - Gracie sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

d shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Gracie manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Gracie working a defensive guard here.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing d from controlling successfully.
Gracie looking to hit a scissor sweep but d is one step ahead there.

Gracie working for a triangle but d defends it easily.

Gracie isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. d stacks Gracie on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by d!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie tries to buck d off but d is having none of it.
d is looking to take a break and control but Gracie is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The referee asks d politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. d prefers to stall for the moment though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
A control attempt from Gracie but he's now mounted!
Gracie tries to hold on but d pushes him away.
Gracie working to try and regain half guard.
Gracie looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
d is trying to stick to Gracie's back but Gracie is turning into d. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in d's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Gracie.
Gracie might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
d is trying to control the position from the bottom.
d keeping full guard, as Gracie tries to pass.

d escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Gracie gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
d is trying to keep Gracie in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie wants to control from the top but d keeps moving.

d had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Gracie defends it easily.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
d keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

d changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Gracie looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is trying to improve his position.
You can see the frustration on Gracie's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Gracie is looking for a sweep.
Gracie looks to move to half guard but instead d has passed into mount! Damn!
Gracie is desperately trying to improve his position but d has a good base and remains in mount.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gracie looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
Gracie trying to control but not successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

joe d dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Gracie pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Gracie with a poor takedown

and d counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

Gracie working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. d doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. d manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Gracie is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. d is aware though and is defending well.
d seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing d from controlling successfully.
d passes Gracie's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Gracie looking for submissions off his back.

Gracie looking for submissions off his back.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
d with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Gracie is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but d pulls his head out easily.

d is looking for a kimura but Gracie is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for d to get the leverage.
Gracie wants to improve his position but d is controlling well.
d looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Gracie wants to improve his position but d is controlling well.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
d doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Gracie counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie passes easily into side control. Nice work.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Gracie wants to control but d is keeping him busy.
d tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Gracie tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Gracie has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
d tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Gracie presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
d tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Gracie has hold of d's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and d manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

d defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Gracie.

Gracie working for a submission but d is keeping him at bay.

Gracie with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Gracie avoids the attempt from d to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rickson Gracie dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Gracie is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in d's half guard.

Gracie wants to work for an arm triangle but d is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
d moves into full guard.

Gracie drops back looking for a leg! d is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and d manages to kick Gracie off! Gracie jumps back into d's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

d is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's one minute gone in the round.

d looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but d is keeping the position.

Gracie thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Gracie wants to control from the top but d keeps moving.
joe d has got the better of the ground game so far.

Gracie thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

d escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Gracie gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
d is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Gracie thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

Gracie scores a takedown into full mount!

Gracie looking to secure an arm triangle but d defends it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Gracie working for a submission but d is keeping him at bay.
d is in all sorts of trouble here.

Gracie looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

Gracie jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but d manages to avoid the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
d manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Gracie is looking to control d's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Gracie avoid being mounted?

Gracie actively working from the bottom here.
d with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
d is thwarting Gracie's attempts to control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rickson Gracie showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Gracie has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 29:28
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rickson Gracie!