PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Rolls Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gabilondo Soler (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie comes to the cage accompanied by Wu-Tang Clan - The Mystery Of Chessboxin. Rolls Gracie could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Gabilondo Soler's chin.

Gracie
vs
Soler

187 cm
26
183 lbs
12 - 8 - 0

170 cm
27
176 lbs
12 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rolls Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 7 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Gabilondo Soler!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Ivan Kurochkin and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Soler misses with a body shot
letting Gracie counter with a right hand.
Soler misses with a shot to the body
and Gracie connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Soler misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Soler stuns Gracie with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Gracie misses with a body shot.
Soler misses with a body shot.
Soler shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Gracie sprawls well. Gracie wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Soler gets slowly back to his feet.
Gracie throws a right and a left that both miss.
Soler throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Gracie connects with a body shot.
Soler stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Gracie.
Soler swings for the body but Gracie moves out of range.
Gabilondo Soler seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A punch combination from Gracie misses.
Soler misses with a shot to the body
and Gracie counters with a nice uppercut.
Soler misses the body punch

and Gracie decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Soler's guard.
Gracie stopping the sweep attempt from Soler.
Gracie throwing strikes from guard but Soler blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Soler looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Gracie passes into side control.
Gracie landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Soler is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Gracie throwing strikes but Soler manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Gracie stops Soler from passing to mount.

Soler thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Gracie has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Gracie tries to buck Soler off but Soler is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is working hard here to advance position.
Gracie is trying to control Soler's posture but Soler avoids it.
Gracie manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Gracie gets full guard.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soler content to stall in guard here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Gracie working a defensive guard here.
Soler trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.

That's four 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 keeping full guard, as Soler tries to pass.
Gracie seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Rolls Gracie.
Soler misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Gracie.
Nice straight punches there by Gracie. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Gracie.
Soler swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A shot to the body from Soler misses
and Gracie counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Gracie throws a hook to the side of Soler's head but Soler sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Soler lands a jab.
Soler dips to his left and cracks Gracie with an uppercut!
Gracie on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rolls Gracie dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Gracie steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Soler.
Gracie is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Soler fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Soler misses the shot to the body.
Soler throws a sloppy body shot
and Gracie connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Soler swings for the body but Gracie moves out of range.
Rolls Gracie is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A looping hook to the body misses from Soler. Gracie does a little dance to reset his feet.
Soler looks to score with a jab to the body but Gracie is just out of range.
A shot to the liver by Soler. Beautiful body shot.
Nice defenses there by Soler.

Soler scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Soler wants to take a breather but Gracie is having none of it.
Soler might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Gracie kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

Soler is working for a kimura but Gracie is defending it quite comfortably.

Soler is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Gracie defends it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soler is trying to control the action in half guard but Gracie is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Soler is looking for a kimura but Gracie is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Soler to get the leverage.
Soler is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Soler is working for a kimura but Gracie is defending it quite comfortably.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Soler is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Gracie!
Soler trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Soler is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Gracie has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Soler takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Soler wants to control the pace but Gracie is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Soler looking for a guillotine from mount but Gracie is having none of it.
Soler content just to control the position here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Soler trying to control but he's not successful this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabilondo Soler showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Soler misses with a shot to the body
enabling Gracie to counter with a crisp jab.
Soler swings for the body but Gracie moves out of range.
Gracie avoids the body shot from Soler.
Soler misses with a hook to the body
enabling Gracie to counter with a crisp jab.
Soler takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Soler throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Gracie is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Soler throws a lazy uppercut

and Gracie counters by clinching up.

Soler jumps into guard, dragging Gracie to the mat.

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

Soler is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Gracie's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Soler keeps moving.

Soler pushes Gracie off and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soler scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Gracie doesn't seem bothered though.

Soler fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Gracie sprawls well initially but Soler persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Gracie is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Soler trying to pass the guard but Gracie defending well.
Soler trying to control from Gracie's half guard. Gracie has other ideas though and has regained full guard.

Soler has gone for a leg lock! Gracie slips out almost immediately though and dives into Soler's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie chips away with some ground and pound.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Soler is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Gracie defends well.
Gabilondo Soler has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Soler is keeping the position.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Soler keeps moving.
Gracie won't allow Soler to sweep him here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie works over Soler with some ground and pound from guard.
Soler has momentary wrist control but Gracie slips an elbow through the middle.
Gracie working some strikes from top position.
Gracie working some strikes from top position.
Gracie scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Soler bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gracie's guard.
Soler trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Soler is stalling in the full guard.
Soler trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
Gracie being controlled here, momentarily.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Gabilondo Soler wasn't active enough on the ground.
Soler throws a right and a left that both miss.

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 Rolls Gracie.
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 Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Gabilondo Soler!