PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Hovanes Avelyan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryan Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Avelyan might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Take him outh.. Ryan Gracie told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Avelyan
vs
Gracie

180 cm
26
195 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

191 cm
23
198 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
KO power

ADCC Champion
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

PEGASUS FIGHT WEAR $6 and Laundering 90%

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Hovanes Avelyan!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ryan Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Vladimir Khabensky and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie tries to close the distance and clinch but Avelyan swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Gracie lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Avelyan at a distance.
Gracie dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Gracie dives in and scores a takedown into Avelyan's guard.
Gracie prevents Avelyan from getting back to his feet.

Gracie drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Gracie jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Avelyan is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Avelyan trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
Avelyan tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Avelyan is trying to control the position but Gracie postures up.

Gracie is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Avelyan holds on and takes a little breather.
Gracie thows a big elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Gracie forces his way into half guard.
Avelyan is trying to get back to full guard.
Avelyan might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Avelyan wants to get back to his feet.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Gracie throwing shots but Avelyan is blocking nicely.
Gracie prevents Avelyan from improving his position.
Gracie has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Gracie is thwarting Avelyan's attempts to control the position.
Gracie prevents Avelyan from improving his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Avelyan is not content to let Gracie control the position.

Gracie is trying to work for a kimura but Avelyan is defending well.
Gracie throwing shots but Avelyan is blocking nicely.
Avelyan trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Gracie manages to pass to mount!
Avelyan knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gracie on the ground.
Gracie lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

Gracie is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Avelyan has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Gracie misses with a head shot.
Avelyan regains half guard.
Gracie moves nicely into side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Avelyan is avoiding damage well.
Gracie trying to control the action but Avelyan is working from the bottom.
Gracie fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Gracie misses with the ground and pound.
Avelyan tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Gracie wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Gracie slows the pace down.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Gracie trying to control the position but Avelyan is working away.
Avelyan dodges the ground and pound from Gracie.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Avelyan tries to escape but Gracie is in control.
Avelyan is looking for a sweep.
Avelyan is not content to let Gracie control the position.
Avelyan keeping his opponent close.

Gracie thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Avelyan is looking to regain half guard here but Gracie keeps moving and retains side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ryan Gracie dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Gracie with a lazy takedown attempt
and Avelyan counters with a two punch combo.
Hovanes Avelyan is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Avelyan misses with a body shot.
Gracie misses with a few strikes there.
Avelyan lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

It looks like Ryan Gracie has been cut.
Avelyan avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Gracie wants to clinch
and Avelyan counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Avelyan misses with an uppercut
and Gracie counters with a left and a right that stings Avelyan.
Gracie shoots in looking for a takedown. Avelyan tries to sprawl out of it but Gracie keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Avelyan manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie instigates a clinch.
Avelyan tries to break the clinch but Gracie is controlling the position.
Avelyan working hard to break the clinch.
Avelyan wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Gracie has him pressed against the ropes.
Gracie tries to pull guard but Avelyan holds him up against the ropes and eventually Gracie drops back down to his feet.
Hovanes Avelyan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ryan Gracie.
A battle for position here, against the ropes.

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 breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Gracie lands with a right hand.
Avelyan keeps the fight on the outside.
Avelyan swings widly with a right hand
and Gracie counters with a right hand to the body.
Avelyan throws a right hand that misses
enabling Gracie to counter with a crisp jab.
Gracie closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Avelyan misses the body punch
and Gracie counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Avelyan swings widly with a right hand
and Gracie counters with a straight right hand.
Gracie throws a leg kick but Avelyan moved away.
Gracie fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Avelyan avoids it really well and circles away.
Gracie closes this distance looking for a takedown but Avelyan circles away.
Gracie tries to clinch up but Avelyan circles away and keeps his distance.

Gracie shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Gracie showed some decent athleticism there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie stops Avelyan from getting back to his feet.
Avelyan works his way to full guard. Good work.
Avelyan wants to stand but Gracie is controlling the position.
Avelyan trying to keep a closed guard but Gracie is proving a slippery customer.
Gracie trying to control but Avelyan is working from the bottom.

Gracie drops back, looking for a kneebar! Avelyan looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Avelyan looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Avelyan!
Avelyan in side control lands a decent elbow.
Avelyan is chipping away with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hovanes Avelyan dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ryan Gracie's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Gracie tries to clinch but Avelyan is having none of it.
Gracie misses with a wild body shot.
Gracie is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Gracie just misses with a punch to the body.
Avelyan keeps the fight on the outside.
Avelyan misses with a double jab

and Gracie counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Gracie missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Gracie stops Avelyan from getting back to his feet.
Avelyan tries to roll over but Gracie keeps him under control.
Gracie throwing shots but Avelyan is blocking nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Avelyan trying to control from the bottom.
Avelyan blocking the ground and pound attempt from Gracie.
Avelyan is staying active underneath Gracie, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Avelyan tries to kick Gracie off but Gracie keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Avelyan is concentrating on defense, preventing Gracie from advancing position.
Gracie is trying to control the action in half guard but Avelyan is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
A good leg kick by Gracie.
Ryan Gracie seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Avelyan tries to sprawl but Gracie drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Avelyan wants to improve his position but Gracie is controlling well.

Gracie seems like he's working for an arm triangle here. He's freed his trapped foot and he's rotating nicely. Avelyan is in big trouble! He's tapping out! This one is aaaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:03 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Arm Triangle). Ryan Gracie! Ryan Gracie retains his middleweight title!