PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Thiago Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Clovis Alfred (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Gracie
vs
Alfred

164 cm
26
142 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

167 cm
22
135 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Clovis Alfred!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Seu Braga and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Alfred gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Gracie counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Gracie.
Alfred tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Gracie just stands there and leans against the cage.
Gracie prevents a takedown attempt there.
Thiago Gracie has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Clovis Alfred.

Gracie has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Alfred clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Gracie looking for the choke from the back.
Alfred rolls, trying to escape but Gracie keeps control of the position.

Gracie tightening his grip on Alfred, looking for the choke.

Gracie is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Alfred defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie controls the position.
Alfred looking very determined here, making life difficult for Gracie.

Gracie patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Alfred breaks Gracie's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Gracie looking to hit a scissor sweep but Alfred is one step ahead there.

Gracie pushes Alfred off and scrambles back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie misses with a wild combination.
Alfred tries for a takedown but Gracie circles away easily

and Gracie counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Alfred!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Alfred wants to hold on but Gracie pushes him away.

Gracie working for a guillotine from mount but Alfred is in no mood to give up.

Gracie jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Alfred is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Alfred and Gracie has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.

Gracie thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alfred is trying to control Gracie's posture but Gracie avoids it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gracie wants to lay and pray for a moment but Alfred keeps working.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Gracie is trying to get an arm triangle but Alfred is defending well.
Alfred tries to improve position but can't.
Gracie wants to lay and pray for a moment but Alfred keeps working.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie moves into full mount!
Gracie prevents Alfred from getting the reversal.
Alfred tries to hold on but Gracie pushes him away.
Alfred is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
Gracie controlling from mount.

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!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago 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.

Alfred shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Gracie sprawls well. Gracie wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Alfred gets slowly back to his feet.
Alfred misses with a takedown

and Gracie counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Gracie is trying to control the action in half guard but Alfred is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Alfred looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie is thwarting Alfred's attempts to control the position.
Gracie is keen to just control but Alfred is a slippery customer.
Gracie working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Alfred's thigh. Alfred counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Alfred not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Alfred is pulling down on Gracie's head to control his posture.
Alfred is trying to keep Gracie in close.
Alfred keeping full guard, as Gracie tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Alfred is trying to control the position but Gracie postures up.
Alfred keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Clovis Alfred.
Alfred misses with a takedown

and Gracie decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Alfred's guard.
Thiago Gracie has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Clovis Alfred.
Gracie passes into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.
Alfred moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Alfred keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracieis looking to pass into half guard but Alfred pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Alfred is in guard.

Gracie uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Alfred fails with the takedown.

Gracie takes the fight into the clinch.
Gracie swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gracie turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Thiago Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Gracie goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Alfred has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Gracie but great work by Alfred.
Gracie on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Alfred trying to control the position but Gracie is working away.
Alfred tries to advance to mount but Gracie denies him.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Alfred.
Alfred in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

Alfred decides to stand back up. Alfred steps back and let's Gracie get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Gracie dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Gracie forces Alfred back against the cage and clinches.
Alfred is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Alfred fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Alfred has Gracie pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Gracie manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Alfred has Gracie pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Gracie manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Thiago Gracie has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Clovis Alfred.

Gracie lands a takedown into guard.
Alfred keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Alfred is keeping the position.
Alfred trying to keep a closed guard but Gracie is proving a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Alfred is keeping the position for now.
Alfred is trying to keep Gracie in close.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Gracie pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Alfred is keeping the position for now.
Gracie pushing down on Alfred's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Alfred has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Gracie is working away from the top position though.
Gracie sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

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

Gracie closes the distance and clinches.

Gracie works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Alfred is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Gracie is controlling him.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Alfred is keeping the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Alfred trying to control the position.
Gracie tries to free his leg and advance position but Alfred is retaining full guard.
Gracie is working hard here to advance position.
Thiago Gracie is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Alfred looking for a sweep. Not yet Alfred, not yet.
Alfred trying to control the position here.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Clovis Alfred hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Alfred shoots for a takedown but Gracie saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Alfred shoots and misses

and Gracie counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Alfred takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Still in half guard, Gracie seems content to control.
Gracie seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Alfred for as long as he can get away with.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gracie has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Thiago Gracie.
Alfred gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Gracie decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Alfred's guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago Gracie showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Gracie, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thiago Gracie!
A very excited looking Thiago Gracie made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.