PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bobby Lashley (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Valdivia Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Valdivia Gracie is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Lashley
vs
Gracie

190 cm
21
255 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

220 cm
22
265 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Bobby Lashley!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Valdivia Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Johanna Lukiainen and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Lashley closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Lashley lands in his opponent's guard.
Gracie wants to stand but Lashley is controlling the position.

Lashley stands up from Gracie's guard - Lashley perhaps looking for a knockout.
Gracie shoots and misses

and Lashley counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Lashley might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Lashley landing some decent shots from guard.
Lashley showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracie wants to stand and escape but Lashley is having none of it.
Gracie looks gassed!
Lashley showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lashley postures up and lands a big shot to Gracie's brow.
Lashley content to stall in guard here.
Lashley wants to stand and escape but instead Gracie has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Gracie not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Gracie wants to stand but Lashley is controlling his posture from full guard.

Lashley pushes Gracie off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie fails with the takedown

and Lashley counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Lashley has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Lashley controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Lashley trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Lashley is stalling in the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Bobby Lashley just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Lashley closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Gracie to the mat! Gracie manages to get full guard.
Lashley controls from within his opponent's guard.
Lashley has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Lashley seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Gracie for as long as he can get away with.
Lashley looking to pass the guard.
Lashley is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lashley stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Gracie swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lashley scoring with some ground and pound.
Gracie wants to stand but Lashley is controlling the position.
Gracie being controlled here, momentarily.

Lashley stands up and waves to Gracie to follow him.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Lashley shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Lashley showed some decent athleticism there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Lashley darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Lashley throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Gracie is trying to get back to full guard.
Lashley stops Gracie from getting back to his feet.
Lashley is taking a breather. Gracie says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Lashley tries to pass the half guard into mount. Gracie knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Gracie is breathing heavily.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Lashley connects with a nice short shot to Gracie's temple.
Bobby Lashley overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie is trying to stand up here but Lashley is controlling him well.
Still in half guard, Lashley seems content to control.
Gracie has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Lashley is working away from the top position though.
Gracie is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Lashley works his foot free and advances to mount.
Lashley controlling the position easily from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Bobby Lashley just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Lashley shoots in and bounces Gracie off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Gracie can't keep his opponent in guard - Lashley advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Lashley not doing much here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Lashley.
Lashley lands strikes from half guard.
Lashley takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Lashley stops Gracie from getting back to his feet.
Lashley controlling the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Gracie is trying to stand back up but Lashley is controlling him
Lashley controlling the action here.
Lashley seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Gracie keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Lashley looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Gracie is trying to stand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bobby Lashley dominated that second round.
That's time! Lashley's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Lashley drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Gracie on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Lashley just content to control the position.
Lashley working the head with strikes.
Gracie is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Lashley asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Gracie struggling a bit here.
Gracie trying to remain calm as Lashley controls from the top position.
Gracie takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Gracie is working to avoid the ground and pound but Lashley connects with a decent elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Gracie struggling a bit here.
Gracie is pushing Lashley's head away, looking to escape. Lashley manages to hold on to the position though.
Lashley is staying tight to Gracie's torso, preventing him from escaping.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Bobby Lashley just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Lashley darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Lashley stops Gracie from getting back to his feet.
Lashley sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lashley is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Lashley missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Lashley controlling the pace.
Gracie wants to get back to his feet.
Lashley is controlling the pace.
Gracie tries to kick Lashley off but Lashley keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lashley looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Lashley postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Gracie to stand up.

Lashley darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Lashley seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie taking some punishment here, with Lashley in his half guard.
Lashley controlling the action here.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Bobby Lashley just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Lashley darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bobby Lashley showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Lashley has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 30:25
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 30:25
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bobby Lashley!