PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rimario Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Danny Knuckles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). On his way into the cage it seems that Rimario Gracie has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Rimario Gracie seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Gracie
vs
Knuckles

180 cm
26
216 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

183 cm
25
200 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rimario Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Danny Knuckles!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Daniel Bishop and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Knuckles feints a jab promting Gracie to slip. Knuckles then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Gracie slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Gracie misses the shot to the body.
Knuckles scores with a three punch combo!
Knuckles connects with a nice looking jab.
Gracie misses with a few strikes there.
Knuckles throws a combination. Gracie tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Knuckles stalks Gracie and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Gracie's face. Gracie staggers backwards, shaken.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Knuckles closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Gracie is trying to drag Knuckles to the mat but Knuckles just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Gracie is trying to drag Knuckles to the mat but Knuckles just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Knuckles looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie wants to take the fight to the mat but Knuckles manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rimario Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Knuckles lands with a short punch from the clinch.

Knuckles's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Knuckles works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Knuckles tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Gracie defends well and Knuckles ends up having to push Gracie into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

Knuckles closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Knuckles pulls Gracie into guard.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Knuckles is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie stands and throws Knuckles's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Knuckles is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
Gracie wants to control but Knuckles is keeping him busy.

Gracie tries for a kimura but Knuckles is defending well.
Knuckles is not content to let Gracie control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

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

Gracie working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

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!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Gracie is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Knuckles knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Knuckles wants to get back to his feet.
Gracie trying to control the action but Knuckles is working from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Knuckles is trying to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Danny Knuckles dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Knuckles falls off balance throwing a combination

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

Gracie drops back looking for a leg! Knuckles is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Knuckles manages to kick Gracie off! Gracie jumps back into Knuckles's guard.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Knuckles keeps moving.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Knuckles keeping full guard, as Gracie tries to pass.
Knuckles has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Cozad MMA London. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracie passes easily into side control. Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Knuckles is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Knuckles prevents Gracie from improving position.
Knuckles is trying to get back to his feet.

Gracie wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Knuckles, who protects the arm well.
Gracie controls the position.

That's two 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 goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Knuckles has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Gracie but great work by Knuckles.
Knuckles has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Gracie manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Knuckles really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gracie. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Gracie stalling.

Gracie is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.

Gracie is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Knuckles has managed to free his arm - good work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knuckles is refusing to be controlled, as Gracie sits in half guard.
Gracie tries to pass to full mount but Knuckles defends it.

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.
Knuckles wants to get back to his feet.

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

That's four 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.

Gracie looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Gracie is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Knuckles is just riding it out for now. Gracie eventually gives up the hold.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Gracie is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rimario Gracie dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Gracie throws a right and a left that both miss.
Gracie misses with a few strikes there.
Gracie shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Knuckles sprawls well. Knuckles wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Gracie gets slowly back to his feet.

Gracie shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Knuckles's guard.
Gracie pushes down on Knuckles's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Gracie prevents Knuckles from standing back up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gracie is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Gracie looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie is keen to just control but Knuckles is a slippery customer.
Knuckles wants to get back to his feet.

Gracie is working for a submission of some sort.
Gracie is pressing down on Knuckles's thigh, looking to free his foot. Knuckles is holding on for now.

That's two 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.
Knuckles is trying to stand up here but Gracie is controlling him well.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Knuckles looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Danny Knuckles seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Knuckles dips to his left and cracks Gracie with an uppercut!
Knuckles lands a two punch combo.
Knuckles fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Gracie misses with a few strikes there.
Gracie misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Rimario Gracie is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nice sprawl there from Gracie as Knuckles shoots in.
Gracie appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Gracie shoots in but Knuckles avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Knuckles lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Gracie misses with a wild combination.
Gracie dives in for a single leg takedown but Knuckles sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rimario Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Knuckles moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Gracie throws a series of punches but Knuckles moves out of range.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Nice sprawl there from Knuckles as Gracie shoots in.
Gracie walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Knuckles drives through and clinches with Gracie against the cage.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A nice left hand lands by Knuckles.

Knuckles breaks the clinch.
Gracie misses with a jab, cross combination.
Knuckles is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Knuckles throws a one two combo.
Knuckles shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Gracie but Gracie pushes him off and we're back to square one.
No luck for Gracie with that takedown attempt.
Gracie takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

Knuckles gets in close and instigates a clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Danny Knuckles comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Knuckles has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 28:29
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Danny Knuckles!