PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sailor Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mario Matiss (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie's entrance music is Disciples of Power - Lords of Creation. A fine choice. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Gracie
vs
Matiss

180 cm
32
210 lbs
18 - 19 - 0

186 cm
47
210 lbs
26 - 19 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Dangerous knees
Heavy handed

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 18 - 19 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Sailor Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 19 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mario Matiss!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Ben Watson and Chris Dean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Matiss punishes Gracie's body with a nice straight punch.

Matiss drives through and clinches with Gracie against the cage.
Matiss manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Matiss has a couple of punches blocked by Gracie.
Matiss misses with a punch on the inside.
Gracie being controlled against the cage.
Matiss throws a head punch that misses.
Gracie tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Matiss just stands there and leans against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Matiss tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Gracie avoids it.
Matiss misses with some punches.
Matiss stops a takedown attempt from Gracie.
Matiss misses with a short punch on the inside.
Matiss scores with a nice hook to the head.
We've been hearing reports that Gracie has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matiss misses with a body punch.
A short body shot lands from Matiss as the two fighters clinch.
Matiss tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Matiss is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Gracie is keeping busy.
A short uppercut from Matiss.
Gracie is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Matiss gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Sailor Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gracie looking for a takedown.
Matiss misses with a hook from the clinch.
Gracie takes a shot to the head.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Matiss.
Matiss scores with a shoulder strike.
Matiss tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Gracie has hold of one of Matiss's legs. Matiss is fighting the takedown attempt but Gracie gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Matiss is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Matiss keeps moving.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Matiss keeping full guard, as Gracie tries to pass.
Gracie working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
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 postures up in Matiss's guard and throws a big left but Matiss blocks it.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Matiss is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Matiss wants to sweep here but Gracie controlling him for the moment.
Gracie trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Gracie passes Matiss's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Gracie frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie lands with some strikes.

Gracie is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Matiss is surviving well by controlling Gracie's body position as best he can.

Gracie is working for a guillotine from mount but Matiss frees his head quite easily.
Matiss is in a horrible position here. Gracie smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Gracie with the ground and pound from mount.
Gracie looking to control but Matiss is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

Gracie has hold of Matiss's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Matiss manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matiss is bucking up trying to escape but Gracie cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Gracie lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Matiss is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Gracie goes for an armbar but Matiss turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Matiss.

Gracie looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Gracie is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Gracie looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Sailor Gracie will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Gracie avoids the body shot from Matiss.
Gracie attempts a counter takedown but Matiss avoids it well and moves away.
Matiss throws the kick towards the body but Gracie avoids it.
Gracie checks the leg kick.
Gracie feinted with a counter takedown.
Matiss throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Gracie changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Matiss throws a leg kick that is checked

and Gracie counters with a takedown into side control.
Gracie sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Matiss is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Matiss is not content to let Gracie control the position.

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!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gracie working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

Gracie is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Matiss is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matiss 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 postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Matiss manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Gracie not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracie thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Matiss's head.
Gracie is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Gracie is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Matiss doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Gracie.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Matiss is defending well.
Matiss trying to control but Gracie postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Matiss is defending against the submission attempts here by Gracie.
Matiss taking some punishment here, with Gracie in his half guard.

Matiss is defending against the submission attempts here by Gracie.
Gracie passes to full mount!
Gracie scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Matiss?
Matiss tries to reverse the position but Gracie maintains control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gracie is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Matiss has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Gracie working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Sailor Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Matiss is trying to escape the mount.
Oooooh, big shot lands for Gracie! Matiss is hurt baaadly! Gracie is firing away with more strikes - Matiss is covering up... the ref is warning him to do something. He's just covering up though still and the ref has to step in to end the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:41 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Sailor Gracie!
A very excited looking Sailor 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.