PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Wanderlei Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Benny Cortez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cortez has chosen Brazilian Fight Song by Stephane Attias as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Gracie
vs
Cortez

190 cm
24
206 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

210 cm
26
210 lbs
0 - 4 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Wanderlei Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Benny Cortez!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Mauricio Rocha and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Horrible takedown attempt by Cortez or perhaps it was just good defense by Gracie, which made it look bad.
A low kick from Cortez misses

and Gracie counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Gracie.
We've been hearing that Gracie has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Cortez wants to sweep but no luck.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Gracie gets to his feet - Cortez follows without any prompting.
Cortez with a poor takedown
and Gracie counters with a two punch combo.
Gracie keeps the fight on the outside.
Gracie lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Cortez circles away quickly and effectively.
Cortez shoots in and drives through. Gracie sprawls well.
Wanderlei Gracie has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Benny Cortez.

Gracie shoots in and bounces Cortez off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gracie loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cortez being controlled here, momentarily.
Gracie postures up.

Gracie decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Gracie looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Cortez wants to stand back up but Gracie manages to pass into side control.
Cortez looks winded!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
Gracie passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Cortez!
Cortez tries to hold on but Gracie postures up.
Gracie controlling from mount.
Gracie with shots to the head and body - Cortez looks very uncomfortable down there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Gracie in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Cortez in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Gracie raining down shots from the mount!
The referee warns Cortez that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Gracie looking to control and managing it successfully.
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 lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Cortez hang on?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie controlling the position easily from mount.
Gracie breaks from Cortez's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Gracie controlling his opponent.
Cortez takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

A head kick misses from Cortez.
Wanderlei Gracie is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Gracie shoots in for a takedown but Cortez shows good takedown defense.

Gracie rushes Cortez and presses him up against the cage.
Cortez tries to pull guard but Gracie holds him up against the cage and eventually Cortez drops back down to his feet.
Cortez is trying to pull guard but Gracie turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

Gracie turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Gracie working away.
Gracie working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A lull in the action here.
Cortez is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Gracie is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cortez can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cortez throws an elbow to the body but it doesn't land.
Cortez is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Cortez is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Gracie is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Cortez is breathing heavily.
Cortez is trying to get back to full guard.

Gracie maintaining the dominant position here and is working for a kimura. He's locked it up! Cortez could be in real trouble here! He's trying to wriggle out but Gracie has cracked it and Cortez is screaming in pain - he's tapped out! Great finish by Gracie!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Wanderlei Gracie!
Benny Cortez spoke after the fight, saying 'Thank you fans!'.