PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Lonnie Graham (ranked 6045 p4p, 0 weight class) and Craig Wius (ranked 5152 p4p, 0 weight class). Craig Wius has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Lonnie Graham's chin.

Graham
vs
Wius

169 cm
25
162 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

185 cm
25
162 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Good kicks
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Lonnie Graham!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Craig Wius!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graham tries to move into range but Wius moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Wius scores with a jab. Graham acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Graham gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Wius counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
A shot to the body from Graham misses
and Wius connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Graham throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Graham uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Wius.
Graham misses with a few strikes there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graham is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Wius.
Wius is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
A looping hook to the body misses from Wius. Graham does a little dance to reset his feet.
Wius throws a shot to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wius scores with a jab to the body.
Wius throws a right and a left that both miss.
Graham looks to clinch

and Wius counters with a single leg into guard. Graham didn't expect that.
Wius must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Wius gets to his feet - Graham follows without any prompting.
Wius takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Wius misses with a few strikes there.
Wius scores with a decent looking hook.
Graham scoring well with a low kick there.
Graham uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Wius.
Graham tries to counter with a takedown but Wius is quick to defend against it.
Wius has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice body punch from Wius.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graham misses with a left hand

and Wius decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Graham's guard.
Graham avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Wius engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Wius decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Graham, up you get!
Graham gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Wius counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Graham thinking.
Graham is breathing heavily.
Graham uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Wius.
Wius bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Graham's head backwards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wius ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Wius moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Wius works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Wius throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Graham fails with a takedown attempt.
Wius appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Lonnie Graham. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lazy left from Wius finds it's target.
Wius throws a nice looking combination but Graham bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Wius throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Wius is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Graham had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Wius connects with a body shot.
Wius fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Wius drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Graham bucks up and tries to throw Wius off but instead Wius has got his back!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Craig Wius 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.

Wius closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Wius working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Wius has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Graham is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Wius performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Wius thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Wius in particular looking to stall.
Wius scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wius working the head and body with strikes.
Wius working Graham over with strikes.
Graham tries to roll over but Wius keeps him under control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Wius throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Wius is keen to just control but Graham is a slippery customer.
Ground and pound from Wius.
Wius is nestled in close to Graham, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Graham is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Wius scores with a couple of nice shots.
Wius working the head and body with strikes.
Graham wants to control but Wius is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Wius sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wius scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Wius gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Graham takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Graham gets cracked there but stands up to it.
A nice combination there by Wius.

Graham is rocked!

Wius shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Wius showed some decent athleticism there.
Oh Graham is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Wius landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Wius landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Graham seems to have got his legs back now.
Wius looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Craig Wius has got the better of the ground game so far.
Wius looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
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. Wius connects with a nice short shot to Graham's temple.
Wius slips a nice elbow through Graham's hands, connecting with Graham's forehead.
Wius lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Graham is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Wius scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graham is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Wius scores with a couple of nice shots.

Wius escapes and gets back to his feet.
Wius cracks Graham with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Craig Wius seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Graham takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Graham takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Graham avoids a punch combination nicely.
Graham slaps away a takedown attempt from Wius, before circling back to the center of the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Craig Wius showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Wius changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Wius stalks Graham and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Graham's face. Graham staggers backwards, shaken.
Wius fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Graham looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Graham takes one to the side of the head.

Graham scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Wius can do anything to dispel that myth.
Wius prevents Graham from moving into mount.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Wius is trying to control Graham's posture but Graham avoids it.
Graham is looking to take a break and control but Wius is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Graham goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Wius rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Graham's guard! Nice work there by Wius!
Wius wants to control from the top but Graham keeps moving.
Wius is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Graham wants to sweep here but Wius controlling him for the moment.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wius trying to control but Graham is working from the bottom.
Wius works over Graham with some ground and pound from guard.
Wius cracks Graham with a solid left hand.
Wius landing with the ground and pound.
Lonnie Graham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Wius scoring with some ground and pound.
Wius trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Wius keeps trying to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Wius controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graham keeping moving, preventing Wius from controlling successfully.
Wius landing some decent shots from guard.
Wius with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Wius stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Graham swivels though and keeps the full guard.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Wius lands with a nice body punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Wius connects with a nice looking jab.
Graham takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Wius closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Wius scores with a shot to the body.
Wius lands a nice hook to Graham's body. Graham takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Wius tries for a takedown but Graham sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Wius throws a body punch but Graham moves out of range.
Graham seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.

Wius drives through with a takedown into guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Craig Wius comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Wius has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Jack Bonds scores the fight 27:30
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Craig Wius!