PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Wayne Gracie (ranked 981 p4p, 3358 weight class) and Ajax Athanas (ranked 116 p4p, 366 weight class). Gracie's entrance music is Thriller by Michael Jackson. A fine choice. Athanas has chosen HELLAS as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Gracie
vs
Athanas

194 cm
42
269
29 - 10 - 0

210 cm
35
282
17 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Very quick

Decent wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Heavy handed

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 29 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, John Wayne Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Ajax Athanas!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Daniel Franklin and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Athanas with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Gracie has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Marijuana Gardens in the buildup to the fight.

Gracie shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Gracie showed some decent athleticism there.
Athanas 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.
Athanas is looking to control Gracie's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Athanas avoid being mounted?
Gracie is controlling the pace.

Gracie is trying to work for a kimura but Athanas is defending well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Athanas is looking to get back to is feet but Gracie passes into side control.
Gracie lands a few punches from side control.
Athanas is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie in side control, throwing shots but Athanas defends.
Athanas seems a little lost for a moment, as Gracie dominates the positioning.
Gracie connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Athanas some visible discomfort.
Athanas pushes Gracie away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Gracie gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Gracie controlling the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Athanas is not content to let Gracie control the position.
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.
Athanas tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Gracie presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Athanas keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Athanas is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
Gracie pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Gracie controlling the pace for now.
Athanas is in a horrible position here. Gracie smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Athanas can't escape the position.
Gracie landing shots from mount.
Gracie lands a big shot to the head and Athanas winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). John Wayne Gracie!
John Wayne Gracie thanked the fans post fight for their support.
The defeated Ajax Athanas had this to say: 'Tough loss But I will Be BACK'.