PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Matt Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Crul (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Matt Gracie has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Gracie
vs
Crul

181 cm
20
153 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

167 cm
18
154 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Matt Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Crul!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Paulo Santos and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Crul is looking to clinch but Gracie is avoiding it.
Crul throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Gracie's waist but Gracie gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Crul off to one side.

Gracie shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Crul manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Gracie stopping the sweep attempt from Crul.
Gracie controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Gracie gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Crul fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Gracie.
Crul tries for a takedown but Gracie circles away easily

and Gracie counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crul trying to control here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Crul tries to get to full guard but Gracie has control of the leg.
Gracie is nestled in close to Crul, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Gracie thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Crul's head.
Crul tries to get to full guard but Gracie has control of the leg.
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.
Crul looks gassed!
Gracie takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Gracie seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Crul tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Gracie has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Gracie landing strikes from the mount.

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.
Crul working to try and regain half guard.
Gracie with shots to the head and body - Crul looks very uncomfortable down there.
Crul keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gracie lands a nice shot to the head.
Gracie controlling from mount.
Gracie looking to finish Crul with some ground and pound. This is bad for Crul!
Gracie lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Gracie controlling the pace for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crul sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Crul wants to get back to full guard.
Well, if Gracie is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Gracie takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Crul looking for submissions off his back.
Gracie looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Gracie passes to full mount!
Gracie controlling the pace for now.
Gracie has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Crul's face.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Gracie takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Gracie prevents Crul from getting the reversal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Gracie dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Gracie closes the distance and clinches.
Crul lands an uppercut.
Crul stalling against the cage.

Gracie is trying to trip Crul. He has hold of a leg but Crul is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Gracie persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Gracie stopping the sweep attempt from Crul.
Gracie not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Matt Gracie.
Crul misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Gracie.
Thiago Crul seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Crul gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Gracie counters by moving into the clinch.
Crul is breathing heavily.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Gracie as Crul tries to tie him up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Gracie tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Crul smiles and moves away.
Gracie fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Matt Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Crul tries to keep at a distance but Gracie has taken the fight into the clinch.

Crul escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Crul doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Gracie counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Gracie seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Crul is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Gracie with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Gracie avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Gracie stands up from Crul's guard - Gracie perhaps looking for a knockout.
Crul with a poor takedown

and Gracie decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Crul's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gracie is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Crul looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Gracie content to stall in guard here.
Gracie seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Crul for as long as he can get away with.
Gracie works over Crul with some ground and pound from guard.
Gracie trying to control but Crul is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Matt Gracie.
Crul scores with a nice strike.
Crul misses with a takedown

and Gracie counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Crul not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Matt Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gracie controls from within his opponent's guard.
Gracie scoring with some ground and pound.
Gracie connects with a couple of short punches.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Crul can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Gracie controls the pace.
Gracie preventing the sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Gracie dominated that second round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Crul tries for a takedown but Gracie circles away easily

and Gracie decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Crul's guard.
Crul trying to control the position.
Gracie stopping the sweep attempt from Crul.
Gracie is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Crul will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Gracie controls from within his opponent's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Crul escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Gracie gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Crul, up you get!
Crul with a poor takedown

and Gracie counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Gracie slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

Crul is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Gracie defends well.
Crul looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Gracie stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Gracie darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Crul wants to improve his position but Gracie is controlling well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Still in half guard, Gracie seems content to control.
Crul missing with punches from the bottom.
Crul wants to improve his position but Gracie is controlling well.
Gracie performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Crul is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Gracie jumps into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Crul 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.
Crul is trying to improve his position.
Gracie moves into full mount!
Crul tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Gracie looking to control and managing it successfully.
Gracie working Crul over with strikes here.
Gracie lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Crul can't escape the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Crul tries to improve his position but Gracie has taken his back! Gracie has a choke - it's sunk in pretty tight... Will Crul tap? No... maybe... yes! He's tapped! Gracie pushes Crul away and gets up to celebrate with his corner!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Matt Gracie!