PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Roman Braga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alvaro Gracielo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Roman Braga has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Braga
vs
Gracielo

203 cm
19
291 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

225 cm
25
340 lbs
8 - 5 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Roman Braga!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, Alvaro Gracielo!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Donald Grub and James Ackerman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracielo checks a low kick from Braga.
Nice body punch from Braga.
Gracielo tries for a takedown but Braga sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Gracielo avoids a punch combination nicely.
Braga misses with a two punch combination.
Braga just misses with a punch to the body.
Braga misses with a two punch combination.
Braga attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Gracielo throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Braga's waist but Braga gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Gracielo off to one side.
Braga misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Braga just misses with a punch to the body.
Braga throws a jab when Gracielo was well out of range.
Gracielo on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Gracielo is trying hard to land a takedown here. Braga sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Roman Braga has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Alvaro Gracielo.
Gracielo looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters circling - Braga throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Braga will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Gracielo slips a straight right by Braga.
Braga throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Braga turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Braga tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Gracielo is able to avoid easily.
Braga throws out a leg kick but Gracielo moves out of range and Braga only half commits.
Nice straight punches there by Braga. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Braga.

It looks like Alvaro Gracielo has been cut.
Braga throws a leg kick that misses.
Braga throws a head kick that misses.
Braga misses with a low kick.
Braga misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braga throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Braga misses with a few strikes there.
Braga swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Braga rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Gracielo moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Braga tries to bum rush Gracielo with a series of wild strikes but Gracielo uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Gracielo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Braga looks to land a left hand but Gracielo moved out of range nicely.
Gracielo blocks a jab.
Braga looks to land a right hand but Gracielo moved out of range.
Nice uppercut lands for Braga. That snapped Gracielo's head back.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Braga dips to his left and cracks Gracielo with an uppercut!
Gracielo moves out of range as Braga strikes.
Gracielo takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braga bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Gracielo's head backwards.
A head kick misses from Braga.
Braga throws a leg kick but Gracielo sees it coming and checks it nicely.

A jab-cross combination lands for Braga and sends Gracielo crashing to the mat! Braga follows him down to the mat - Gracielo regains half guard but he's not out of trouble yet!
Braga wants to get back to his feet.

Gracielo looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Braga wants to get back to his feet.
Braga looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Gracielo with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Braga decides to stand up.
Braga tries to land a leg kick but Gracielo saw it coming and moves away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracielo fails with a takedown attempt.
Roman Braga seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gracielo checks a leg kick.
Gracielo avoids the body shot from Braga.
Gracielo shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Braga scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Gracielo moves forwards but Braga connects with a nice, crisp jab.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Braga fails to land with a series of punches.
Braga looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Braga scores with a decent looking hook.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roman Braga dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Alvaro Gracielo's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Gracielo ducks under a wild hook from Braga.
Braga throws a jab but it's blocked by Gracielo.
Roman Braga is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Braga fails to land with a series of punches.
Gracielo dodges the punch combination from Braga.
Braga scores with a crisp jab that stopped Gracielo in his tracks.
Braga misses with a wild body shot.
Braga throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Braga drops Gracielo with a right and a left! Braga comes rushing in but Gracielo regains his composure and manages to keep Braga in guard.
Braga would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Gracielo is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Gracielo is breathing heavily.
Braga wanted to stand there but Gracielo had control of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Braga lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Gracielo tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Braga trying to control the position from guard on top but Gracielo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Braga is looking to stand up but Gracielo won't let him.
Braga throws a big right hand that misses.
Gracielo manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Gracielo lands a heavy elbow.
Gracielo throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gracielo working for a guillotine from mount but Braga is in no mood to give up.

Gracielo looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Braga knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gracielo on the ground.
Gracielo looking to ground and pound but Braga is blocking nicely.

Gracielo goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Braga turns into him and now he's in Gracielo's guard.

Gracielo looking for a guillotine here but Braga defends easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braga wants to stand but Gracielo is controlling his posture from full guard.
Gracielo is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Gracielo is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Braga is trying to stand back up but Gracielo is controlling him

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Gracielo is working for a kimura but Braga is defending it quite comfortably.
Braga wants to improve his position but Gracielo is controlling well.

Gracielo is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Braga has managed to free his arm - good work.
Braga is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gracielo can do to turn this around?

Braga is defending against the submission attempts here by Gracielo.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roman Braga dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Alvaro Gracielo's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Braga throws a right and a left that both miss.
A leg kick checked by Gracielo.

Gracielo closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Gracielo fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Braga on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Braga tries to get out of the position.
Braga is looking for a sweep.

Gracielo working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Braga might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Gracielo takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Gracielo is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Braga has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracielo misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

Gracielo thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Gracielo is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Braga has escaped the position, nice work there.
An elbow from Gracielo crashes against the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Gracielo tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Gracielo wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Braga, who protects the arm well.
Braga managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Gracielo.
Gracielo creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Braga sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Braga here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braga is trying to improve his position.
Gracielo misses with the ground and pound.

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

Gracielo tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Gracielo tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Gracielo has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Gracielo is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Braga knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
You can see the frustration on Braga's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alvaro Gracielo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Braga has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 29:27
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 29:27
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 29:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Roman Braga!