PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Christopher Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Miquel Mendoza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie comes to the cage accompanied by Fort Minor - Petrified (Gracie Remix). Miquel Mendoza has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Gracie
vs
Mendoza

165 cm
26
143 lbs
14 - 4 - 1

165 cm
22
147 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Lethal high kicks
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Christopher Gracie!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Miquel Mendoza!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Alan Glass and Cecil Peabody.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gracie shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Mendoza is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Gracie postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gracie thows a big elbow that misses.
Gracie throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Mendoza works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Mendoza keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.
Gracie trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mendoza avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Gracie postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Gracie trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Gracie looking to sit in guard and control but Mendoza gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Mendoza won't allow Gracie to sweep him here.
Mendoza is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Gracie throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Gracie controls Mendoza momentarily but Mendoza frees himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mendoza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Gracie works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Mendoza stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Mendoza tries to close the distance and clinch but Gracie swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

Gracie clinches with his opponent.

Mendoza has picked Gracie up - he's going for a ride! Mendoza dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Mendoza is thwarting Gracie's attempts to control the position.
Mendoza sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Gracie defending well though.
Mendoza is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Gracie avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Mendoza.
The fighters are battling for position here. Gracie manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Gracie is pulling down on Mendoza's head. It's preventing any offense from Mendoza, at least for the moment.
Mendoza 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.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mendoza accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Mendoza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Mendoza throws a big right hand that misses.
Mendoza in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
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.
Mendoza is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Mendoza must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Gracie looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Mendoza wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
Mendoza stopping the sweep attempt from Gracie.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing Mendoza from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Miquel Mendoza was stalling too much, according to the referee.

Gracie closes the distance and clinches.
Gracie blocks an elbow strike.
Mendoza tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Gracie goes for a takedown attempt but Mendoza pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Mendoza tries to clinch there but Gracie circles away.
Mendoza closes the distance looking to clinch

and Gracie holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mendoza lands an elbow that stopped Gracie in his tracks for a moment.
Gracie avoids the elbow strike from Mendoza, against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Christopher Gracie will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Mendoza avoids the head kick by Gracie.

Mendoza closes the distance and clinches.
Gracie drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Gracie.
Gracie has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Mendoza avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Mendoza creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Mendoza tries to land knees in the clinch but Gracie avoids the damage to the body.

Mendoza tightens his grip and picks Gracie up, before dumping him to the ground. Gracie manages to land in guard.
Mendoza trying to control the position from guard on top but Gracie is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mendoza with a flurry of punches that miss.
Mendoza is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Gracie is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mendoza accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Miquel Mendoza has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gracie preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Mendoza postures up.
Gracie manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Gracie throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mendoza wants to try and get back to his feet.
Mendoza takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Gracie won't let Mendoza get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Gracie lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Mendoza hang on?
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gracie misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Gracie throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Mendoza is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie landing strikes from the mount.
Gracie throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Gracie looking to control and managing it successfully.
Gracie with shots to the head and body - Mendoza looks very uncomfortable down there.
Mendoza is bucking up trying to escape but Gracie cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

Mendoza is rocked!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Mendoza is still in real trouble! Can Gracie finish him?
Mendoza blocking the ground and pound.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gracie lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Gracie controlling from the full mount.
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 Mendoza's face.
Mendoza is breathing heavily.
Gracie unloads with some vicious shots from mount and Mendoza wants out - he looks towards the referee who steps in to save him! Gracie celebrates on the cage and the crowd goes wild!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Christopher Gracie!
Christopher Gracie retains his bantamweight title!