PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Roger Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Drake Vonstein (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie comes to the cage accompanied by Dread Zepellin - Stairway to Heaven. Vonstein comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Seether - Remedy kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Gracie
vs
Vonstein

185 cm
25
190 lbs
12 - 7 - 0

184 cm
31
198 lbs
12 - 10 - 1

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Red Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Roger Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Drake Vonstein!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Chris Downing and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie tries to clinch but Vonstein moves out of range.
Gracie throws a right and a left that Vonstein avoids nicely.
Vonstein fails with the takedown.
Gracie misses with a double jab.
Gracie defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Vonstein.
Vonstein 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 Vonstein off to one side.
Roger Gracie has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Drake Vonstein.
Gracie looks to land a combination. Vonstein sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

It looks like Drake Vonstein has been cut.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Gracie lands a jab followed by a vicious hook that sends Vonstein sprawling to the canvas. Gracie follows him down, looking for the kill. Can Vonstein hang on?

Vonstein is rocked!
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.
Vonstein is still in real trouble! Can Gracie finish him?
Gracie throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Vonstein seems to have recovered his senses.

Gracie is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Vonstein defends it well.
Gracie winds up and cracks Vonstein with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Gracie.
Vonstein is looking for a sweep. Gracie is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Gracie looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Gracie scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Vonstein looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Gracie missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Vonstein regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Gracie.
Vonstein working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Gracie.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Gracie with a flurry of punches that miss.
Gracie thows a big elbow that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Vonstein is keeping the position.
Gracie wants to get up but he can't break Vonstein's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Vonstein is keeping the position.
Vonstein avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Gracie postures up in Vonstein's guard and throws a big left but Vonstein blocks it.
Gracie throws a strike but Vonstein rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Vonstein looking to pass the guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vonstein wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roger Gracie dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Drake Vonstein's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Vonstein dodges the punch combination from Gracie.
Gracie misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Vonstein.
Gracie throws a right and a left that both miss.
Gracie misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Gracie swinging wildly here.
Gracie misses with a few strikes there.
Gracie throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Gracie looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Vonstein fails to land the takedown.
Vonstein connects with a body shot.
Gracie tries to bum rush Vonstein with a series of wild strikes but Vonstein uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Vonstein fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Roger Gracie has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Drake Vonstein.
Vonstein tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Gracie swivels and escapes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Vonstein shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Gracie as he avoids it easily.
Vonstein misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Vonstein is breathing heavily.
Gracie misses with a jab, cross combination.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
No joy there for Gracie, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Gracie lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Vonstein showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Gracie.
Gracie misses with a double jab.
Vonstein has a takedown stuffed.

Vonstein fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Gracie sprawls well initially but Vonstein persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gracie works his way to full guard. Good work.
Gracie tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vonstein with a flurry of punches that miss.
Gracie is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Vonstein has hold of Gracie's hands but Gracie slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Gracie passes to side control.
Gracie throwing strikes but Vonstein manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
Vonstein trying to control the action but Gracie is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie tries to bench press Vonstein off him but Vonstein keeps the position.

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

Vonstein goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Gracie rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Vonstein's guard! Nice work there by Gracie!
Roger Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gracie throwing strikes but missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Gracie working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Gracie postures up in Vonstein's guard and throws a big left but Vonstein blocks it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie postures up.
Gracie has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Gracie thows a big elbow that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roger Gracie dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Drake Vonstein's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Gracie throws a series of punches but Vonstein avoids them all with ease.
Gracie fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Gracie looks to land a combination but Vonstein avoids it well.
Gracie scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

Vonstein decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Vonstein is working for a submission of some sort.
Vonstein is looking to take a break and control but Gracie is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Vonstein is nestled in close to Gracie, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gracie trying to hold on to Vonstein's head to control him but Vonstein postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Vonstein is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Gracie is staying active underneath Vonstein, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Gracie moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Vonstein passes into half guard.
Gracie missing with punches from the bottom.
Vonstein is keen to just control but Gracie is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Vonstein is looking for a kimura. It's pretty deep but Gracie still has the half guard so he's probably OK. Oh, Gracie has exploded into a beautiful escape there and after a quick scramble, he's ended up in side control on top! Nice work!
Vonstein manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

Vonstein is looking for a kimura here.

Vonstein is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Gracie doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Vonstein.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is looking to improve his position.
Roger Gracie is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Vonstein is looking for a kimura but Gracie is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Vonstein to get the leverage.

Vonstein is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Gracie doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Vonstein.
Drake Vonstein has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Vonstein sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Gracie defending well though.
Gracie is not content to let Vonstein control the position.

Vonstein is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Gracie is just riding it out for now. Vonstein eventually gives up the hold.

Vonstein is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Gracie is just riding it out for now. Vonstein eventually gives up the hold.

And that's the end of the fight!
Drake Vonstein comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Gracie has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Gwen Towbar scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge George Francis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Roger Gracie!
A less than humble Roger Gracie misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.