PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mateus Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Leonard Washington (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Washington is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Snuffed Out by Streetlife. The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Gracie
vs
Washington

180 cm
23
200 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

185 cm
28
220 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

BJJ Red Belt
Counter striker
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Mateus Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Leonard Washington!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Steve Erwin and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Gracie jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Washington pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Gracie ducks under a wild hook from Washington.
A jab from Washington misses.
Gracie lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Gracie throws a lazy right hand but Washington sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A head kick misses from Washington.
Gracie ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Washington moves away.
Washington misses with a head kick.
Gracie uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Washington.
Gracie throws a front kick aimed at Washington's knee but Washington avoids it well.
Washington avoids the body shot from Gracie.
Washington misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Washington throws a head kick that misses
and Gracie counters with a good low kick that Washington was not able to check.
Gracie throws a right and a left that both miss.
Washington walks forward, straight into a front kick from Gracie.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Washington throws a lazy head kick
and Gracie counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie throws the kick towards the body but Washington avoids it.
Gracie keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Washington.
Washington throws a hook but Gracie avoids it easily.
Leonard Washington is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Gracie lands a nice leg kick that just misses Washington's sensitive parts.
Washington sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Gracie rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Washington moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Washington missing with a left hand there. Gracie was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Gracie closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Washington quickly recovers to half guard.

Gracie is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Gracie is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Washington!
Gracie with the ground and pound from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gracie sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Gracie unloading with bombs!

It looks like Leonard Washington has been cut.
Gracie throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.

Gracie is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Washington can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Gracie moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Washington has worked his arm free - good work by Washington!
Gracie sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Washington is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Washington on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Gracie tries to score with some ground and pound. Washington controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Washington dodges the ground and pound from Gracie.
Gracie working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

Gracie thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Gracie is trying to ground and pound but Washington uses the momentary lack of control by Gracie to regain half guard.

Gracie is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Washington defends it well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gracie is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Washington defends it well.

Gracie is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Washington sees it coming and defends easily.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Washington can do anything to dispel that myth.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Washington won't allow Gracie to pass to mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mateus Gracie dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Leonard Washington's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Gracie tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Washington was well out of range. Poor timing from Gracie.
Gracie throws a shot from downtown. Washington moves away and avoids it.
Gracie takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Gracie uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Washington.
Washington throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Washington avoids a kick to the body.
Gracie looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Washington is fending him off so far but Gracie persists. Nope, Washington circles away and we're back to standing.
Gracie gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Gracie takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Washington attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
A jab lands there for Washington.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Washington throws a head kick that misses.
Washington misses with a hook

and Gracie counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Washington's guard now.
Gracie passes into half guard.

Gracie seems to be working for a kimura but Washington defends the submission attempt.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Gracie lands a nice short elbow.
Gracie works his way into full mount!
Gracie unloads with some shots from mount but Washington bucks and avoids them well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie misses with a head shot.
Washington is controlling an arm, preventing Gracie from taking his back. Although keeping him in mount is no better to be honest.
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.
BOOM! Gracie connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Gracie lands a heavy elbow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Gracie looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.

Gracie goes for an armbar but Washington turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Washington.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Washington is fighting to break Gracie's control of his arms but Gracie is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Gracie looking to control.
Gracie bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Washington's guard.
Gracie stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Washington swivels though and keeps the full guard.
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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie postures up.
Gracie throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Gracie passes Washington's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Gracie seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Gracie tries to pass to full mount but Washington defends it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Gracie is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Washington doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Gracie.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mateus Gracie dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Leonard Washington's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Washington missing with a left hand there. Gracie was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Washington looks to land a body kick but Gracie moved away.
Washington misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
That kick from Gracie tenderised Washington's leg. Washington is trying to keep his angry face on.
Washington throws a sloppy head kick and Gracie moves out of range easily.
Gracie is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Gracie bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Gracie gets a double leg takedown into Washington's guard.
Gracie slips nicely into half guard.
Gracie missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Mateus Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Washington takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Gracie is looking to advance position but Washington won't allow it.
Gracie thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Washington's head.
Gracie tries to pass the half guard into mount. Washington knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Gracie wants to work for an arm triangle but Washington is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Leonard Washington has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Gracie goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Washington is on top in guard.

Washington is posturing up here but Gracie has hold of an arm and he's gone for an armbar! Washington tries to roll out but it's too tight and Washington has to tap! Slick submission there by Gracie!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:45 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Mateus Gracie!
An intense looking Mateus Gracie took to the microphone post fight and gave a little speech: 'Gracie gets on the Mic and proclaims "Sam Axe...I know you are here watching!!! This is my first step in getting back what is mine, not yours!!! I will get my rematch soon and reclaim my title!!"'.