PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Wilson Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bonifacio Martial (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Gracie
vs
Martial

190 cm
26
199 lbs
16 - 8 - 0

185 cm
31
210 lbs
21 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 16 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Wilson Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Bonifacio Martial!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, Daniel Franklin and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie shoots in but Martial avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Gracie fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Martial swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Martial throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Martial feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Gracie's calf.
Martial staying out of range there.
Gracie missing with a left hand there. Martial was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Gracie scores with a jab.
Gracie throws the kick towards the body but Martial avoids it.
Martial is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Gracie.
Gracie dives in and grabs Martial's left leg, looking for a takedown. Martial pushes down on Gracie's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wilson Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gracie tries to land a front kick but Martial steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Gracie blocks a head kick by Martial.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Martial takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Martial lands a head kick!
Gracie avoids a kick to the body.
Martial throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Martial tries a head kick but it misses.
Gracie uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Martial.
Bonifacio Martial is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Gracie fails with the takedown.
Gracie tries for a takedown but Martial sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Gracie connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Gracie throws the kick towards the body but Martial avoids it.
Martial misses with a low kick.
Martial moves out of range of the body kick from Gracie.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie thuds his shin into the meat of Martial's side.
Gracie cracks Martial with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie throws a front kick that sends Martial stumbling back into the cage.
Gracie lands a jab.
Gracie tries to score a power double leg takedown but Martial sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Gracie somewhat.
Gracie looks to land a body kick but Martial moved away.
Gracie takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Gracie shoots in looking for a takedown but Martial manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Gracie's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Gracie looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Martial punishes Gracie's body with a nice straight punch.
Martial pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Gracie shoots in for a double leg but Martial sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Gracie misses with a takedown
and Martial counters with a big head kick but Gracie shrugs it off.
Gracie misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Martial defending well as Gracie loads up on a big left hand.
Martial slaps away a takedown attempt from Gracie, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Martial throws a lazy head kick

and Gracie counters with a shoot takedown. Martial fights it but they end up in guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie wants to control from the top but Martial keeps moving.
Gracie is really struggling to control Martial but he's trying to hold on to the position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Martial can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie postures up in Martial's guard and throws a big left but Martial blocks it.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Martial keeps moving.
Martial is trying to control the position but Gracie postures up.
Gracie keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Martial's head.
Martial 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.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie missing there with some ground and pound from the 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.
Gracie controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Nice sprawl there from Martial as Gracie shoots in.

Gracie closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Martial to the mat! Martial manages to get full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gracie passes Martial's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Martial avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gracie.
Martial avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gracie.
Gracie looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

Gracie is looking for a kimura here.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Martial trying to control from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ground and pound from Gracie.
Gracie throwing shots but Martial is blocking nicely.
Martial trying to control but Gracie postures up.

Gracie is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Martial has managed to free his arm - good work.

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

Gracie is working for a guillotine from mount but Martial frees his head quite easily.
Gracie content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gracie is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Martial is surviving well by controlling Gracie's body position as best he can.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gracie cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Martial blocking the ground and pound.
Gracie dominating with strikes here.
Gracie working Martial over with strikes here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gracie fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie controlling the pace for now.
Gracie can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Martial is looking to escape.
Gracie working the ground and pound effectively.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Gracie has control of Martial's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Martial regains control of the situation pretty easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wilson Gracie dominated that second round.
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. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Martial misses with a few strikes there.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Gracie here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Martial blocks a head kick by Gracie.
Martial misses with a head kick.
Gracie misses with a hook. Martial ducked under it nicely.
Martial scores with a three punch combo!

Gracie bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Gracie taking a break here but Martial is having none of it and regains half guard.
Martial on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie thows a huge punch but Martial dodges it nicely.
Gracie throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Martial trying to hold on to Gracie's head to control him but Gracie postures up.
Gracie passes to full mount!
Gracie looking to control but Martial is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gracie cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Bonifacio Martial has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie with good strikes from the mount here!
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 big shot there that rocks Martial but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Martial is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
Gracie looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Gracie throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Gracie with shots to the head and body - Martial looks very uncomfortable down there.
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Martial holds of for dear life.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie looking to finish with strikes here!
Gracie lands a nice shot to the head.
Gracie content just to control the position here.
Martial is bucking up trying to escape but Gracie cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Wilson Gracie is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gracie cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Gracie working the ground and pound effectively.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie dominating with strikes here.
Gracie in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Gracie sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Wilson Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gracie landing strikes from the mount and Martial is in trouble!

And that's the end of the fight!
Wilson Gracie showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Gracie, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight 30:26
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:26
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Wilson Gracie!