PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Hilio Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antonio Relva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Gracie
vs
Relva

165 cm
25
167 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

180 cm
27
160 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Insanely flexible

Good takedowns
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Hilio Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Relva!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Seu Braga and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie is looking to clinch but Relva is avoiding it.

Gracie looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Gracie tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Gracie seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Relva does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

Gracie is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Gracie throwing shots but Relva is blocking nicely.
Relva is looking to improve his position.
Gracie takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Relva keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gracie prevents Relva from improving his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Relva is trying to control but can't.
Relva on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Gracie is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Gracie drops an elbow to the side of Relva's head.
Gracie is looking to take a break and control but Relva is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Gracie is looking to stall here but Relva recovers full guard.
Relva not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Gracie content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Relva avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Gracie gets to his feet - Relva follows without any prompting.
Danga de danga de dang - Gracie scores with a four punch combination!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gracie has his takedown stuffed

and Relva counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Gracie trying to hold on to Relva's head to control him but Relva postures up.
Relva looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Gracie is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Relva's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Relva's back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Relva trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Gracie scores with punches and elbows.
You can see the frustration on Relva's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Relva is in a world of trouble here. He's outmatched on the ground here and he'd better get Gracie off his back sharpish unless he wants to be submitted.
Gracie is landing with strikes from the back.
Gracie controlling the position well here. Relva rolled but Gracie kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
Gracie connects with a series of strikes and the referee is calling for Relva to escape the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Relva tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
The referee warns Relva that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Relva is bucking up trying to escape but Gracie cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Gracie lands a nice shot to the head.

Gracie goes for an armbar but Relva turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Relva.
Gracie looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Gracie is on top in guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Relva wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Gracie manages to pass to side control.
Ground and pound from Gracie.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hilio Gracie dominated that round.
That's time! Gracie's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Some wild striking there from Relva.
Gracie tries for a takedown but Relva sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Gracie closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Relva's guard.
Gracie in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gracie throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Relva works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Gracie lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Gracie gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Relva tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Gracie swivels and escapes.
Gracie fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Gracie closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Gracie scores with a couple of short elbows.
Gracie wants to lay and pray for a moment but Relva keeps working.
Gracie misses with an attempted head punch from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie wants to control but Relva is keeping him busy.
Gracie is putting a hurting on Relva here, landing some big shots from side control.
Gracie throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Relva takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Gracie lands a few punches from side control.
Hilio Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Gracie working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Gracie has control of an arm but Relva manages to advance to Gracie's back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Relva has the hooks in. Gracie is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Gracie wants to get back to his feet.

Gracie fending off the submission attempt from Relva.
Relva keeps control of the position as Gracie tries to break free.
Relva doesn't have the hooks in and Gracie manages to turn into his guard.
Gracie forces his way into half guard.

Relva is defending against the submission attempts here by Gracie.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Relva does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Relva blocking the ground and pound attempt from Gracie.
Relva blocking the ground and pound attempt from Gracie.
Gracie takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Gracie is pressing down on Relva's thigh, looking to free his foot. Relva is holding on for now.

Relva makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Gracie is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Relva can do to turn this around?
Relva fails with a takedown attempt.
Relva is breathing heavily.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Gracie is defended easily by Relva.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hilio Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Hilio Gracie seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Relva fails with a takedown attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Gracie looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Gracie shoots in and bounces Relva off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Gracie stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Relva swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gracie wants to control from the top but Relva keeps moving.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Hilio Gracie dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get 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.

No luck for Gracie with that takedown attempt.
Relva is looking to land body kicks.
Gracie is looking to clinch but Relva is avoiding it.
Gracie dives in and grabs Relva's left leg, looking for a takedown. Relva pushes down on Gracie's head and hops out.
Relva stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Relva wants it to stay on the feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Hilio Gracie. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Gracie looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Relva!
Relva wants to hold on but Gracie pushes him away.

Relva bucks Gracie off and manages to get back to his feet!

Gracie shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Relva keeps moving.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gracie is working Relva over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie won't allow Relva to sweep him here.
Gracie in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Relva tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Relva takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Relva is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Gracie keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gracie slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Gracie is trying to control the position but Relva postures up.
Gracie lands a decent punch to the body there.
Gracie looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Relva preventing the sweep.
Gracie is working hard here to advance position.
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.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Gracie connects with a nice short shot to Relva's temple.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Relva wants to get back to full guard.
Gracie moves into full mount! Relva won't be happy about that!
Gracie landing punches.
Relva is the more experienced fighter here and he's going to need to draw on some of that experience if he's going to pull this one out the bag.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Relva tries to buck Gracie off but he can't manage it.
Gracie controlling the position easily from mount.
Relva takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Gracie takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Gracie lands a big shot there that rocks Relva but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Gracie avoids the attempt from Relva to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie with good strikes from the mount here!
Gracie with good strikes from the mount here!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gracie cracks Relva with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

Relva is rocked!
Gracie lands a heavy shot. That's hurt Relva! Gracie sees the opportunity and turns up the heat - strike after strike land to the defenseless Relva and the ref dives in to save him! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:39 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Hilio Gracie!
After winning the bout, Hilio Gracie thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.