PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Bjj Spar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Sepctacular. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Spar
vs
Gracie

190 cm
25
170 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

181 cm
26
163 lbs
9 - 16 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Powerful

Fight Club Clothing est. 09™

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Bjj Spar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 16 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Matt Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Albert Achterberg, Nard Betker and Aafke Stam.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Spar moves to clinch but Gracie breaks away
and Gracie counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Gracie leaves Spar with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Spar tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Gracie swivels and escapes.

Spar rushes Gracie and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Gracie is trying to pull guard but Spar turns him against the ropes and we stay in the clinch.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

Gracie lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Gracie is trying to control. Spar wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Gracie thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Gracie missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Gracie misses with a head shot. Spar uses the momentum to regain guard.
Gracie seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Gracie wants to get up but he can't break Spar's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Gracie content to stall in guard here.

Gracie avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Gracie controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gracie gets to his feet. Spar looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Gracie fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Gracie closes this distance looking for a takedown but Spar circles away.
Bjj Spar has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Matt Gracie.

Spar tries to keep at a distance but Gracie has taken the fight into the clinch.
Spar is trying to pull guard but Gracie has him pressed against the ropes.
Gracie is trying to pull guard but Spar turns him against the ropes and we stay in the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Spar tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Gracie just stands there and leans against the ropes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Spar is looking for a takedown.
Spar really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Gracie working hard to break the clinch.

Gracie escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
No luck for Gracie with that takedown attempt.
Spar tries to clinch but Gracie moves out of range.
Spar shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Gracie but Gracie pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Gracie fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Spar, pushing him back against the ropes.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Gracie.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Spar decides to pull guard.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Spar is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gracie must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Gracie wanted to stand there but Spar had control of the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Matt Gracie.

Gracie shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Spar with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Gracie dominated that 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.

Gracie instigates a clinch.

Gracie's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Spar tries to close the distance and clinch but Gracie swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Spar shoots in for a double leg but Gracie sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Gracie closes the distance and pushes Spar back into the ropes.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, Gracie creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Gracie is pushing Spar up against the ropes, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Gracie tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Spar just stands there and leans against the ropes.

Spar successfully pulls guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Spar is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Gracie defends well.
Gracie in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gracie missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Spar looking to control.
Matt Gracie has got the better of the ground game so far.

Spar working for a triangle but Gracie defends it easily.

Gracie avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Spar controlling the position.
Spar is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Gracie trying to stand up but can't free himself from Spar's guard.
Spar keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.
Gracie with a flurry of punches that miss.
Spar keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Matt Gracie hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Gracie scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
This has been an exciting period of action!

Gracie closes the distance and clinches.
Gracie tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spar is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Gracie pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Gracie ties up his opponent against the ropes and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Gracie no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Gracie keeping full guard, as Spar tries to pass.
Spar won't allow Gracie to sweep him here.
Spar trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
Spar trying to move into half guard but instead Gracie has managed to sweep!
Gracie wants to control from the top but Spar keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Spar looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Gracie trying to control but Spar is working from the bottom.

Spar is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Gracie tries to stand but Spar is controlling from the bottom.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie trying to control but Spar is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Matt Gracie showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Gracie gets a double leg takedown into Spar's guard.
Spar keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Gracie stands up from Spar's guard - Gracie perhaps looking for a knockout.
Nice sprawl there from Gracie as Spar shoots in.
Gracie dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Spar. That did some damage!
Nice sprawl there from Spar as Gracie shoots in.
Gracie scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Spar doesn't seem bothered though.
Gracie shoots for a takedown but Spar saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Spar tries to avoid it but Gracie manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Spar to the ground. Spar escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Bjj Spar has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Matt Gracie.
Gracie takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Gracie fails to land with a series of punches.
Spar will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Bjj Spar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Gracie lands with a hook. Spar tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Spar tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Gracie swivels and escapes.

Gracie scores a takedown into full mount!
Gracie lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Gracie can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Spar is looking to escape.
Spar tries to hold on but Gracie postures up.
Spar takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Spar is wriggling around trying to escape.
Gracie with shots to the head and body - Spar looks very uncomfortable down there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gracie trying to control but Spar is having none of it.
Gracie might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Spar kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Gracie raining down shots from the mount!
Gracie lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Spar hang on?
Spar has worked his way to half guard, taking advantage of Gracie's lack of action.

Gracie is trying to work for a kimura but Spar is defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
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 throwing shots but Spar is blocking nicely.
Gracie slows the pace down in half guard.
Gracie wants to free his trapped foot but Spar is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Spar slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Spar utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gracie got a little sloppy there for a moment and Spar has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Gracie has managed to get both his arms back between Spar's legs - danger averted.
Gracie lands a couple of digs.

Gracie drops back looking for a submission - "I'm sorry sir, but I'm gunna break your leg" says Gracie as he cranks on the unfortunate limb! Spar screams and taps out before any major damage is done! Don't mess with Gracie! Nice submission victory there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:33 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Matt Gracie!
During a confident post fight interview, Matt Gracie thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.