PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rafael Dos Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracie has chosen Shinobi Ninja - Rock Hood as his entrance music. Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Dos Santos
vs
Gracie

190 cm
27
190 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

181 cm
31
178 lbs
17 - 22 - 1

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Experienced

Powerful takedowns
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 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Rafael Dos Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 22 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Matt Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Aafke Stam, Patrick Alders and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dos Santos misses the jab.
Gracie moves out of range of the strikes.
Dos Santos connects with a nice looking jab.
Dos Santos misses with a straight right.
Gracie shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Dos Santos defends it nicely.

Dos Santos clinches with his opponent.

Gracie's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Gracie throws a head kick that half lands.

Dos Santos clinches up against the ropes.
Dos Santos struggles to land a body shot inside as Gracie controls his hands.

Gracie's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Dos Santos avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Gracie doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Dos Santos tries to close the distance and clinch but Gracie swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Gracie tries to clinch up but Dos Santos circles away and keeps his distance.
Gracie takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Dos Santos dips to his left and cracks Gracie with an uppercut!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos scores with a nice head shot.
Dos Santos closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Rafael Dos Santos is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Gracie closes this distance looking for a takedown but Dos Santos circles away.
Dos Santos connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Dos Santos misses with a series of wild punches.
A left lands for Dos Santos.

Dos Santos gets tackled into the ropes by Gracie. Gracie maintains the clinch.
Dos Santos takes a knee right on the jaw!
Dos Santos is trying to break the clinch but Gracie has him pressed against the ropes.

Gracie pulls guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Dos Santos wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
Dos Santos knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gracie on the ground.
Gracie avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos looking to sit in guard and control but Gracie gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Gracie is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Dos Santos working for a triangle but Gracie defends it easily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Gracie wants to control from the top but Dos Santos keeps moving.
Gracie is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Matt Gracie was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Gracie slips a jab and a cross from Dos Santos.
Dos Santos's jab looks to have found its range, popping Gracie under the eye.
Gracie is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Dos Santos connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Gracie throws a right and a left that both miss.
Nice defenses there by Gracie.
Dos Santos is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
A telegraphed right hand from Dos Santos misses the target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Gracie paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Gracie shoots in for a double leg but Dos Santos sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Rafael Dos Santos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Matt Gracie.
Gracie fails with an attempt to clinch.
Dos Santos wants to clinch up but Gracie keeps it at a distance.
Dos Santos throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Gracie sees it coming and avoids it easily.

Dos Santos moves into the clinch.
Dos Santos wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Dos Santos blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Gracie is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Dos Santos is keeping busy.

Dos Santos's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Dos Santos but Dos Santos pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Gracie lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Dos Santos circles away quickly and effectively.
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!
Dos Santos fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Dos Santos 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 misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Gracie shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Dos Santos defends it nicely.
Dos Santos scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A combination from Dos Santos does no damage.
Gracie shoots for a takedown but Dos Santos saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Rafael Dos Santos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Matt Gracie.

Dos Santos closes the distance and clinches.
Dos Santos working hard to break the clinch.
Dos Santos working hard to break the clinch.
Dos Santos is trying to break free.
Dos Santos is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Gracie jumps guard but Dos Santos stands there with Gracie around his waist. Gracie gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Dos Santos working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Dos Santos is trying to break free.

Gracie jumps guard and drags Dos Santos to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos looking to sit in guard and control but Gracie gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Dos Santos keeps moving.
Dos Santos working a defensive guard here.
Gracie scoring with some ground and pound.
Gracie scoring with some ground and pound.
Dos Santos is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Dos Santos is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control but Dos Santos is working from the bottom.
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 wants to get up but he can't break Dos Santos's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Dos Santos seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Dos Santos has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Gracie can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Gracie trying to control but Dos Santos is working from the bottom.

Gracie thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gracie drops back looking for a leg! Dos Santos is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Dos Santos manages to kick Gracie off! Gracie jumps back into Dos Santos's guard.
Dos Santos looking to control.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Dos Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Dos Santos looking to control.
Gracie is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Gracie tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Dos Santos manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Gracie has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Dos Santos throws an overhand right that lands on Gracie's shoulder, as Gracie tries to avoid the shot.
Matt Gracie is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Gracie tries to clinch but Dos Santos moves out of range.
Gracie fails with an attempt to clinch.
Dos Santos misses with a looping left.
Gracie tries to clinch up but Dos Santos circles away and keeps his distance.
A swing and a miss from Dos Santos.
Gracie misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Dos Santos.
Rafael Dos Santos is winning the standup battle so far.
Dos Santos goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Dos Santos tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Gracie manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Dos Santos cracks Gracie with an open hand slap.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gracie is looking to clinch but Dos Santos is avoiding it.
Gracie shoots in looking for a takedown. Dos Santos tries to sprawl out of it but Gracie keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Dos Santos manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Matt Gracie will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's time! Dos Santos's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Dos Santos smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
The fighters circling - Dos Santos throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Dos Santos misses the jab.
Gracie tries to clinch up but Dos Santos circles away and keeps his distance.
Gracie takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Dos Santos fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Gracie on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Dos Santos misses the shot to the body.
Gracie takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Dos Santos is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Dos Santos wants to clinch up but Gracie keeps it at a distance.

Gracie is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Dos Santos's half guard.
Gracie is trying to control. Dos Santos wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie has hold of the far side arm. He's working for the Kimura, can Dos Santos defend it? Gracie steps over the head and cranks it - Dos Santos is tapping out! That was textbook stuff right there - nice submission victory for Gracie!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:08 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Matt Gracie!
Matt Gracie decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.