PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Luis Gracia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roger Birbiglia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gracia's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Cucurucucu Paloma. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Gracia
vs
Birbiglia

225 cm
29
207 lbs
8 - 9 - 1

186 cm
21
199 lbs
10 - 1 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
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 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Sydney, Luis Gracia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Roger Birbiglia!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Ron Honeybunn and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jab by Gracia.
Birbiglia looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Gracia seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Birbiglia scores with a jab to the head.
Gracia misses with a low kick.
Gracia slips under a jab from Birbiglia.
Birbiglia ducks under a wild hook from Gracia.
That kick from Gracia tenderised Birbiglia's leg. Birbiglia is trying to keep his angry face on.
Gracia throws out a loose jab but Birbiglia uses good head movement to avoid it.

Gracia closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Birbiglia did well to prevent Gracia getting side control.

Gracia is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Gracia is working for a kimura but Birbiglia is defending it quite comfortably.
Gracia really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
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!
Birbiglia desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Gracia throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracia is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Birbiglia defends it well.
Gracia lands with a punch from half guard.
Birbiglia is trying to get back to full guard.

Gracia is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Birbiglia sees it coming and defends easily.
Gracia thows a huge punch but Birbiglia dodges it nicely.

Gracia is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Birbiglia sees it coming and defends easily.
Birbiglia trying to control but Gracia postures up.
Gracia wants to stand up but Birbiglia is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Birbiglia wants to control but Gracia is keeping busy.
Gracia 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.
Birbiglia is looking to improve his position.
Gracia missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Gracia is trying to work for a kimura but Birbiglia is defending well.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Birbiglia regains full guard. Nicely done.
Birbiglia working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Gracia.
Gracia chips away with some ground and pound.
Gracia will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Birbiglia will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Gracia loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Gracia with a flurry of punches that miss.
Gracia missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Birbiglia working a defensive guard here.
Gracia looking to sit in guard and control but Birbiglia gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Gracia is trying to control the position but Birbiglia postures up.
Gracia working a defensive guard but Birbiglia manages to pass into side control anyway.
Birbiglia throws an elbow but Gracia slips to the side and avoids it well.
Gracia taking punishment in the form of punches.
Birbiglia scoring with punches and elbows.
Gracia gets back to half guard.
Gracia slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Birbiglia throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Gracia works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Birbiglia really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gracia. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Birbiglia throws a big right hand that misses.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Birbiglia working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Birbiglia must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Birbiglia's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

Gracia has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Birbiglia can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Gracia looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Gracia had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Birbiglia defends it easily.
Birbiglia is stalling in the full guard.
Gracia keeping moving, preventing Birbiglia from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luis Gracia dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Gracia walks into a left hand.
Gracia works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Gracia scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Birbiglia doesn't seem bothered though.
Birbiglia fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Gracia manages to avoid it.
Birbiglia fails with the takedown.
Gracia half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Gracia moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Birbiglia keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Birbiglia on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Gracia. Gracia obviously looking to wear him down.
Birbiglia bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Birbiglia looks to score with a jab to the body but Gracia is just out of range.
Birbiglia swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Nice defenses there by Gracia.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracia tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Birbiglia throws a shot from downtown. Gracia moves away and avoids it.
Gracia showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Birbiglia.
Birbiglia misses the jab.
Birbiglia takes a shot right to the bread basket.
A nice inside leg kick there by Gracia. That's going to slow Birbiglia down.
Gracia connects with a nice looking jab.
Birbiglia takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Birbiglia swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Birbiglia thows a left - swing and a miss!
Birbiglia sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.

Birbiglia looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gracia trying to hold on to Birbiglia's head to control him but Birbiglia postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Birbiglia works his way into side control.
Birbiglia scoring with punches and elbows.
Gracia wants to control but Birbiglia postures up.
Gracia is trying to improve his position.
You can see the frustration on Gracia's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Birbiglia wants to take a breather but Gracia manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Birbiglia.
Gracia preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gracia is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Birbiglia has gone for a leg lock! Gracia slips out almost immediately though and dives into Birbiglia's guard.

Birbiglia keeping moving, preventing Gracia from controlling successfully.
Gracia advances to half guard.
Gracia throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracia thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Birbiglia's head.
Birbiglia wants to improve his position but Gracia is controlling well.
Birbiglia keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gracia is working for a kimura but Birbiglia is defending it quite comfortably.
Birbiglia trying to control from the bottom.
Gracia looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Gracia looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Birbiglia with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Birbiglia trying to hold on to Gracia's head to control him but Gracia postures up.
Birbiglia tries to get to full guard but Gracia has control of the leg.
Gracia passes to side control.
Gracia looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Birbiglia is avoiding damage well.
Birbiglia tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Gracia wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Birbiglia taking punishment in the form of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luis Gracia dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Gracia fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Gracia tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Birbiglia is able to avoid easily.
Birbiglia now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Gracia misses with a series of wild punches.
A telegraphed right hand from Birbiglia misses the target.
Gracia tries to score a power double leg takedown but Birbiglia sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Gracia somewhat.
Gracia avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Gracia drops down looking for a counter takedown but Birbiglia sprawls and moves away.
Birbiglia lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Birbiglia throws a hook but Gracia avoids it easily.
Gracia slaps away a takedown attempt from Birbiglia, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Gracia is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Gracia tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Gracia shoots in but no luck this time.
Birbiglia is looking for the big counter here.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Luis Gracia. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Birbiglia takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Birbiglia slips a straight right by Gracia.
Birbiglia throws a body punch but Gracia moves out of range.
Gracia stuffs the takedown attempt from Birbiglia. Birbiglia gets slowly back to his feet.
Birbiglia moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Birbiglia jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Gracia gets a double leg takedown into Birbiglia's guard.
Birbiglia wants to sweep but no luck.
Gracia stands up over Birbiglia, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Birbiglia is on top in guard.

Gracia has Birbiglia pulled in close to control his posture.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gracia throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Gracia is trying to control the position but Birbiglia postures up.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Gracia is looking for a triangle but Birbiglia pushes his legs off easily.
Birbiglia postures up.

Birbiglia avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Birbiglia preventing the sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gracia has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Birbiglia can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Gracia looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Roger Birbiglia has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Luis Gracia is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Birbiglia works over Gracia with some ground and pound from guard.
Birbiglia is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Birbiglia wants to control from the top but Gracia keeps moving.
Birbiglia distracts Gracia with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Gracia trying to control the position.
Birbiglia throws a strike but Gracia rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracia trying to control the position from guard on top but Birbiglia is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Birbiglia bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gracia's guard.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Birbiglia pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gracia is keeping the position for now.
Birbiglia scoring with some ground and pound.
Birbiglia with a nice head shot there.
Gracia looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Gracia is looking for a triangle but Birbiglia pushes his legs off easily.
Birbiglia is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Roger Birbiglia.
Well Gracia has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ron Honeybunn scores the fight 29:28
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Luis Gracia!
A relieved looking Luis Gracia thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.