PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Joao De Santo Cristo (ranked 440 p4p, 72 weight class) and Mateus Gracie (ranked 303 p4p, 49 weight class). De Santo Cristo comes into the arena with Que país é esse? blaring out of the sound system. Gracie has chosen Broke & Hungry as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. This should be fireworks!

De Santo Cristo
vs
Gracie

174 cm
33
175 lbs
21 - 19 - 1

179 cm
33
170 lbs
30 - 16 - 1

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

King of Clothes

Dauntless
Sully's Bar & Grill

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 21 - 19 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Joao De Santo Cristo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 30 - 16 - 1, fighting out of London, Mateus Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Frank Antenori and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gracie gets the takedown into side control.
De Santo Cristo sneaks back into half guard.
De Santo Cristo moves into full guard.
Gracie is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
De Santo Cristo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
De Santo Cristo seems keen to control Gracie's posture.
De Santo Cristo utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
De Santo Cristo controlling the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Santo Cristo controls Gracie momentarily but Gracie frees himself.
Gracie throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as De Santo Cristo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Gracie's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
De Santo Cristo has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Gracie is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Gracie postures up and lands a big shot to De Santo Cristo's brow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Santo Cristo seems keen to control Gracie's posture.
De Santo Cristo is trying to keep Gracie in close.
Gracie pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. De Santo Cristo is keeping the position for now.
De Santo Cristo is trying to keep Gracie in close.
Gracie lands a couple of elbows.
Gracie trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
De Santo Cristo pulls Gracie in close to his closed guard and prevents Gracie from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Gracie in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gracie in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Gracie stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. De Santo Cristo swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Gracie postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Gracie is working De Santo Cristo over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

De Santo Cristo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Gracie postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Gracie is working De Santo Cristo over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Gracie cracks De Santo Cristo with a solid left hand.
De Santo Cristo is trying to keep Gracie in close.
De Santo Cristo bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gracie's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

De Santo Cristo got a little sloppy there for a moment and Gracie has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, De Santo Cristo has managed to get both his arms back between Gracie's legs - danger averted.
De Santo Cristo lands a couple of digs.
De Santo Cristo tries to free his leg and advance position but Gracie is retaining full guard.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing De Santo Cristo from controlling successfully.
Gracie is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
De Santo Cristo preventing the sweep.
De Santo Cristo trying to control the position from guard on top but Gracie is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
De Santo Cristo postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
De Santo Cristo pushes down on Gracie's leg and manages to get into half guard.
De Santo Cristo stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Santo Cristo is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Gracie is looking to get back to full guard here but De Santo Cristo has managed to pass to side control instead.
De Santo Cristo working away.
Gracie tries to buck De Santo Cristo off but De Santo Cristo is having none of it.
Gracie manages to get back to half guard.

Gracie looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
De Santo Cristo is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gracie is trying to maintain the position but De Santo Cristo is very close to passing his half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mateus Gracie dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

De Santo Cristo lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

It looks like Mateus Gracie has been cut.
De Santo Cristo throws a body kick that misses.
De Santo Cristo throws a head kick but Gracie moves out of range.
Gracie fails in his attempt to clinch.
De Santo Cristo thows a leg kick but Gracie checks it
and Gracie counters with a one-two to the body.
Gracie tests De Santo Cristo's chin there with a solid looking shot.
De Santo Cristo fails with an attempt to clinch.
De Santo Cristo connects with a body shot that sends Gracie's belly button to the back.

De Santo Cristo has closed the distance and engaged Gracie in a clinch.
De Santo Cristo digs a right hand underneath Gracie's ribcage. Gracie let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Gracie wants to take the fight to the mat but De Santo Cristo manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
De Santo Cristo throws a punch but it's blocked by Gracie.
De Santo Cristo lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Gracie or not.
De Santo Cristo lands a left hand that snaps the head of Gracie backwards.
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 blocking some punches.
Gracie avoiding damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie blocks a punch to the side of the head.
De Santo Cristo being controlled against the cage.
A short left from De Santo Cristo.
De Santo Cristo has a couple of punches blocked by Gracie.
Gracie wants a takedown.
Gracie is working for takedown but De Santo Cristo is calmly controlling the position for now.
Joao De Santo Cristo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mateus Gracie.
De Santo Cristo lands a left hand that snaps the head of Gracie backwards.
De Santo Cristo throws a head punch that misses.
Gracie wants a takedown but no success here.
A right hook to the body lands for De Santo Cristo.
De Santo Cristo goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie tries for a takedown. No joy.

De Santo Cristo has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Gracie clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
De Santo Cristo has the hooks in. Gracie is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
De Santo Cristo scores with punches and elbows.
Gracie is really stuck here.
De Santo Cristo is punishing Gracie with strikes - can he finish him?!

De Santo Cristo is looking for the choke from the back position but Gracie is controlling his hands well.

De Santo Cristo working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
De Santo Cristo is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards De Santo Cristo.
De Santo Cristo is punishing Gracie with strikes - can he finish him?!
Gracie manages to reverse the position and now he's in De Santo Cristo's guard. Nice work there by Gracie.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
De Santo Cristo wants to sweep here but Gracie controlling him for the moment.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as De Santo Cristo holds on and takes a little breather.
Gracie with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Gracie content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
De Santo Cristo pulls Gracie in to control the position.
De Santo Cristo 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.
De Santo Cristo's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Gracie content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Gracie postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie stands up over De Santo Cristo, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Gracie throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as De Santo Cristo works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
De Santo Cristo trying to control the position.
De Santo Cristo preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
De Santo Cristo avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
De Santo Cristo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
De Santo Cristo is trying to keep Gracie in close.

De Santo Cristo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Gracie works over De Santo Cristo with some ground and pound from guard.
Gracie scoring with some ground and pound.

De Santo Cristo isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Gracie stacks De Santo Cristo on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Gracie!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joao De Santo Cristo dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Mateus Gracie's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Nice body kick from Gracie.
De Santo Cristo throws a hook but Gracie avoids it easily.
Gracie darts in looking for a takedown but De Santo Cristo gets double underhooks and turns Gracie into the cage.
De Santo Cristo wants to clinch up but Gracie keeps it at a distance.
De Santo Cristo goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Gracie tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
De Santo Cristo lands a nice shot that snaps Gracie's head back.
De Santo Cristo swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Gracie.
De Santo Cristo throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Nice uppercut lands for De Santo Cristo. That snapped Gracie's head back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gracie misses with a takedown attempt
and De Santo Cristo counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
De Santo Cristo throws a jab when Gracie was well out of range.
Nice uppercut lands for De Santo Cristo. That snapped Gracie's head back.
Gracie takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
De Santo Cristo displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Gracie.
Joao De Santo Cristo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mateus Gracie.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie fails with the takedown
and De Santo Cristo cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

De Santo Cristo drives through and clinches with Gracie against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Gracie.
De Santo Cristo lands a shoulder strike.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for De Santo Cristo.
De Santo Cristo swings wildly with an uppercut but Gracie uses good head movement to avoid it.
Gracie tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Gracie is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables De Santo Cristo to keep the fight standing.
De Santo Cristo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gracie can do to turn this around?
De Santo Cristo can't find room to land a body shot as Gracie controls the action.
De Santo Cristo misses with a body punch.
De Santo Cristo lands a hook that snaps the head of Gracie backwards.
De Santo Cristo scores with an uppercut up the middle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Santo Cristo tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
De Santo Cristo makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Joao De Santo Cristo has scored more points in the clinch so far.
De Santo Cristo lands with a left to the head.
De Santo Cristo working aggressively here.
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!
De Santo Cristo throws a punch but it's blocked by Gracie.
Gracie tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. De Santo Cristo just stands there and leans against the cage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by De Santo Cristo.

Gracie is rocked!
Gracie looking for a takedown.
Gracie is still on wobbly legs! Can De Santo Cristo finish him?
De Santo Cristo has a couple of punches blocked by Gracie.
Gracie seems to have recovered his senses.

Gracie is trying to trip De Santo Cristo. He has hold of a leg but De Santo Cristo is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Gracie persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Gracie missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Gracie postures up in De Santo Cristo's guard and throws a big left but De Santo Cristo blocks it.
Gracie trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Gracie throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Santo Cristo has Gracie pulled in close to control his posture.
De Santo Cristo is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
De Santo Cristo manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gracie manages to get himself to full guard.

De Santo Cristo got a little sloppy there for a moment and Gracie has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, De Santo Cristo has managed to get both his arms back between Gracie's legs - danger averted.
De Santo Cristo scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
De Santo Cristo trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
De Santo Cristo lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
De Santo Cristo is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Gracie looking for a sweep. Not yet Gracie, not yet.
De Santo Cristo content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Santo Cristo won't allow Gracie to sweep him here.
Mateus Gracie has got the better of the ground game so far.

Gracie is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. De Santo Cristo is aware though and is defending well.
Gracie takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
De Santo Cristo stands up over Gracie, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
De Santo Cristo works a leg free and moves into half guard.
De Santo Cristo looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracie gets back to full guard.
Gracie has momentary wrist control but De Santo Cristo slips an elbow through the middle.

Gracie is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
De Santo Cristo trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
De Santo Cristo makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joao De Santo Cristo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well De Santo Cristo 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:28
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joao De Santo Cristo!
Joao De Santo Cristo thanked the fans post fight for their support.
Mateus Gracie was interviewed post fight and said 'These Judges are so bias its unbelievable, I dont know how these people can live with themselves'.