PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jewell Willis (ranked 25398 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lio Graves (ranked 4424 p4p, 0 weight class). Lio Graves has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Willis
vs
Graves

210 cm
22
161 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

170 cm
18
160 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jewell Willis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Lio Graves!
The judges for this bout are Igor Prikhodko, Ivan Kurochkin and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Graves gets tackled into the cage by Willis. Willis maintains the clinch.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Willis.
Willis tries to pull guard but Graves forces him back to his feet, against the cage.

Willis ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Willis no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Willis holds on and takes a little breather.
Graves throwing strikes from guard but Willis blocks nicely.
Willis really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Willis has control of Graves's left arm, preventing Graves from doing any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves won't allow Willis to sweep him here.
Graves trying to control but Willis is working from the bottom.
Graves controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Graves must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Willis is working an open guard so Graves takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

Willis rushes Graves and presses him up against the cage.
Willis tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Graves is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Willis pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Willis has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Graves uses from the top position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Willis has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Graves trying to move into half guard but instead Willis has managed to sweep!

Willis won't allow Graves to sweep him here.

Willis stands up and waves to Graves to follow him.

Graves fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Willis to the ground. Graves is now in Willis's guard.

Willis kicks Graves off and gets to his feet.
Graves looks winded!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Willis rushes Graves and presses him up against the cage.

Willis escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Willis keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Graves defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Willis.
Nice jab there from Willis.

Willis clinches up with Graves and pushes him back against the cage.

Willis pulls Graves into guard.

Willis pushes Graves off and scrambles back to his feet.
Lio Graves seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Willis rushes Graves and presses him up against the cage.
Willis fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jewell Willis. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Graves pulls guard successfully.

Willis stands and steps away. Graves gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Willis shoots in looking for a takedown. Graves tries to sprawl out of it but Willis keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Graves manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Willis fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Willis on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Graves. Graves obviously looking to wear him down.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Willis fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Graves avoids it really well and circles away.

Graves clinches up against the cage.

Graves breaks the clinch.
Graves scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

Graves closes the distance and clinches.

Willis pulls guard successfully.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Graves trying to control but Willis is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jewell Willis 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.

Graves tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Willis clinches up with Graves and pushes him back against the cage.

Graves jumps guard and drags Willis to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Jewell Willis overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Willis decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Graves, up you get!
A head kick by Graves misses

and Willis counters by clinching up.
Graves goes for a takedown attempt but Willis pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Willis manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Graves on his heels. He'll look to pass Graves's guard now, I'm sure.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Willis controls the pace.
Graves is breathing heavily.

Willis is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Willis decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Willis throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Graves's waist but Graves gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Willis off to one side.
Willis fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Graves doesn't manage to clinch there - Willis circles away.
Willis moves in looking to clinch but Graves pushes him off.
And Graves tries to counter it with a takedown but Willis pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Willis is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Graves can do to turn this around?

Willis bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Willis is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Graves's shoulder. That is not cool.
You can see the frustration on Graves's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Willis controls the position.

Willis decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Graves fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Jewell Willis is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Willis dives in and grabs Graves's left leg, looking for a takedown. Graves pushes down on Willis's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jewell Willis. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Willis instigates a clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Graves throws an elbow but misses.
Graves tries to break the clinch but Willis is controlling the position.
Willis looking for a takedown.

Willis decides to pull guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Willis is on top in guard.

Willis with a nice head shot there.

Willis is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Willis's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Willis stands up and waves to Graves to follow him.
Graves misses with a takedown attempt

and Willis holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
A bit of stalling here from Willis.

Willis has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Graves uses from the top position.
Willis preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Graves postures up.
Graves trying to control the position from guard on top but Willis is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Willis looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jewell Willis dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Graves throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Willis tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Graves is in Willis's guard.

Willis pushes Graves off and gets back to his feet.
Graves tries to score a power double leg takedown but Willis sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Graves somewhat.
Willis shoots in for a takedown but Graves shows good takedown defense.
Graves slaps away a takedown attempt from Willis, before circling back to the center of the mat.
And Graves responds with a good body kick, but Willis manages to step out the way in time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Willis decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Willis performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Willis seems to be looking for submissions.
Willis takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Graves looks like he's trying to stand up.

Willis is working for a kimura but Graves is defending it quite comfortably.

Willis looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Graves is trying to stand.
Willis is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Graves is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Willis is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Willis scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Willis lands with a punch from half guard.

Graves looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Willis decides to return to a standing position.

Willis fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Graves to the ground. Willis is now in Graves's guard.
Graves has momentary wrist control but Willis slips an elbow through the middle.

Willis gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Willis lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

Willis shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Willis was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Graves tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Willis decides to stand up, so the ref orders Graves to his feet.

Willis is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Graves's half guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Willis working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

Willis is working for a kimura but Graves is defending it quite comfortably.

Willis is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jewell Willis showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Willis, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jewell Willis!