PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Dylan McDaniel (ranked 1111 p4p, 157 weight class) and Early Grayce (ranked 453 p4p, 62 weight class). The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

McDaniel
vs
Grayce

188 cm
29
215 lbs
8 - 1 - 0

178 cm
24
222 lbs
14 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Excellent grappler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Conviction

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Dylan McDaniel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Early Grayce !
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Sosuke Kotani and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
McDaniel misses with a hook. Grayce ducked under it nicely.
Grayce drops down looking to force a counter takedown but McDaniel defends it well.
McDaniel missing with a left hand there. Grayce was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Grayce darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
McDaniel's coaches at St Petersburg MMA Gym have been working on his defensive grappling in preparation for this fight so let's see if he can get out of this tricky position.
McDaniel wants to get back to his feet.
Grayce is keen to just control but McDaniel is a slippery customer.

Grayce is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
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.
Grayce is figuring out what he wants to do next.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Grayce tries to pass the half guard into mount. McDaniel knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Grayce thows a huge punch but McDaniel dodges it nicely.
Grayce wants to free his trapped foot but McDaniel is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Grayce works his way into full mount!
Grayce wants to control the pace but McDaniel is squirming around nicely.
Grayce controlling his opponent.

Grayce jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… McDaniel is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by McDaniel and Grayce has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Grayce wants to lay and pray for a moment but McDaniel keeps working.
An elbow from Grayce crashes against the mat.
Grayce throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
You can see the frustration on McDaniel's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Grayce throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Grayce has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Grayce tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Grayce is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. McDaniel knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Grayce trying to control the action but McDaniel is working from the bottom.

Grayce tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Grayce tries for a kimura but McDaniel is defending well.
McDaniel knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Grayce on the ground.
Grayce working the ground and pound.
Grayce advances to full mount.
Grayce landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Grayce lands a big elbow.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
McDaniel is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Grayce trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Grayce working for a guillotine from mount but McDaniel is in no mood to give up.
Grayce controlling his opponent.
Grayce trying to control but McDaniel is having none of it.
Grayce thowing shots but they're missing.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Grayce punching from mount but McDaniel doing a good job of avoiding damage.
McDaniel wants to control but Grayce is having none of it.

Grayce working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Grayce looking to ground and pound but McDaniel is blocking nicely.
Grayce throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Grayce with shots to the head and body - McDaniel looks very uncomfortable down there.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Grayce with a couple of short strikes.
Grayce lands a big elbow.
Grayce tries to control but McDaniel wriggling away.
Grayce landing punches.
Grayce lands a couple of good shots and McDaniel has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Grayce trying to control momentarily.

McDaniel defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

Grayce is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. McDaniel knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften McDaniel for a finish.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.

Grayce is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. McDaniel knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften McDaniel for a finish.

McDaniel defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Grayce 's arms.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
McDaniel looking very determined here, making life difficult for Grayce .

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Grayce is not going to allow McDaniel to sit and survive in this position.
Oooh a big shot gets through from Grayce . Many more shots like that and the referee will have to think about stepping in!
Grayce avoiding McDaniel 's attempts to control his hands.
McDaniel is in bad spot here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
McDaniel is working hard here to advance position.
Grayce throwing sloppy strikes.
The referee is taking a good look at McDaniel as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Grayce !
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Early Grayce dominated that round.
That's time! McDaniel's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Grayce works the jab nicely.
Grayce throws a series of punches but McDaniel moves out of range.
Dylan McDaniel seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McDaniel bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

McDaniel instigates a clinch.
McDaniel tries a body shot but Grayce blocks it.
Grayce throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Grayce pushes off an throws an elbow but McDaniel leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
With the fighters clinched against the ropes, McDaniel creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
McDaniel working some nice short punches in the clinch.
McDaniel blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Grayce misses with an elbow over the top.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Grayce manages to break the clinch.
Grayce has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
A swing and a miss from McDaniel.
Grayce misses with an uppercut. McDaniel saw that one coming.
McDaniel fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Grayce manages to avoid it.
McDaniel fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

McDaniel forces Grayce back against the ropes and clinches.

Grayce gets control of McDaniel's arms and successfully pulls guard. Grayce will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.

Grayce is looking for a triangle but McDaniel pushes his legs off easily.

Grayce working for submissions but it's allowed McDaniel to get to half guard.
Grayce is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of McDaniel's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take McDaniel's back!

Grayce is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. McDaniel is defending well though. Grayce let's go of the attempt for now.

Grayce is looking for the choke from the back position but McDaniel is controlling his hands well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Grayce is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. McDaniel is defending well though. Grayce let's go of the attempt for now.
Grayce is hanging on to McDaniel's back as he tries to escape.
McDaniel covering up well under a barage of strikes.
McDaniel covering up well under a barage of strikes.
Grayce biding his time, controlling McDaniel.
Grayce softening up his opponent with strikes here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
McDaniel is trying to stand back up.
McDaniel trying to control but not successfully.
McDaniel is trapped and Grayce is scoring with shots to the head and body.
Grayce thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.

Grayce patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Grayce struggling to land strikes to the head as McDaniel covers up.
Our spies down at at Can Factory inform us that Grayce has really been working on his submissions in the buildup to this fight. Will it pay off?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on McDaniel's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Well, with Grayce on his back, surely it's only a matter of time before McDaniel is tapping out... Can he escape the position?

McDaniel defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Grayce landing with strikes.
Early Grayce has got the better of the ground game so far.
Grayce misses with a punch to the head.
Grayce somehow managing to miss with a strike from the back.
McDaniel tries to escape but Grayce has the hooks in and won't let him break free.
Grayce trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.

That's five minutes gone in the round.

Grayce is working the back position looking for the choke. Oh, he's slid into an armbar! Beautiful transition and McDaniel taps out! Fantastic Jiu Jitsu from Grayce .

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5:27 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Early Grayce !
A victorious Early Grayce thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.
Dylan McDaniel spoke after the fight, saying 'I can still whoop his ass 9 out of 10 times!'.