PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Phillip Terrell (ranked 143 p4p, 264 weight class) and Ernest Graves (ranked 19 p4p, 37 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Terrell
vs
Graves

176 cm
31
158
15 - 16 - 1

172 cm
36
160
31 - 26 - 2

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Red Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Pound Town INC
Offseason nutrition & LAUNDRY (115$-160Q)

KOMBAT KLOTHING

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 15 - 16 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Phillip Terrell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 26 - 2, fighting out of Tokyo, Ernest Graves!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Taro Takaoka and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graves misses with a hook

and Terrell counters by moving into the clinch.
Terrell doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Graves blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Terrell misses with a hook to the ribs.
Good body shot from Graves.
Graves lands an uppercut.
Graves lands a shoulder strike.
Graves blocking some punches.
A left hand lands to the body for Graves.
Terrell misses with the head strike.
Terrell working aggressively here.
Terrell 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.
Terrell swings wildly with an uppercut but Graves uses good head movement to avoid it.
A right hand to the body from Terrell.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Terrell.
Terrell tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Terrell.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Terrell.

Graves has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Terrell uses from the top position.
Graves is looking to sweep but instead, Terrell has passed into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves wants to control but Terrell is keeping busy.
Graves tries to roll over but Terrell keeps him under control.
Graves gets back to full guard.
Graves looking for a sweep. Not yet Graves, not yet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Terrell got a little sloppy there for a moment and Graves has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Terrell has managed to get both his arms back between Graves's legs - danger averted.
Graves lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Graves stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Terrell swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Terrell keeping full guard, as Graves tries to pass.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Terrell thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Graves makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Graves working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Graves passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Graves staying calm.
Graves lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Terrell down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves wants to control but Terrell is keeping him busy.
Terrell regains half guard.
Graves works his foot free and advances to mount.
Graves lands a nice shot to the head.
Graves with the ground and pound from mount.
Graves with good strikes from the mount here!
Graves trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Graves looking to finish with strikes here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves looking to control but Terrell is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Terrell wants to hold on but Graves pushes him away.
Graves misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Graves fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Terrell is in all sorts of trouble here.
Graves landing punches.
Graves tries to control but Terrell wriggling away.
Graves putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
A nice elbow there by Graves.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ernest Graves dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Graves throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Graves jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Terrell displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Graves throws out the jab.
Terrell on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Terrell tests Graves's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Terrell throws a hook to the side of Graves's head but Graves sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Terrell throws a head kick that misses.
Phillip Terrell seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Terrell swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Graves counters with a nice uppercut.
Graves waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Terrell.
Graves uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Terrell.
Graves drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Terrell defends it well.
Terrell throws a head kick but Graves moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Graves closes the distance and clinches up with Terrell, looking for a takedown. Graves pushes Terrell against the cage but Terrell circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Terrell with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Graves to score with a decent uppercut.
Terrell takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A big right from Terrell misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves walks into a straight right hand from Terrell.
Graves on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Terrell lands a leg kick that knocks Graves off balance momentarily.
Terrell misses with a body shot
and Graves makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Terrell lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Terrell.
Graves looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Graves throws a shot from downtown. Terrell moves away and avoids it.
Terrell takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
A slow jab from Graves misses its intended target.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Graves takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Graves misses with a looping left.
Terrell throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Graves sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Graves looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Terrell connects with a leg kick.
Terrell takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Terrell misses with a jab, cross combination.
Graves swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Terrell dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fighters circle momentarily. Terrell darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Terrell looks to land a combination. Graves sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Graves blocks a low kick nicely.
Jab by Terrell.
Graves throws a hook but Terrell avoids it easily.
Terrell misses with a kick to the body
and Graves counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
A big right from Graves misses.
Graves throws a jab when Terrell was well out of range.
A nice leg kick lands there from Terrell.
Terrell tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Graves was well out of range. Poor timing from Terrell.
Graves throws out a counter right but Terrell avoids it with no problem.
Terrell throws a body shot but no joy.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Graves! But no joy.
Terrell tries to clinch there but Graves circles away.
Graves throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Terrell stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Graves ducks right into an uppercut from Terrell.
Graves avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Phillip Terrell is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A looping hook to the body misses from Terrell. Graves does a little dance to reset his feet.
Terrell connects with the punch.
Terrell looks to land a body kick but Graves moved away.
Terrell is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Graves.
Terrell throws a nice inside leg kick.
Terrell bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Terrell appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Terrell is looking to clinch.
Terrell missing with a left hand there. Graves was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Terrell waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Graves.
Graves changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Terrell ducks under a wild hook from Graves.
Terrell uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Graves has time to react.
Phillip Terrell is winning the standup battle so far.
Graves throws out a loose jab but Terrell uses good head movement to avoid it.
Terrell throws the left hand but Graves avoids the punch easily.
Graves swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Terrell tries to score with a low kick but Graves moves his leg out of the way.
Terrell swings and misses with a shot to the body
enabling Graves to counter with a crisp jab.
Terrell lands a glancing blow to the side of Graves's head.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Terrell throws a sloppy body shot
and Graves counters with a straight right hand.
Terrell throws a leg kick that misses.
Graves scores with a jab to the head.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Graves, as that shot connected.
Graves uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Terrell.
Graves avoids the body shot from Terrell.
Graves is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Terrell.
Terrell swings away with a leg kick that misses.
Terrell's corner calls for a 1-2. Terrell obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Terrell throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Terrell fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Graves checks it well.
Graves moves out of range of the strikes.
Graves looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Graves swings and misses with a hook to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Phillip Terrell will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Terrell blocks a jab.
Graves fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Terrell looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
A shot to the liver by Graves. Beautiful body shot.
Terrell misses with an uppercut. Graves saw that one coming.
Terrell misses with a low kick as Graves jumps back.
Graves throws a hook to the side of Terrell's head but Terrell sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Terrell throws a jab but it's blocked by Graves.
Terrell lands a nice looking kick to the body. Graves takes a step back to recover.
Graves defending well as Terrell loads up on a big left hand.
Terrell throws a body shot but no joy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Terrell ducks right into an uppercut from Graves.
Graves keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Terrell scores with a hook.
Terrell uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Graves.
Terrell blocks a jab.
Graves might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A quick step to the side and Terrell tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
The crowd cheers as Graves lands an impressive looking overhand right. Terrell doesn't seem phased though.
Terrell throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.

Terrell gets caught flat footed, as Graves shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Graves has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Graves pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Terrell is keeping the position for now.
Graves forces his way into half guard.
Terrell keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Graves working his ground and pound in the gym. So far it seems to be working well.

Graves is working for an americana but Terrell has been sneaky and has managed to get back to half guard, whilst Graves was thinking about the submission.
Graves passes Terrell's left leg - he's now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Graves looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Terrell with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Graves wants to advance to full mount but Terrell doesn't think that's going to happen and regains full guard instead.
Graves loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Terrell keeping full guard, as Graves tries to pass.
Graves pushing down on Terrell's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Graves lands a nice short elbow.
Terrell is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves misses with a head shot. Terrell uses the momentum to regain guard.
Graves stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Terrell swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Graves stands and throws Terrell's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Graves tries to advance to mount but can't.
Graves trying to control the action but Terrell is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Graves tries to move to mount but Terrell blocks the move with his legs.
Graves is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Graves tries to advance to mount but Terrell instead regains half guard.
Graves looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Terrell tries to roll over but Graves keeps him under control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ernest Graves comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Graves has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 28:29
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ernest Graves!
During a confident post fight interview, Ernest Graves thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.