PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Rio Gracie (ranked 2255 p4p, 4067 weight class) and Teófilo Stevenson (ranked 288 p4p, 454 weight class). Stevenson has chosen TEÓFILO STEVENSON - NOCKOUTS as his entrance music. Teófilo Stevenson is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Gracie
vs
Stevenson

175 cm
20
170
3 - 0 - 0

181 cm
24
156
12 - 8 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

Dangerous Nutrition

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Rio Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Teófilo Stevenson!
The judges for this bout are Josh West, Ryoma Takatsuka and Colin Fray.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gracie drives through with a takedown into Stevenson's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Gracie is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Gracie slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Gracie is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Stevenson will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Gracie advances to full mount.
Gracie controlling the position easily from mount.
Gracie'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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Stevenson for as long as he can get away with.
Gracie continues to stall.
Further stalling from Gracie.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Gracie is stinking the place up with his stalling.
Gracie has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie forces the positional change into back control.
Stevenson is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Gracie.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four 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.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
This is a sustained period of stalling by Gracie.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rio 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.

Gracie slaps away a takedown attempt from Stevenson, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Stevenson shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Gracie but Gracie pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Gracie looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Gracie with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie tries to pass the half guard into mount. Stevenson knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Gracie content to control rather than advance.
Gracie passes to side control.
Stevenson is being controlled here.
More hug and hope from Gracie.
Gracie advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Stevenson tries to reverse the position but Gracie maintains control.
Gracie looking to control and managing it successfully.
Gracie continues to hold on tight.
Stevenson is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie controlling the pace for now.
Gracie is looking to work his way around to Stevenson's back. He needs to be careful though, as he's in danger of losing this dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Gracie content just to control the position here.
Gracie is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Stevenson can do to turn this around?
Gracie prevents Stevenson from getting the reversal.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gracie controlling his opponent.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rio Gracie dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Gracie shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Stevenson napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Gracie is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Gracie advances to mount.
Gracie controlling the pace for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie wants to take his opponent's back but Stevenson doesn't allow it.
Gracie is working hard here to advance position.
Gracie sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rio Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gracie prevents Stevenson from getting the reversal.
Gracie controlling the pace for now.
Gracie takes Stevenson's back.
Gracie slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Teófilo Stevenson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Rio Gracie showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Gracie 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 Josh West scores the fight 30:24
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 30:24
Judge Colin Fray scores the fight 30:24

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