PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Tacitus Kilgore (ranked 49 p4p, 91 weight class) and Ernest Graves (ranked 6 p4p, 12 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kilgore
vs
Graves

175 cm
37
160
40 - 16 - 0

172 cm
41
160
47 - 35 - 2

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Shadow Realm Apparel
Conviction

Bondi MMA 🏝️
Paddy's Enhancing Drugs (160Q)

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 40 - 16 - 0, fighting out of New York, Tacitus Kilgore!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 47 - 35 - 2, fighting out of Tokyo, Ernest Graves!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Sosuke Kotani and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Graves lands a jab to Kilgore's midsection.
Graves misses with a body shot
and Kilgore counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Graves misses with a wild body shot.
Kilgore throws a counter high kick but Graves was just alert enough to avoid it.
Kilgore circles away from the clinch attempt.
Graves takes a swing at Kilgore's ribcage but misses.
Kilgore looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Graves throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Graves has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Graves misses with a jab to the body
and Kilgore counters with a nice uppercut.
A big left from Kilgore misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves moves forwards but Kilgore connects with a nice, crisp jab.
Kilgore showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Graves.
Kilgore misses with a hook to the body
and Graves counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves misses the body punch
and Kilgore counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Graves throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Graves throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

Graves pushes Kilgore up against the cage in a clinch.

Kilgore escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Kilgore looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Kilgore misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
A looping hook to the body misses from Graves. Kilgore does a little dance to reset his feet.

Graves looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Kilgore!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Graves working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graves in side control, throwing shots but Kilgore defends.
Kilgore avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Graves.
Graves misses with the ground and pound.
Graves has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Graves trying to control the action but Kilgore is working from the bottom.
Sloppy strikes there by Graves.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Graves looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Kilgore is avoiding damage well.
Kilgore avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Graves.
Graves advances to mount.
Poor strikes thrown by Graves there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Kilgore tries to get back to half guard but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kilgore tries to hold on but Graves postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kilgore manages to regain half guard whilst avoiding the strikes.
Kilgore is in trouble now - Graves has advanced to mount!
Kilgore tries to get back to half guard but can't.
BOOM! Graves connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Graves punching from mount but Kilgore doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Graves lands a nice shot to the head.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ernest Graves dominated that round.
That's time! Kilgore's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Graves takes a swing at Kilgore's ribcage but misses.

It looks like Tacitus Kilgore has been cut.

Graves feints and as Kilgore raises his hands in defense, Graves changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Graves looking to pass the guard.
Graves scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Graves showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Graves throws a big elbow that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Graves throwing strikes from guard but Kilgore blocks nicely.
Kilgore knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Graves on the ground.
Graves scoring with some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves wants to pass the guard but Kilgore is keeping the position.
Kilgore is trying to control the position but Graves postures up.
Graves postures up in Kilgore's guard and throws a big left but Kilgore blocks it.
Kilgore working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Graves.
Graves throwing strikes but missing.
Graves wants to control from the top but Kilgore keeps moving.
Graves throwing strikes from guard but Kilgore blocks nicely.

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.
Kilgore has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Graves shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Graves showed some decent athleticism there.
Kilgore is staying active underneath Graves, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Kilgore with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Graves working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Kilgore's thigh. Kilgore counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Graves stands and throws Kilgore's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Graves is working Kilgore over with some ground and pound from side control.
Kilgore struggling a bit here.
Kilgore avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Graves.
Graves has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
The ground and pound from Graves seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Graves looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Kilgore is looking to reverse the position.
Graves lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.

Tacitus Kilgore's cut is getting worse.
Graves in side control, throwing shots but Kilgore defends.
Graves tries to score with some ground and pound. Kilgore controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Graves throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and Kilgore works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
Graves missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ernest Graves showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Tacitus Kilgore's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Graves takes a swing at Kilgore's ribcage but misses.
Graves takes a swing at Kilgore's ribcage but misses.
Kilgore throws a shot to the body.
Graves fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Kilgore throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
A nice side step and Graves releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Kilgore misses with an uppercut. Graves saw that one coming.
A little jabbing left from Graves on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Graves thuds a left hand into Kilgore's body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Graves closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Kilgore's guard.
Graves stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Kilgore swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Graves throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graves pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Kilgore is keeping the position for now.
Graves working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Graves in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Graves looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Kilgore has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Graves can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

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 throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Kilgore sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Kilgore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Kilgore throws a lazy right hand but Graves sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Nice body punch from Graves.
Kilgore misses with a body shot.
Graves's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Kilgore connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Graves scrambles back to his feet.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Kilgore. Graves shrugs it off though.
Kilgore uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Graves.
Kilgore throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graves with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Kilgore keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Kilgore tries a low kick but Graves avoids it.
Kilgore on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Graves throws a hook but Kilgore blocks it.
Nice defenses there by Graves.
Graves lands a right hook to the body.
Graves wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Graves missing with a left hand there. Kilgore was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Kilgore ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Tacitus Kilgore has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graves moves out of range of the body kick.
A countering left hand to the body from Graves misses.
Graves moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Kilgore takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Graves dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
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!
Graves connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
A looping hook to the body misses from Graves. Kilgore does a little dance to reset his feet.
An attempted straight right counter from Kilgore misses the target.
Kilgore steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Graves.
Kilgore doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Graves stuns Kilgore with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ernest Graves comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Graves has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 26:30
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 26:30
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ernest Graves!
Ernest Graves thanked the fans post fight for their support.