PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Aoshi Shinomori (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aoshi Shinomori has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Shinomori
vs
Gracie

175 cm
22
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

170 cm
19
153 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Aoshi Shinomori!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Mike Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Donatello Bradman and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Gracie changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Shinomori looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Shinomori regains half guard.
Gracie prevents Shinomori from improving his position.
Gracie throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Shinomori is looking for a sweep. Gracie is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Gracie is pressing down on Shinomori's thigh, looking to free his foot. Shinomori is holding on for now.
Shinomori is looking to improve his position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Gracie tries to move into range but Shinomori moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Shinomori swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Shinomori slaps away a takedown attempt from Gracie, before circling back to the center of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shinomori connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Aoshi Shinomori seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shinomori misses with a hook. Gracie ducked under it nicely.
A big right from Shinomori misses.
Shinomori throws the left hand but Gracie avoids the punch easily.
Gracie moves out of range as Shinomori strikes.
Aoshi Shinomori is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Shinomori throws a shot from downtown. Gracie moves away and avoids it.
Shinomori thows a body shot but no joy.
Gracie keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Shinomori throws a series of strikes that have Gracie backpedaling.
Shinomori digs a good body shot into Gracie's ribs.
A right-left combo lands from Shinomori.

Gracie scores with a takedown into Shinomori's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie thows a big elbow that misses.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gracie working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Shinomori pulls Gracie in close to prevent any damage.
Gracie trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Gracie tries to free his leg and advance position but Shinomori is retaining full guard.
Shinomori avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Shinomori looking to hit a scissor sweep but Gracie is one step ahead there.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Shinomori misses with a straight left.
Shinomori lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Gracie circles away quickly and effectively.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shinomori fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Gracie manages to avoid it.
Gracie uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Shinomori.

Gracie instigates a clinch.
Shinomori blocks an elbow strike.
Shinomori misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Gracie lands an uppercut.
Shinomori lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Gracie backwards.
Gracie scores a nice knee to the body.
Gracie is trying to drag Shinomori to the mat but Shinomori just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Gracie obliges.
Shinomori is breathing heavily.
Gracie tries to land knees in the clinch but Shinomori avoids the damage to the body.
Gracie misses with some punches.
Shinomori is looking to break free of the clinch but Gracie has double underhooks.

Gracie jumps guard.
Gracie trying to keep a closed guard but Shinomori is proving a slippery customer.
Gracie looking to hit a scissor sweep but Shinomori is one step ahead there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control the position.
Gracie is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Shinomori throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Gracie is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Gracie is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Shinomori sees it coming and defends easily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Gracie thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Shinomori's head.
Gracie has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Gracie passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Shinomori!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Gracie dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Gracie slips a jab from Shinomori.
Shinomori just misses with a punch to the body.
Shinomori scores with a hook to the body. Gracie takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Good exchange - Shinomori coming out on top.
Gracie keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Gracie moves out of range of the strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shinomori scores with a nice right hand.
Shinomori tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Gracie was well out of range. Poor timing from Shinomori.
Shinomori misses with a hook.
Shinomori throws the left hand but Gracie avoids the punch easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shinomori throws a hook but Gracie blocks it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Gracie tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Shinomori avoids it.
Shinomori swings wildly with an uppercut but Gracie uses good head movement to avoid it.
Gracie lands an uppercut.
A short left from Gracie.
Shinomori swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Shinomori tries a body shot but Gracie blocks it.
Gracie swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Gracie taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Nice elbow from Gracie.
Gracie lands a damaging elbow.
Gracie keeps control of Shinomori as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Gracie using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Gracie stalling.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Gracie.
Gracie lands an elbow that stopped Shinomori in his tracks for a moment.
Gracie is working for takedown but Shinomori is calmly controlling the position for now.
A bit of stalling here from Gracie.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gracie ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Gracie no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

Gracie is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Gracie working a defensive guard here.
Gracie pulls Shinomori in close to prevent any damage.

Gracie is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gracie looking to control.
Gracie looking for a sweep. Not yet Gracie, not yet.
Shinomori wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Shinomori accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Shinomori throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Gracie works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Shinomori with a flurry of punches that miss.
Shinomori postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Shinomori thows a big elbow that misses.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Gracie tries to clinch but Shinomori moves out of range.
Shinomori fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Gracie gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Gracie prevents Shinomori from breaking the clinch.
Shinomori fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Nice elbow from Gracie.
Gracie tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Shinomori tries to throw a body punch but Gracie avoids it by throwing Shinomori back against the cage.
Gracie content to slow the pace in the clinch.

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.
Gracie tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Gracie is struggling to control the position.
A looping hook to the body misses from Gracie. Shinomori does a little dance to reset his feet.
Gracie slips a straight right by Shinomori.
Shinomori throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Shinomori throws a series of punches but Gracie moves out of range.
Shinomori misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Gracie.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Gracie.

Gracie changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Shinomori looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Gracie throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Gracie has knee on belly and moves into mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Gracie showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Shinomori's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Gracie drives through with a takedown into guard.
Shinomori tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Shinomori is keeping the position.
Gracie stands and throws Shinomori's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Shinomori is trying to control Gracie's posture but Gracie avoids it.
Gracie trying to control the action but Shinomori is working from the bottom.
Shinomori is looking to reverse the position.
The strikes coming from Gracie are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie throws an elbow but Shinomori slips to the side and avoids it well.
Shinomori on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Shinomori tries to get out of the position.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Shinomori changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Shinomori ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gracie moves away.
Shinomori throws a shot to the body.
Danga de danga de dang - Shinomori scores with a four punch combination!
Nice defenses there by Gracie.
Shinomori misses the shot to the body.
Gracie throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Shinomori's waist but Shinomori gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Gracie off to one side.
Gracie bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Shinomori scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Gracie ducks under a wild hook from Shinomori.

That's two 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.
Shinomori's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Shinomori duly obliges.

Gracie shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Gracie showed some decent athleticism there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Gracie has hold of the far side arm. He's working for the Kimura, can Shinomori defend it? Gracie steps over the head and cranks it - Shinomori is tapping out! That was textbook stuff right there - nice submission victory for Gracie!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:19 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Mike Gracie!