PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Steffan Lessard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryan Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Lessard
vs
Gracie

188 cm
23
200 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

188 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Steffan Lessard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ryan Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Daniel Franklin and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie lands with a nice combination. Lessard backs away looking to recover.
Lessard misses the shot to the body.
Lessard misses with a looping left.
Gracie plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Gracie tries to clinch there but Lessard circles away.
Gracie fails with a takedown attempt.
Gracie tries to clinch there but Lessard circles away.
No luck for Gracie with that takedown attempt.
Gracie closes the distance and clinches up with Lessard, looking for a takedown. Gracie pushes Lessard against the cage but Lessard circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Steffan Lessard has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ryan Gracie.

Gracie shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Lessard napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Lessard tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Lessard holds on to Gracie's head and controls the position momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie wants to control but Lessard is keeping him busy.
Lessard on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Lessard tries to get out of the position.
Gracie looking to control but instead Lessard has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
Lessard is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Gracie wants to stand up but Lessard is controlling the position.
Gracie looks gassed!
Lessard is controlling Gracie's position as best he can from this difficult position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Gracie wants to control but Lessard is keeping him busy.
Lessard manages to get to full guard.
Lessard looking for a sweep. Not yet Lessard, not yet.
Lessard trying to control the position here.
Lessard bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gracie's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lessard lands a couple of elbows.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Lessard's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Gracie is trying to keep Lessard in close.
Lessard advances position into side control!
Lessard lands some shots froms side control.
Lessard wants to lay and pray for a moment but Gracie keeps working.
Lessard scoring with punches from side control.
Lessard is chipping away with strikes.
Lessard looks up at the clock and then as Gracie takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Lessard smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Lessard working the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lessard controlling from side mount.
Lessard lands a decent elbow from side control.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Lessard is putting a hurting on Gracie here, landing some big shots from side control.
Lessard scoring with punches from side control.
Lessard working the head with strikes.
Lessard scoring with punches from side control.
Lessard in side control lands a decent elbow.
Lessard works a knee to the body and follows up with a nice elbow to the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Lessard in side control lands a decent elbow.
Gracie on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Gracie taking punishment in the form of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steffan Lessard 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.

Lessard shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Gracie is trying to defend but Lessard finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Lessard working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Gracie punching from the bottom.
Lessard wants to free his trapped foot but Gracie is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Lessard working the head and body with strikes.
Gracie is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Lessard's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Lessard's back!
Lessard trying to control but not successfully.
Gracie doesn't have the hooks in and Lessard manages to turn into his guard.
Lessard postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Lessard is working Gracie over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Lessard has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lessard scoring with punches to the head and body.
Lessard lands a couple of digs.
Lessard scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Lessard trying to control the position from guard on top but Gracie is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Lessard scoring with some ground and pound.
Lessard with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Lessard sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Gracie's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lessard winds up and cracks Gracie with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Lessard seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Lessard lands strikes from half guard.
Lessard looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Gracie with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lessard scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Lessard working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Lessard looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Gracie with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Lessard takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Lessard passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Gracie!
Lessard sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Gracie keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Lessard lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lessard lands with some strikes.
Lessard working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Gracie is looking to improve his position but Lessard isn't that keen on the idea.
BOOM! Lessard connects with a massive shot to the dome!
A nice elbow there by Lessard.
Lessard pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Lessard controlling his opponent.
The referee warns Gracie that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is desperately trying to improve his position but Lessard has a good base and remains in mount.
Lessard lands a nice shot to the head.
Gracie takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Gracie working to try and regain half guard.
Lessard lands with some strikes.
This has been an exciting period of action!
BOOM! Lessard connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Lessard lands a big shot there that rocks Gracie but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
A nice elbow there by Lessard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Lessard prevents Gracie from getting the reversal.
Lessard working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Lessard lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Gracie hang on?
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steffan Lessard dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Lessard takes a swing at Gracie's ribcage but misses.
Gracie with a lazy takedown attempt

and Lessard counters with a shoot takedown. Gracie fights it but they end up in guard.
Lessard working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Gracie's head.
Lessard slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Lessard scoring with punches and elbows.
Gracie tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Lessard wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Lessard scores with a couple of short elbows.
Gracie taking a bit of punishment here - Lessard scoring with strikes.
Lessard cracks Gracie with a big right hand but Gracie just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Lessard landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Lessard tries to advance to mount but can't.
Lessard cracks Gracie with a big elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Gracie's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lessard scoring with punches and elbows.
Lessard is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Gracie can do to turn this around?
Gracie takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
The referee asks Lessard politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Lessard prefers to stall for the moment though.
Lessard scores with punches from side control.
Lessard working the head and body with strikes.
Lessard content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Lessard working the ground and pound from side control.
Steffan Lessard is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Lessard wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Gracie is letting Lessard control him for a moment.
Gracie can't do much from the bottom here.
Lessard controls the position.
Lessard is putting a hurting on Gracie here, landing some big shots from side control.
Lessard is staying tight to Gracie's torso, preventing him from escaping.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Steffan Lessard just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.

Lessard closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Lessard lands in his opponent's guard.
Lessard controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Lessard lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lessard is stalling in the full guard.
Lessard is working Gracie over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Gracie looking to hit a scissor sweep but Lessard is one step ahead there.
Lessard is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steffan Lessard showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Lessard, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:25
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:25
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steffan Lessard!