PBP Commentary

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

Gracie
vs
Soto

160 cm
25
140 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

173 cm
22
145 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Dangerous knees
Very quick

ADCC Champion
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jeffson Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Luiz Soto!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie looks to clinch

and Soto counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Gracie trying to keep a closed guard but Soto is proving a slippery customer.
Soto pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gracie is keeping the position for now.
Soto stopping the sweep attempt from Gracie.
Soto trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
Soto engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Gracie looking to hit a scissor sweep but Soto is one step ahead there.
Soto advances position into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Soto works to advance to full mount. Gracie defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Gracie is in all sorts of trouble here.

Soto looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Soto cracks Gracie with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Gracie tries to lock up and control but Soto gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Soto 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.
Gracie stops Soto from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Gracie really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Soto wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is squirming around, avoiding Soto's attempts to control the action.
Soto controlling the position easily from mount.
Gracie wants to hold on but Soto pushes him away.
Gracie keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Gracie might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Soto connects with a massive shot to the dome!

Soto is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Gracie can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Gracie tries to hold on but Soto pushes him away.
Soto wants to control the pace but Gracie is squirming around nicely.

Soto goes for an armbar but Gracie turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Gracie.

Soto looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Soto throws his legs up looking for a submission but Gracie uses it to pass to side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie wants to lay and pray for a moment but Soto keeps working.
Soto is trying to improve his position.
Gracie trying to control the action but Soto is working from the bottom.
Soto is looking for a sweep.
Gracie wants to control but Soto is keeping him busy.
Soto is looking for a sweep.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luiz Soto dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Gracie with a poor takedown

and Soto counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Gracie!
Gracie is desperately trying to improve his position but Soto has a good base and remains in mount.
Soto can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Gracie is looking to escape.
Gracie is looking to get to half guard.
Gracie is working hard here to advance position.
Soto punishing his opponent with strikes.
Gracie reaches up to try and control the position but Soto seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Gracie rolls and tries to escape and now Soto has his back!
A bit of a pause in the action here. Soto controlling the positon.

Gracie is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
Gracie staying busy and making it hard for Soto to control.
Soto trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Gracie doesn't escape.

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.
Gracie has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Soto.
Gracie is holding onto Soto's left hand, preventing any choke attempts.
Gracie can't escape the position.
Gracie tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Soto unloading with bombs!
Gracie tries to reverse the position but Soto maintains control.
Soto trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Soto looking to finish with strikes here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie gets back to half guard.
Soto trying to control the action but Gracie is working from the bottom.
Soto wants to pass to mount but Gracie is defending the position.
Soto wants to control but Gracie is keeping him busy.
Soto tries to pass to full mount but Gracie defends it.
Soto wants to lay and pray for a moment but Gracie keeps working.
Gracie is controlling Soto's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Soto frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Gracie holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Soto tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Gracie is looking to get to half guard.

Soto goes for an armbar but he's not got it… Gracie turns into him and now he's in Soto's guard.
Luiz Soto has got the better of the ground game so far.

Soto had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Gracie defends it easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luiz Soto showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Gracie shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Soto counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

Gracie gets the takedown into side control.
Soto is looking to reverse the position.
Soto is being controlled here.
Soto regains half guard.
Soto is looking to improve his position.
Soto is pressing down on Gracie's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Gracie wants to pass the guard but Soto is keeping the position.
Soto wants to get back to his feet but Gracie is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Soto takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie got a little sloppy there for a moment and Soto has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Gracie has managed to get both his arms back between Soto's legs - danger averted.

Soto throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Soto is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Gracie defends well.
Gracie prevents Soto from getting back to his feet.
Soto looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

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.
Gracie trying to control but Soto is working from the bottom.
Soto is trying to control the position but Gracie postures up.
Gracie passes into half guard.

Gracie seems to be looking for submissions.
Soto wants to control but Gracie is keeping busy.

Soto is looking to regain full guard. He's left an arm up in the air though and Gracie has latched onto it... Big trouble! Gracie pivots for an armbar - it's in tight and it Soto is tapping in no time flat! Great counter grappling there from Gracie!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:05 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Jeffson Gracie!