PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ricardo Arona (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Arona
vs
Gracie

180 cm
18
182 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

181 cm
18
194 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Inexperienced

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 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Arona!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Luis Engracia and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Arona looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!

Gracie closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Arona quickly recovers to half guard.
Gracie wants to take a breather but Arona is having none of it.

Gracie is working for a kimura but Arona is defending it quite comfortably.

Gracie is looking for a kimura here.
Ground and pound from Gracie.
Gracie is thwarting Arona's attempts to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Arona is staying active underneath Gracie, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Gracie thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Arona's head.
Gracie throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Gracie not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Arona is not content to let Gracie control the position.
Arona avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gracie.

Gracie is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Arona is staying active underneath Gracie, who seems content to just control the action from this 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arona keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Gracie missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Gracie is looking to take a break and control but Arona is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Gracie is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Arona sees it coming and defends easily.
Gracie trying to control the action but Arona is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arona is trying to maintain the position but Gracie is very close to passing his half guard.
Arona is not content to let Gracie control the position.

Gracie is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Arona defends it well.
Gracie is taking a breather. Arona says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Arona is refusing to be controlled, as Gracie sits in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Arona is looking for a sweep. Gracie is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Gracie is trying to work for a kimura but Arona is defending well.
Gracie wants to lay and pray for a moment but Arona keeps working.
Arona is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Arona is staying active underneath Gracie, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Gracie dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Gracie tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Arona swivels and escapes.
Ricardo Arona seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Arona drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Gracie is trying to control Arona's posture but Arona avoids it.
Gracie gets back to half guard.
Gracie has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Gracie is looking for a sweep. Arona is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The fighters are battling for position here. Gracie manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Arona wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
Gracie is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Gracie manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Arona manages to get himself to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie wants to control from the top but Arona keeps moving.
Gracie seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Gracie trying to control but Arona is working from the bottom.

Gracie drops back, looking for a kneebar! Arona looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Arona looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Arona!
Gracie is not content to let Arona control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie wants to control but Arona postures up.
Arona working the ground and pound but Gracie is defending the strikes.
Gracie is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Arona off and has taken his back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gracie has got one arm under Arona's chin. This could be trouble... Arona trying to control the other hand but Gracie gets it free and sqeezes tight - just a matter of time now! Yep, Arona has tapped out! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Thiago Gracie!