PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between John Bricardi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Helio Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Helio Gracie told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Bricardi
vs
Gracie

167 cm
24
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

167 cm
25
145 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

Good takedowns
Brawler
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, John Bricardi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Helio Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Gregory Folan, William Peck and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bricardi misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Gracie blocks a head kick by Bricardi.

Bricardi drives through and clinches with Gracie against the cage.
Bricardi throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Gracie blocks it with crossed arms.
Bricardi prevents a takedown attempt there.
Bricardi tries a knee to the head but Gracie blocks it.
Gracie can't get the takedown.
Bricardi tries a knee to the head but Gracie blocks it.
Bricardi throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Gracie blocks it with crossed arms.
Bricardi tries to land a knee to the head but Gracie blocks with his arms.
Bricardi with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Bricardi tries a knee to the head but Gracie blocks it.
Bricardi with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Bricardi is trying to push Gracie away but Gracie has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Bricardi using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Gracie has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Bricardi misses with a knee to the head.
Bricardi tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Bricardi is breathing heavily.
Bricardi throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Gracie blocks it with crossed arms.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gracie is trying to trip Bricardi. He has hold of a leg but Bricardi is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Gracie persists though and gets the takedown into guard.

Gracie gets to his feet - Bricardi follows without any prompting.
Gracie lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.

Gracie darts in and clinches Bricardi up against the cage.

Gracie's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Gracie shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Bricardi's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Gracie decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Gracie closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Gracie lands in his opponent's guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Gracie accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Gracie pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Bricardi is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control but Bricardi is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Helio Gracie was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Bricardi tries to clinch up but Gracie circles away and keeps his distance.
No luck for Gracie with that takedown attempt.
John Bricardi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Helio Gracie.
Bricardi throws a left and a right that both miss

and Gracie counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Gracie.
Bricardi knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gracie on the ground.
Bricardi keeping moving, preventing Gracie from controlling successfully.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control but Bricardi is working from the bottom.
Gracie advances position into side control!
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Bricardi is looking to regain half guard here but Gracie keeps moving and retains side control.
Bricardi is working hard here to advance position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control the action but Bricardi is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Bricardi throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Gracie scores with a nice strike.

Gracie closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Bricardi quickly recovers to half guard.
Bricardi is looking for a sweep. Gracie is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Gracie gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Gracie misses with a jab, cross combination.
Gracie with a poor takedown
and Bricardi counters with a thumping low kick.

Gracie shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Gracie stands and steps away. Bricardi gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Bricardi fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bricardi throws a series of strikes that have Gracie backpedaling.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bricardi tries to close the distance and clinch but Gracie swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Bricardi tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Bricardi throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bricardi tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Gracie manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
The fight stays on the outside here - Bricardi looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The fight stays on the outside here - Bricardi looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Gracie throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Bricardi tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Gracie is in Bricardi's guard.
Gracie won't allow Bricardi to get back to his feet.
Gracie pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Bricardi is keeping the position for now.
Bricardi looking for a sweep. Not yet Bricardi, not yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Bricardi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Helio Gracie has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Gracie gets a takedown into half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Gracie is trying to control. Bricardi wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Gracie is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Bricardi is just riding it out for now. Gracie eventually gives up the hold.
Gracie passes to full mount!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bricardi tries to hold on but Gracie postures up.
Bricardi is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Bricardi avoids a series of strikes thrown by Gracie.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bricardi holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Gracie tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Gracie can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Bricardi is looking to escape.
Bricardi is bucking up trying to escape but Gracie cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Gracie with a couple of short strikes.
Gracie lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gracie looking to control but Bricardi is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Bricardi avoids a series of strikes thrown by Gracie.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Helio Gracie showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Gracie circles away from the clinch attempt.
Gracie looks for a takedown but Bricardi sprawls well.
Gracie dodges the punch combination from Bricardi.
Gracie showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Bricardi.
Bricardi is looking to clinch.
Gracie avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Gracie tries a head kick but it misses.

Gracie clinches up against the cage.
Bricardi looking to throw knees to the head but Gracie is blocking nicely.
Bricardi looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Bricardi tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Bricardi throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Gracie blocks it with crossed arms.

Bricardi breaks from the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bricardi moves in looking to clinch but Gracie pushes him off.
Gracie dives in and grabs Bricardi's left leg, looking for a takedown. Bricardi pushes down on Gracie's head and hops out.

Gracie looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Bricardi!
Helio Gracie has got the better of the ground game so far.
Gracie unloads with some shots from mount but Bricardi bucks and avoids them well.
Bricardi is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
Gracie has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Bricardi's face.
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Bricardi tries to hold on but Gracie postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bricardi is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Bricardi wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Gracie.
Bricardi is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
Gracie throws some wild stikes that Bricardi manages to avoid easily.
Gracie wants to control the pace but Bricardi is squirming around nicely.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Bricardi tries to hold on but Gracie postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Gracie can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Bricardi is looking to escape.
Gracie 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 wants to control the pace but Bricardi is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie landing punches.
Gracie wants to control the pace but Bricardi is squirming around nicely.
Bricardi is trying desperately to improve position.
Gracie punching from mount but Bricardi doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Bricardi is squirming around, avoiding Gracie's attempts to control the action.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bricardi wants to hold on but Gracie pushes him away.
John Bricardi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Helio Gracie is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Bricardi has given up his back - I don’t know if this is a deliberate ploy to try and escape or if he is just struggling down there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Helio Gracie comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Gracie winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Gregory Folan scores the fight 27:30
Judge William Peck scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Helio Gracie!