PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jose Sanchez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ralph Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sanchez comes to the cage accompanied by PELIMUSA. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Sanchez
vs
Gracie

178 cm
29
153 lbs
18 - 10 - 2

181 cm
31
156 lbs
18 - 8 - 1

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Lethal high kicks
Granite chin

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 18 - 10 - 2, fighting out of Amsterdam, Jose Sanchez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 8 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Ralph Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Tarja Halkonen and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie pivots, looking for a leg kick but Sanchez is out of range and Gracie settles back down.
Sanchez throws a right hand that misses
and Gracie counters with a nice low kick that buckles Sanchez's knee momentarily.
Nice cross by Gracie.
Gracie wants to slow Sanchez down by chopping away at his legs.
A leg kick checked by Sanchez.
Sanchez scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Gracie misses with a looping right.
Gracie walks into a left hand.
Gracie tries a low kick but Sanchez avoids it.
Gracie attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Sanchez lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Gracie throws a big shot that misses.
A head kick by Sanchez misses
and Gracie connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Sanchez moves away from the strike by Gracie.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A solid body kick from Sanchez.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Sanchez. Gracie shrugs it off though.
Sanchez works the jab nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez looks to score with a jab to the body but Gracie is just out of range.
Gracie avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sanchez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Sanchez digs a good hook to Gracie's body.
Sanchez lands a nice shot that snaps Gracie's head back.
Sanchez throws a head kick that misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sanchez looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Gracie avoids the head kick by Sanchez.
Sanchez jabs at Gracie's body.
Sanchez misses with a looping right.
Sanchez stuffs the takedown attempt from Gracie. Gracie gets slowly back to his feet.
Gracie circles away from the clinch attempt
and Gracie counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Sanchez thinking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Gracie.
A bone on bone clash there as Sanchez blocks the leg kick.
Gracie tries to move into range but Sanchez moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Good leg kick by Sanchez there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sanchez checks a leg kick.
Sanchez attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Gracie tries to work over Sanchez's front leg with a kick but Sanchez checks it.
Sanchez throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Gracie slaps away a takedown attempt from Sanchez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Sanchez connects with a good right hand that stumbles Gracie. Gracie circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Gracie fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Sanchez listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
A jab from Sanchez does it's job there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Gracie uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Sanchez.
Gracie fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Sanchez checks it well.
Sanchez listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Gracie is looking to score with low kicks.
Sanchez goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

It looks like Ralph Gracie has been cut.
Gracie misses with a wild body shot.
Sanchez misses with a head kick.
Sanchez fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Sanchez chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Gracie does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Sanchez ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Gracie moves away.
Gracie throws a chopping leg kick but Sanchez manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Sanchez wants to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Sanchez throws a lazy head kick
and Gracie counters with a nice body kick.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sanchez thows a body shot but no joy.
Sanchez pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Sanchez misses with an uppercut
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Sanchez scores with a push kick.
Sanchez is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Sanchez misses with an attempted mid kick.
Sanchez steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Gracie.
Sanchez misses with an uppercut. Gracie saw that one coming.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gracie chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Sanchez doesn't manage to clinch there - Gracie circles away.
Gracie shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Sanchez defends it nicely.
Gracie blocks a head kick by Sanchez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jose Sanchez dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ralph Gracie's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Gracie waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Sanchez.
Sanchez takes a swing at Gracie's ribcage but misses.
Jose Sanchez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sanchez cracks a nice hook into Gracie's ribs.
Gracie misses with a straight right.
Gracie moves out of range as Sanchez throws a body kick.
Good standup being displayed there by Sanchez as he connects with a hook.
Sanchez moves out of range of the body kick.
Sanchez fails to land with a series of punches.

Sanchez changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Gracie looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Sanchez with the ground and pound but Gracie regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Sanchez misses with a head shot. Gracie uses the momentum to regain guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Gracie is on top in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie connects with a couple of short punches.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Sanchez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sanchez trying to keep a closed guard but Gracie is proving a slippery customer.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Gracie controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Sanchez fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Sanchez connects with a right hand. Gracie shakes it off.
Gracie ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Sanchez scores with a nice right hand.
Gracie misses with a low kick as Sanchez jumps back.
Gracie takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Gracie blocks the body kick.
A slow jab from Sanchez misses its intended target.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A shot to the body from Sanchez misses

and Gracie counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Gracie sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Sanchez is trying to keep Gracie in close.
Sanchez looking for a sweep. Not yet Sanchez, not yet.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Sanchez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sanchez wants to sweep here but Gracie controlling him for the moment.
Gracie trying to control the position from guard on top but Sanchez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Ralph Gracie wasn't active enough on the ground.
Sanchez drops his hands momentarily and Gracie takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sanchez connects with an inside leg kick.
Sanchez gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Gracie.

It looks like Jose Sanchez has been cut.
Gracie tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Gracie throws a nice outside leg kick.
Sanchez throws a head kick but Gracie moves out of range.
Gracie keeps the fight on the outside.
Sanchez scores with a leg kick.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sanchez swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Gracie counters with a one-two to the body.
Gracie takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Sanchez swings away with a body shot that misses
and Gracie counters with a thumping low kick.
Sanchez scores with a sloppy right hand. Gracie should have avoided that one.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Ralph Gracie will probably get the nod - 10:9.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Sanchez'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!

Nice uppercut there from Sanchez.
Gracie throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Gracie misses with a low kick.
Gracie misses with a leg kick.
Gracie throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Gracie throws a jab when Sanchez was well out of range.
Gracie throws a chopping leg kick but Sanchez manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Sanchez jabs Gracie to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Sanchez tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Gracie throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Sanchez throws a lazy body kick
and Gracie counters with an inside leg kick.
Gracie throws a leg kick but Sanchez sees it coming and moves out of range.
Sanchez works over Gracie's head and body with a nice combination.
Sanchez swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sanchez walks into a left hand.
Gracie slips a jab from Sanchez.
Gracie throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Jose Sanchez is winning the standup battle so far.
Gracie uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Sanchez.
Sanchez throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Gracie shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Gracie was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Sanchez is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Gracie trying to control the position but Sanchez is working away.
Gracie moves into full mount!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie landing shots from mount.
Gracie tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sanchez tries to hold on but Gracie postures up.
Sanchez is trying to escape the mount.
Gracie tries to control but Sanchez wriggling away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sanchez tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Gracie is landing with some decent strikes but Sanchez is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Sanchez is wriggling around trying to escape.
Gracie unloading with bombs!
Gracie scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Gracie trying to control but Sanchez is having none of it.
Gracie takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gracie trying to control but he's not successful this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sanchez wants to control but Gracie is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ralph Gracie comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Gracie has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 28:29
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 28:29

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