Kron Gracie

Kron Gracie vs. Bryce Mitchell
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Mitchell (-700), Gracie (+500)

Round 1
With the previous pairing on paper one between two fearless strikers, the match that follows is a potential grappler’s delight. Mitchell (16-2, 7-2 UFC) has never landed a knockout or even scored an injury or doctor stoppage, while Gracie (5-2, 1-2 UFC) has only won by submission. It could play out in a number of ways, and referee Keith Peterson will keep it on the up-and-up while making certain there will be no nonsense allowed. The 145ers have no plan on touching gloves, and instead Mitchell hops forward to attack with a front kick. Both men kick low at the same time, and Gracie works his way forward and misses with a right hook. Mitchell kicks the front leg and drives a knee to the body when Gracie works his way towards him, and Gracie jumps into Mitchell’s arms and drags him down to the mat without having a submission set up. Mitchell lowers himself unafraid into half guard, and Gracie closes his guard around his waist. Mitchell keeps his hand covering Gracie’s mouth, and the two otherwise stall one another out while horizontal. Mitchell stacks Gracie up but his arms are stuck, and all he can attack with is short left hands to the ribs. The audience is not impressed by the relative stalemate, with Mitchell making no reckless moves while Gracie is not able to set anything up. Mitchell gets off a few punches when seeing openings, and he ignores when Gracie throws his legs up for a high guard. Mitchell drops down a single elbow, and he softens up the midsection with a couple additional punches to stay busy enough to remain in this position. Gracie raps his hand on the back of Mitchell’s head a few times with meaningless rabbit punches, and Mitchell remains smothering on top until the tepid round ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Mitchell
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Mitchell
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Mitchell

Round 2
The second round opens with Mitchell jabbing with the ball of his foot, and he reaches over the guard with a right hand. Gracie steels himself and rocks Mitchell with a left hand, and Mitchell shakes it out and kicks several more times. Gracie overswings and bounces off the fence, and Mitchell catches him with a right hand, a knee up the middle and an elbow. Gracie runs at him, hands down, and hops into Mitchell’s arms once more to drag Mitchell into his guard. The crowd is not amused. Gracie keeps his guard closed for the most part, stuck on his back as Mitchell grinds him out. Mitchell gets bored in this position, and he backs out of the guard and stands up. Gracie follows him, walking directly into a few knees. Mitchell considers a body lock takedown, but before he can do this, Gracie pulls him down to the floor by jumping guard. Even the commentary booth is not happy about this development, and they express this openly. As Mitchell comfortably lowers himself into the guard, Gracie sets a trap with an armbar. Mitchell’s eyes go wide as he is suddenly caught in a scary predicament, and he stacks Gracie up to keep pressure and take the submission off the table. Gracie repositions his legs to wrap up a triangle choke, and Mitchell remains safe by staying as tight as he can to the Brazilian. Gracie transitions back to an armbar, and this time Mitchell is in a bad spot and standing upright. Somehow, Mitchell slides out of it, and he unloads with a torrent of punches until the horn blares.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Mitchell
Brian Knapp scores the round: 10-9 Mitchell
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Mitchell

Round 3
Mitchell is not as keen to sprint at his opponent as he was the last two rounds, and he tries to back an advancing Gracie away only to fall to his back when kicking. Gracie looks to take advantage of it, and Mitchell stands up. Mitchell digs the body with a left hand, knees him in the same spot, and Gracie ties him up in a body lock and falls to his back. This time, “Thug Nasty” has a plan. Mitchell slams him down by pressing his forearm on Gracie’s head. When landing with emphasis, Mitchell sits up just enough to unleash a blazing elbow that bounces Gracie’s head off the canvas and knocks him clean out. As Mitchell strikes again, he actually wakes Gracie up, all while Peterson is dashing between them to wave the fight off. Gracie comes to, and he may not know where he is at the moment. Meanwhile, the victorious Mitchell goes over to UFC chief Dana White, who congratulates him for slaying the dangerous grappler.

The Official Result
Bryce Mitchell def. Kron Gracie R3 0:39 via KO (Slam and Elbows)

Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
BETTING PREVIEW | SCOUTING REPORT | ODDS: Jourdain (-180), Gracie (+155)

Round 1
Styles make fights, and that could scarcely be said more appropriately the UFC 288 main card opener. Submission master Gracie (5-1, 1-1 UFC), competing for the first time since October 2019, will be hoping to shake off any rust in short order. He will collide with high-flying striker Jourdain (13-6-1, 4-5-1 UFC), who aims to lift his UFC record to an even .500. The Octagon ranger for this featherweight matchup will be referee Gary Copeland, and the fighters do not touch gloves ahead of the bout. They meet in the middle of the cage but do not throw much of note, pawing out with occasional jabs and hand-fighting. Jourdain splits the guard with a few such jabs, and he chains a few sharp punches and powerful uppercuts together to get Gracie’s respect early. Gracie walks forward, and reaches out with a right hand simply to distract Jourdain enough to close the distance. Jourdain fights off a takedown attempt frantically, and when Gracie re-engages, the Canadian chucks his man down to the canvas. Jourdain intercepts the rushing Gracie with an uppercut, and he stays on his back foot as Gracie is committed to stalking him down and looking for some kind of level change. Jourdain stops this in its track momentarily with a fierce combination, and he slides away from the plodding Gracie. Jourdain cracks Gracie again and pushes him off when Gracie tries to tie him up, and his uppercut continues to split the guard. As Jourdain is moving and sticking, Gracie snatches him up just enough to pull guard. The Brazilian gladly lands on his back, and he slowly moves his guard up high to threaten with a potential triangle choke or armbar setup. Jourdain is wise to it, and he slowly slides his upper body out of danger and softens Gracie up with body shots. Jourdain leaps back to his feet and hops away before Gracie can trip him up, and Gracie scoots on his posterior until the crowd boos him. Gracie stands back up, and he meanders forward to close in and tie Jourdain up. The two trade short body shots until Jourdain breaks out, and he scores a few uppercuts when backpedaling. Gracie throws two naked leg kicks, and Jourdain tags him with a few punches that damage his nose before the bell.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain

Round 2
Jourdain opens the round up with a few quick punches, landing fast enough to quell Gracie’s never-ending forward movement. Gracie wanders forward into the fray, throwing little in the way of offense as he is singularly obsessed with just getting his hands or legs on his foe. As they clinch, Gracie pulls guard, and he succeeds in managing to bring Jourdain with him. The Canadian positions Gracie in a bad place with his neck up against the wire, and Gracie is quick to roll for an armbar as Jourdain opens up with ground-and-pound. “Air” resets on top and starts absorbing elbows to the top of his dome, but he is not in submission danger. Gracie puts a high guard up again and looks to isolate Jourdain’s left arm, and Jourdain maintains heavy chest pressure to not let Gracie get enough space to secure anything. Jourdain ignores offense coming from his adversary, as it is short and not particular effective, and more of a setup for Gracie to try a submission. Jourdain explodes out of the guard and gets back to his feet, and he backs off and knees Gracie in the body when Gracie bears down on him. Jourdain strings several punches together that get around the guard, and he whiffs on an uppercut that lets Gracie close in. Jourdain swings out with an elbow, and he gets tagged with an unexpected left hand before getting mashed up against the wall. Gracie pulls guard once more to force the fight horizontal, and Jourdain shucks off arm control to drop down a solid elbow. The round ends with Jourdain in no particular danger.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain

Round 3
The last round kicks off, and Gracie slowly lumbers from out of his corner. Jourdain dances his way in and out, ripping body shots and keeping out of reach. Jourdain lands an uppercut and takes one punch on the chin, with Gracie throwing a modicum more of offense but not enough to make a difference. Jourdain tags Gracie with a right hand, and Gracie attempts to pull guard. Jourdain drives him to the fence and slides him off, and Gracie crashes forward and bangs his head into his opponent’s. Jourdain releases clean combinations, rarely throwing single blows and landing en masse. Gracie takes them on the chin, generally, and succeeds to pull guard again. The crowd lets Gracie have it for this tactic, and he does not adjust his approach and hopes to secure a submission. Jourdain pounds on the ribcage with short punches and elbows, not concerned with the grappling chops of his opponent, and he stacks Gracie up briefly. Gracie hangs on from beneath, until Jourdain sees and opening and darts back upright. Gracie follows him while on his seat, aiming kicks to the knees, and Jourdain answers with slapping kicks. Copeland forces Gracie to stand up, and Gracie carries out his perpetual forward motion that is unable to lock Jourdain down and do anything. Jourdain breaks away thanks to a knee to the body, and he slams a shin into Gracie’s liver. Jourdain slips a few punches and tees off on Gracie, who is taking a beating but not slowing. Jourdain jumps in the air with a flying knee with seconds to go, and he lets fly a few more punches and kick until the lackluster match ends.

Sherdog Scores
Jay Pettry scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain (30-27 Jourdain)
Tristen Critchfield scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain (30-27 Jourdain)
Tyler Treese scores the round: 10-9 Jourdain (30-27 Jourdain)

The Official Result
Charles Jourdain def. Kron Gracie via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)