Neiman Gracie racked up another submission victory tonight with a second round rear-naked choke finish against Dave Marfone at Bellator NYC.
Round One:
Marfone starts with an early jab. Gracie ducks under a right hand from Marfone and takes him down.
Gracie works Marfone over to the cage, but Marfone stands. Gracie switches to his back as he does so and attempts to drag him back to the mat. Marfone defending for now though.
Marfone able to escape the clinch. Gracie lands a nice right hand that wobbles Marfone slightly.
Gracie slips to the mat, but Marfone not willing to follow him down. Gracie back up and shortly afterwards he’s able to bring Marfone back to the mat.
Gracie in half guard and looks to pass to full mount, but Marfone brings him back to half.
Marfone back to his feet and lands a knee as Gracie remains in the clinch and presses him to the cage.
Right hand for Gracie as he comes in looking to clinch, but they go back to striking range. As Marfone comes forward, Gracie ducks into a takedown, but this one is stuffed.
Gracie flops to his back, but again Marfone wants nothing to do with his ground game and makes him stand.
Body kick for Gracie. Marfone lands a nice knee upstairs as Gracie tries to work for that takedown again. He presses Marfone into the cage and looks to suck his opponent’s legs out, but then Marfone drops down with a guillotine choke. Gracie signals he’s ok though and hangs tough until the final seconds of the round tick away.
Round Two:
Body kick for Gracie. He tries for a right hand, but it’s a swing and a miss. Gracie barrels into a takedown attempt, but has to settle for the clinch against the cage instead for now.
Gracie switches to Marfone’s back now. now he hops up onto his back. Marfone attempts to get him off by forward rolling onto the mat, but Gracie stays latched on and is now in a strong position to look for a finish.
Gracie lands an elbow strike and then sinks in the rear-naked choke and it’s not long before Marfone is forced to tap out!
