PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight kickboxing rules bout between Henrique Gusmao (ranked 232 p4p, 1357 weight class) and Vasily Grossman (ranked 30 p4p, 187 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Gusmao
vs
Grossman

179 cm
33
155
29 - 10 - 1

169 cm
30
158
17 - 5 - 0

World class boxer
Insanely flexible

World class MT
Heavy handed

Gatoroids
Voodoo Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 29 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Henrique Gusmao!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Vasily Grossman!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Yukihiro Shimada.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Grossman looks to land a right hand but Gusmao moved out of range.
Grossman moves out of range of the strikes.
Grossman is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Gusmao with a body shot.
Gusmao misses with a low kick.
Grossman looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Gusmao lunges at Grossman with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Grossman's hand.
Gusmao throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Grossman counters with a straight right hand.
Gusmao plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Gusmao connects with an inside leg kick.
Grossman takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Grossman missing with a left hand there. Gusmao was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Grossman has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Gusmao lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Gusmao 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.
Grossman walks forward, straight into a front kick from Gusmao.
Gusmao throws a leg kick
and Grossman counters with a stiff right hand.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Grossman displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Gusmao throws out the jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gusmao thows a leg kick but Grossman checks it
and Grossman counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
A solid leg kick lands there for Gusmao.
Gusmao throws a jab but it's blocked by Grossman.
Grossman tries to move into range but Gusmao moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Gusmao changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Grossman throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Gusmao throws a looping overhand right but Grossman ducks down to avoid it.
Gusmao feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Grossmans jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Good work by Grossman as he checks the leg kick.
Grossman looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
No joy there for Grossman, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Gusmao connects with a nice looking jab.
Gusmao scores with a nice strike.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gusmao lands a head shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gusmao fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Gusmao lands a jab to the head.
Gusmao misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Grossman doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Grossman waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Gusmao.
Gusmao lands with an overhand left.
Gusmao slips a jab from Grossman.
Gusmao looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Gusmao throws a hook to the side of Grossman's head but Grossman sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A nice leg kick from Gusmao, right into the meat of the thigh.
Grossman keeps the fight on the outside.
Gusmao tries to land a front kick but Grossman steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Grossman looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Good standup being displayed there by Gusmao as he connects with a hook.
Grossman takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Henrique Gusmao dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Grossman takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Gusmao sizes up Grossman with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Gusmao looks for the body kick but Grossman saw that one coming.
A swing and a miss from Gusmao.
Gusmao throws a low kick but Grossman moves out of range easily.
Gusmao throws a big shot that misses.
Gusmao wants to slow Grossman down by chopping away at his legs.
Gusmao ducks under a wild hook from Grossman.
Gusmao throws an off balance right hand
and Grossman counters with a lovely shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gusmao bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Grossman's head backwards.
Gusmao is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Grossman can do to turn this around?
Gusmao lands a jab to the head.
Gusmao misses with a hook
and Grossman counters with a stiff right hand.
Gusmao scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Grossman keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gusmao misses with a wild body shot.
Grossman misses with a looping left.
Gusmao tries to land a leg kick but Grossman saw it coming and moves away.
Gusmao misses with a wild body shot.
Henrique Gusmao is winning the standup battle so far.
Gusmao throws a leg kick but Grossman moved away.
Grossman unleashes a big counter combination but Gusmao bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Gusmao misses with a hook to the body
and Grossman connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Gusmao scores with a slapping inside leg kick.

Gusmao closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Grossman.
Grossman has a couple of punches blocked by Gusmao.
Grossman misses with a short punch on the inside.
Grossman lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Grossman scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Grossman misses with some punches.
Gusmao misses with a body punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gusmao throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Grossman makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Gusmao lands with a short head shot on the inside.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Gusmao.
Gusmao misses with a short punch on the inside.
Gusmao misses with a body punch.
Grossman tries to throw a body punch but Gusmao avoids it by throwing Grossman back against the ropes.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Grossman.
Gusmao has a couple of punches blocked by Grossman.
Gusmao cracks Grossman with a nice body shot.
Grossman swings wildly with an uppercut but Gusmao uses good head movement to avoid it.
Grossman lands with a left to the head.
Gusmao swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nice body punch from Grossman.
Gusmao tries a body shot but Grossman blocks it.
Gusmao throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Grossman throws a punch but it's blocked by Gusmao.
Gusmao tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Grossman.
Grossman avoids the elbow strike from Gusmao, against the ropes.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Henrique Gusmao dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

A jab lands there for Gusmao.
Vasily Grossman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Henrique Gusmao is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Gusmao throws a leg kick that misses.
Grossman cracks Gusmao with a good jab.
Gusmao lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Gusmao lands a jab to the head.
Gusmao keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Grossman throws a hook but Gusmao avoids it easily.
Gusmao scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Grossman checks a leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Grossman throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Gusmao appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.

Gusmao rushes Grossman and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.
Grossman throws a head punch that misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Grossman.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gusmao lands with a short shot to the head.
Grossman swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A short right from Grossman.
Grossman tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Gusmao's elbow.
A shot in the inside from Grossman.
Grossman's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Grossman can't find room to land a body shot as Gusmao controls the action.
Grossman working aggressively here.
I was talking to Gusmao's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Grossman tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Gusmao's elbow.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Gusmao.
Grossman lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Grossman blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Gusmao.
Gusmao lands a shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Grossman misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Grossman misses with a punch to the body.
Grossman swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Grossman swings wildly with an uppercut but Gusmao uses good head movement to avoid it.
Grossman swings wildly with an uppercut but Gusmao uses good head movement to avoid it.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Grossman throws a head punch that misses.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Grossman.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Grossman misses with a hook from the clinch.
Grossman misses with some punches.
Grossman misses with some punches.
Grossman tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Vasily Grossman comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Gusmao has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight for Henrique Gusmao!
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight for Henrique Gusmao!
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight for Henrique Gusmao!

Henrique Gusmao wins by unanimous decision!
Henrique Gusmao was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.