PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Thiago de Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hidetoshi Nakata (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thiago de Souza has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

de Souza
vs
Nakata

183 cm
20
177 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

178 cm
23
175 lbs
4 - 1 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Fight For Real MMA Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Thiago de Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Hidetoshi Nakata!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Taro Takaoka and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
de Souza keeps the fight on the outside.
de Souza circles away from the clinch attempt.

Nakata scores a takedown into full mount!
de Souza is wriggling around trying to escape.
Nakata unloads with some shots from mount but de Souza bucks and avoids them well.
de Souza is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
de Souza working to try and regain half guard.
BOOM! Nakata connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Nakata looking to finish de Souza with some ground and pound. This is bad for de Souza!
de Souza reaches up to try and control the position but Nakata seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! de Souza rolls and tries to escape and now Nakata has his back!
Nakata tries to get the hooks in deep but de Souza pushed the leg off.
de Souza tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!

Nakata jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… de Souza is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by de Souza and Nakata has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Nakata goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, de Souza rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Nakata's guard! Nice work there by de Souza!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Nakata is looking for a triangle here but de Souza uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Nakata is trying to improve his position.
Nakata prevents de Souza from moving into mount.
Nakata has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Nakata tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but de Souza wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
de Souza is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Nakata's shoulder. That is not cool.
Nakata tries to buck de Souza off but de Souza is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
You can see the frustration on Nakata's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Nakata is looking for a sweep.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Nakata tries to close the distance and clinch but de Souza swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nice body kick from de Souza.
Nakata looks gassed!

de Souza clinches.
de Souza with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Hidetoshi Nakata has been cut.
de Souza gets through Nakata's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
de Souza avoiding damage.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
de Souza landing knees to the head.
de Souza lands on the inside with an uppercut.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Nakata swings wildly with an uppercut but de Souza uses good head movement to avoid it.
Nakata is trying to force a seperation but de Souza has the dominant position.
de Souza lands a shoulder strike.
de Souza lands a nice elbow.
de Souza cracks Nakata with a nice body shot.
de Souza lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Nakata swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza digs a right hand underneath Nakata's ribcage. Nakata let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Nakata swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Nakata has de Souza pressed up against the ropes and is working for takedown. de Souza manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Nakata tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
de Souza lands a body punch in the clinch.
de Souza lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the ropes.

de Souza pulls guard successfully.
de Souza trying to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
de Souza trying to control but Nakata is having none of it.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, de Souza cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
de Souza trying to control but Nakata is having none of it.
Nakata tries to hold on but de Souza pushes him away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nakata is squirming around, avoiding de Souza's attempts to control the action.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Hidetoshi Nakata's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

de Souza circles away from the clinch attempt

and de Souza holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
de Souza lands an elbow inside.
de Souza looking to throw knees to the head but Nakata is blocking nicely.
de Souza presses Nakata against the ropes and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
de Souza lands a right hand.
Nakata takes a shot to the head.
Nakata takes a knee to the side of the body.
Nakata on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
de Souza scores with a shot to the side of Nakata's head.

Nakata's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
de Souza misses with a body kick.
Nakata takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Nakata shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
de Souza swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Nakata has his takedown stuffed

and de Souza moves into the clinch.

de Souza pulls guard effortlessly.
de Souza tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Nakata is breathing heavily.
de Souza looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Nakata is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! de Souza is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! de Souza has escaped and now he's on top!
de Souza trying to control but Nakata is working from the bottom.
de Souza content to stall in guard here.
de Souza wanted to stand there but Nakata had control of the position.

Nakata throws his legs up looking for a submission but de Souza uses it to pass to side control.
Nakata stops de Souza from passing to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
You can see the frustration on Nakata's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Nakata is trying to get back to half guard.
Nakata looks to move to half guard but instead de Souza has passed into mount! Damn!
Nakata wants to hold on but de Souza pushes him away.
de Souza controlling the position easily from mount.
Nakata is looking to improve his position but de Souza isn't that keen on the idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakata is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Nakata tries to hold on but de Souza pushes him away.
de Souza takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Nakata regains half guard.
de Souza keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

Nakata is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but de Souza pulls his head out easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Nakata is not content to let de Souza control the position.
de Souza not doing much here.

de Souza looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Nakata is looking for a sweep. de Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Hidetoshi Nakata's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Nakata closes the distance but de Souza moves to the side

and de Souza holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
de Souza blocks a punch to the side of the head.
de Souza utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Nakata takes a shot to the head.
de Souza misses with a knee strike.
Nakata misses with some punches.
de Souza has Nakata pressed against the ropes, preventing Nakata from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Nakata tries to throw a body punch but de Souza avoids it by throwing Nakata back against the cage.
Nakata pushes off an throws an elbow but de Souza leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
Nakata is working for a takedown up against the ropes. He can't get it on this occasion though.
de Souza works on Nakata's body with a couple of short punches.
de Souza taking a breather.
Knees in the clinch landing for de Souza.
Nice body punch from de Souza.
de Souza with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
de Souza is leaning against Nakata and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
de Souza gets through Nakata's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
de Souza lands a nice knee to the body.
Nakata tries to pull guard but de Souza holds him up against the ropes and eventually Nakata drops back down to his feet.
de Souza tries a knee to the head but Nakata blocks it.

de Souza manages to pull guard.
Nakata working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nakata thows a big elbow that misses.
de Souza looking to hit a scissor sweep but Nakata is one step ahead there.

Nakata is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! de Souza is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! de Souza has escaped and now he's on top!

Nakata looking for submissions from the bottom but instead de Souza passes into side control.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Nakata tries to improve position but can't.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
de Souza staying calm.
Nakata wants to get back to his feet but de Souza drags him back down.
Nakata can't do much from the bottom here.
Nakata manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Nakata trying to control here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nakata is not content to let de Souza control the position.

Nakata looking for submissions off his back.
Thiago de Souza overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
de Souza scores with a leg kick.
Thiago de Souza is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nakata takes a kick to the side of the head.
A left lands for de Souza.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
de Souza circles away from the clinch attempt
and de Souza counters with a head kick.
Nakata dodges the punch combination from de Souza.
Nakata with a lazy takedown attempt

and de Souza counters by clinching up.
Thiago de Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hidetoshi Nakata.
A hook to the body from de Souza.
Nakata fails to pull the fight into his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nakata goes for a takedown attempt but de Souza pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.

Nakata looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

Nakata is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
de Souza moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Hidetoshi Nakata has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Thiago de Souza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Nakata drops back, looking for a kneebar! de Souza looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. de Souza looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from de Souza!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nakata tries to improve position but can't.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago de Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for de Souza, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Taro Takaoka scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thiago de Souza!