PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ninho De Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Samuel Crosby (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Samuel Crosby has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

De Souza
vs
Crosby

178 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
20
192 lbs
0 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ninho De Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Samuel Crosby!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, George Francis and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
De Souza keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
De Souza throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Crosby shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts De Souza as he jumps to the side.

De Souza shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Crosby looks gassed!
Crosby won't allow De Souza to pass to mount.
De Souza has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
De Souza is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Crosby can't stay in a position like this for much longer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crosby really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
De Souza looking to control and managing it successfully.
De Souza working the ground and pound effectively.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

De Souza working for a submission but Crosby is keeping him at bay.
De Souza controlling from mount.
De Souza putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Crosby tries to control De Souza's body but De Souza pushes him off. Crosby squirms to his side and now De Souza has his back!
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

De Souza patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?
Crosby covering up well and avoiding damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Crosby tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Crosby tries to hold on but De Souza postures up.
De Souza breaks from Crosby's wrist control and lands an elbow.
De Souza lands a heavy elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crosby tries to hold on but De Souza postures up.
Crosby is trying desperately to improve position.
De Souza with good strikes from the mount here!
Crosby tries to hold on but De Souza pushes him away.
De Souza controlling from mount.
De Souza seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Crosby for as long as he can get away with.
Crosby tries to hold on but De Souza pushes him away.

De Souza has control of Crosby's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Crosby regains control of the situation pretty easily.
De Souza throws a strike there. Crosby manages to avoid it well and slips a leg under to get to half guard.

That's four 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.
Crosby moves into full guard.
De Souza controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Crosby wants to sweep but no luck.
Crosby can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as De Souza controls the pace.
De Souza could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Crosby has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but De Souza has passed into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ninho De Souza dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

De Souza bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
De Souza knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Crosby on the ground.
De Souza working the head with strikes.
De Souza staying calm.
De Souza lands some shots froms side control.

De Souza decides to stand back up. De Souza steps back and let's Crosby get back to his feet.
De Souza scores with the left hand. Crosby knows he should have avoided that one.
Crosby throws a sloppy head kick and De Souza moves out of range easily.
Crosby wants to land a leg kick but De Souza is out of range.
Crosby is breathing heavily.
Crosby misses with a takedown

and De Souza decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Crosby's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
De Souza stays in close to Crosby's body and controls the position.
De Souza won't allow Crosby to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Souza stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Crosby swivels though and keeps the full guard.
De Souza is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Ninho De Souza overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Crosby keeping moving, preventing De Souza from controlling successfully.
De Souza controlling from the top position.
De Souza is looking to work some ground and pound but Crosby has wrist control.
De Souza slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Crosby lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for De Souza!
De Souza really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
De Souza is squirming around, avoiding Crosby's attempts to control the action.
De Souza tries to hold on but Crosby postures up.
Crosby lands a nice shot to the head.
Crosby can't control as he wanted to and De Souza manages to get the fight back to his half guard.
De Souza controlling the position well.
Crosby prevents De Souza from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Souza manages to get to full guard.
De Souza is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Crosby throws a big right hand that misses.
De Souza working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Crosby.
De Souza lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Crosby!

De Souza is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Crosby has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Crosby!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

De Souza keeping busy on the bottom but Crosby has passed one foot through into half guard.
De Souza is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Crosby's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Crosby's back!

De Souza is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Crosby knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Crosby for a finish.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards De Souza.
De Souza scores with strikes from the back.
De Souza biding his time, controlling Crosby.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ninho De Souza dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. And we move into the final round!

De Souza shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Crosby is looking for a sweep. De Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Crosby on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
De Souza working the head and body with strikes.

Crosby actively working from the bottom here.
De Souza is pressing down on Crosby's thigh, looking to free his foot. Crosby is holding on for now.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Crosby keeping control of the position.
Crosby trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Souza perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
De Souza is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Crosby is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Crosby fails with the takedown

and De Souza counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
De Souza wants to control from the top but Crosby keeps moving.
De Souza not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Crosby trying to keep a closed guard but De Souza is proving a slippery customer.
De Souza showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Crosby not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Souza is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Crosby controls De Souza momentarily but De Souza frees himself.
De Souza controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
De Souza tries to free his leg and advance position but Crosby is retaining full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Souza not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
De Souza has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Ninho De Souza just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Crosby doesn't succeed with the takedown

and De Souza counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
De Souza is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
De Souza scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
De Souza wants to get up but he can't break Crosby's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Crosby bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in De Souza's guard.
Crosby wants to pass the guard but De Souza is keeping the position.
De Souza has control of Crosby's left arm, preventing Crosby from doing any damage.
De Souza wants to sweep here but Crosby controlling him for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

De Souza has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Crosby can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
De Souza pulls Crosby in close to prevent any damage.
Crosby trying to control the position from guard on top but De Souza is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
De Souza seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Crosby avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
De Souza has Crosby pulled in close to control his posture.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ninho De Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well De Souza has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:27
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ninho De Souza!