PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Fabio Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Junior Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fabio Souza is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

Souza
vs
Gracie

167 cm
22
152 lbs
9 - 3 - 0

179 cm
28
158 lbs
17 - 11 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

Biofuel (Weight Gain + Loss)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Fabio Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Junior Gracie!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Alexandre Firmino and Leandro Rodrigues.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie tries to clinch up.

Gracie instigates a clinch.
Gracie is working for takedown but Souza is calmly controlling the position for now.

Gracie tightens his grip and picks Souza up, before dumping him to the ground. Souza manages to land in guard.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Souza wants to sweep but no luck.

Gracie has gone for a leg lock! Souza slips out almost immediately though and dives into Gracie's guard.
Souza trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Souza slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Gracie looking to hit a scissor sweep but Souza is one step ahead there.
Souza might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Souza controlling from the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Souza!
Gracie tries to control but Souza wriggling away.

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

Gracie throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Souza content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gracie wants to hit a switch here but Souza passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Gracie there!
Souza controlling from mount.
Souza trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Gracie is looking to improve his position but Souza isn't that keen on the idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Souza.
Gracie really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Gracie slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Souza is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Gracie tries to roll over but Souza keeps him under control.
Souza not doing much here.
Gracie is looking for a sweep. Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Fabio Souza wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Gracie shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Souza as he jumps to the side.
Souza misses with a straight right.

Souza looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Souza is taking a breather. Gracie says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Gracie has a hand on Souza's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Souza takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Souza cracks Gracie with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Souza throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Souza tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Fabio Souza will probably get the nod.
That's time! Souza's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Gracie misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Gracie misses with a few strikes there.
Gracie ducks under a wild hook from Souza.
Gracie shoots in looking for a takedown but Souza manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Gracie's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

Souza scores with a takedown into Gracie's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Gracie is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gracie is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Gracie prevents Souza from improving his position.

Gracie looking for a submission but Souza manages to get full guard, putting an end to that submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza controlling the position.
Gracie looking to pass the guard.
Souza wants to sweep here but Gracie controlling him for the moment.
Souza bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gracie's guard.
Souza is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Fabio Souza overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Souza trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Souza accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Souza looking to pass the guard.
Gracie looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Souza puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Gracie tries to roll over but Souza keeps him under control.
Souza is looking to take a break and control but Gracie is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Souza with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Gracie tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Souza has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Gracie is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza controlling his opponent.
Souza misses with a head shot.
Souza knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Gracie on the ground.
Souza looking to control but Gracie is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Gracie working to try and regain half guard.
Souza controlling the pace for now.
Gracie blocking the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Gracie tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Souza looking to control but Gracie is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Gracie is desperately trying to improve his position but Souza has a good base and remains in mount.
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.
Gracie is looking to improve his position but Souza isn't that keen on the idea.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fabio 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. This is the final round!

Gracie tries to close the distance and clinch but Souza swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Gracie misses with a double jab.
Gracie closes this distance looking for a takedown but Souza circles away.
Souza stuffs the takedown attempt from Gracie. Gracie gets slowly back to his feet.
Gracie shoots in looking for a takedown but Souza manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Gracie's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Fabio Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Junior Gracie.
Gracie on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
A swing and a miss from Souza.

Souza shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Souza was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Souza controlling from the full mount.
Gracie takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Souza content just to control the position here.
Souza trying to control but Gracie is having none of it.
Souza misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Gracie is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza misses with a head shot.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracie is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Souza tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Poor strikes thrown by Souza there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Fabio Souza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Souza tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Gracie is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
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.
Gracie is in all sorts of trouble here.
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.
Gracie is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Gracie is desperately trying to improve his position but Souza has a good base and remains in mount.
Souza throws some wild stikes that Gracie manages to avoid easily.
Gracie tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Gracie is squirming around, avoiding Souza's attempts to control the action.
Souza throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Gracie because Souza loaded up on that one.
Junior Gracie has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Souza controlling his opponent.
Gracie is trying to escape the mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Fabio Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:27
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Fabio Souza!
Our winner, Fabio Souza, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.