PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Brendan Stevens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kadu Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kadu Souza has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Brendan Stevens's chin.

Stevens
vs
Souza

217 cm
22
193 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

188 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brendan Stevens!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Kadu Souza!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Emerson Jorge and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stevens dives in for a single leg takedown but Souza sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Souza is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Souza throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
A combination from Souza does no damage.
Souza darts in trying to clinch

and Stevens counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Stevens won't allow Souza to get back to his feet.
Stevens trying to control the position from guard on top but Souza is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Souza pushes Stevens off and gets back to his feet.
Stevens tries for a takedown but Souza sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Souza swats away the attempt to clinch by Stevens.
Souza throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Stevens attempts a counter takedown but Souza avoids it well and moves away.
Sloppy strikes from Souza. Those never looked like landing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Souza circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Souza misses with a double jab.
Stevens half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Stevens dives in and grabs Souza's left leg, looking for a takedown. Souza pushes down on Stevens's head and hops out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brendan Stevens. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Souza forces Stevens back against the cage and clinches.
Souza scores with a nice hook to the head.
Souza has had enough of the clinch but Stevens keeps him there for the moment.
Stevens tries to pull guard but Souza holds him up against the cage and eventually Stevens drops back down to his feet.
Stevens tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Souza just stands there and leans against the cage.
Stevens fails to pull guard.
Souza wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Souza is trying to break free.
Stevens tries to score a body lock takedown but Souza shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Souza wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza tries to circle away but Stevens has him pinned against the cage.
Stevens is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Souza to keep the fight standing.
Souza is trying to break the clinch but Stevens has him pressed against the cage.
Souza lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Souza is trying to pull guard but Stevens turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Souza is pressed up against the cage. Stevens has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Souza down to the mat. Souza avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Stevens blocks a head kick by Souza.
Souza throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Stevens.

Souza forces Stevens back against the cage and clinches.

Stevens escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Souza lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Stevens circles away quickly and effectively.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Souza lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Stevens has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Stevens and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.

Stevens tries to keep at a distance but Souza has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stevens has Souza pressed against the cage, preventing Souza from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Souza misses with a hook from the clinch.

Souza breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Stevens showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Souza.
Kadu Souza seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Souza tries to clinch up

and Stevens counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Souza!

Souza bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Souza looks winded!
Souza misses with a double jab

and Stevens counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

Souza has his feet on Stevens's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Souza throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Stevens clinches up with Souza and pushes him back against the cage.
Stevens is looking for a takedown.
Souza is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Stevens successfully pulls guard.
Souza prevents Stevens from getting back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Souza throws a big elbow that misses.
Souza won't allow Stevens to get back to his feet.
Stevens keeping moving, preventing Souza from controlling successfully.

Stevens is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Souza defends well.
Stevens wants to get back to his feet but Souza is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Stevens trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kadu Souza dominated that 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.

A combination from Souza does no damage.
Stevens seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Brendan Stevens is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Stevens takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

Souza has managed to clinch.
Souza working hard to break the clinch.
Stevens blocks an elbow strike from Souza.
Souza wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Stevens has him pressed against the cage.
Stevens really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Stevens pulls Souza into guard.
Souza working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Souza prevents Stevens from getting back to his feet.
Souza missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Souza loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Souza won't allow Stevens to get back to his feet.
Souza has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Stevens will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Stevens is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souza throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Souza preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Souza decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Stevens, up you get!
Souza tried to score with a low kick but Stevens checks it.

Souza rushes Stevens and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Souza misses with a short punch on the inside.
Souza working hard to break the clinch.
Souza tries to break free but Stevens pushes him back against the cage.
Souza looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Souza wants to break free but Stevens has control.
Souza is trying to push Stevens away but Stevens has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Souza looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Stevens keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Souza's efforts to push away.
Souza can't break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Stevens manages to pull guard.

Souza thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Souza is breathing heavily.
Stevens preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Stevens wants to sweep but no luck.
Stevens will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Souza pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Stevens is keeping the position for now.
Stevens is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Stevens pushes Souza off and scrambles back to his feet.
Souza tries to clinch but Stevens is having none of it.
Souza lands a jab-cross combination.

Stevens is rocked!

It looks like Brendan Stevens has been cut.
Souza throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Stevens.
Oh Stevens is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Souza lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Stevens circles away quickly and effectively.
Kadu Souza is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Souza blocks a head kick by Stevens.
Stevens misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Stevens avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Souza tries to clinch but Stevens is having none of it.
Souza tries to clinch up.
Stevens wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Stevens will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Stevens doesn't manage to clinch there - Souza circles away.
Stevens misses with a double jab.
Stevens lands with a kick to the temple. Souza shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Stevens seems to have got his legs back now.
Souza throws a chopping leg kick but Stevens manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
It looked like Stevens was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza tries to close the distance and clinch up but Stevens swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Souza doesn't manage to clinch there - Stevens circles away.
A combination from Souza does no damage.
Stevens avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Stevens feinted with a counter takedown.

Stevens closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Stevens tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Souza smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Brendan Stevens. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Souza tries to clinch but Stevens is having none of it.
Stevens changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Souza tries to clinch up but Stevens circles away and keeps his distance.
Souza moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Stevens - that will leave a mark!

Souza closes the distance and clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Stevens pulls guard.

Souza decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Stevens, up you get!
Stevens shoots in for a double leg but Souza sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Souza closes the distance and clinches.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Souza's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Souza lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

Stevens jumps guard.

Souza drops back looking for a leg! Stevens is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Stevens manages to kick Souza off! Souza jumps back into Stevens's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Stevens is looking to stand up but Souza isn't so interested in that idea.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kadu Souza showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Brendan Stevens's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Souza goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Souza throws a left and a right that both miss

and Stevens holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Stevens keeps control of Souza as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Souza dips a shoulder and cracks Stevens with a mighty uppercut! Stevens falls back against the cage and Souza unloads with a barrage of strikes! Stevens is completely out with his eyes open, only supported by the cage! Save him ref! Eventually the ref decides to do his job and jumps in - Souza screams abuse at the incompetent official before going over to celebrate with his corner. Brutal stuff!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:27 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kadu Souza!