PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Koulouraki Souvlaki (ranked 719 p4p, 86 weight class) and Brody Kavanagh (ranked 558 p4p, 70 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Souvlaki might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Greek Anthem. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Souvlaki
vs
Kavanagh

174 cm
37
146 lbs
21 - 15 - 0

174 cm
29
152 lbs
19 - 9 - 2

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Voodoo Nutrition

Conviction

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 21 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Koulouraki Souvlaki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 9 - 2, fighting out of Los Angeles, Brody Kavanagh!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, James Ackerman and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Kavanagh thuds a left hand into Souvlaki's body.
Souvlaki has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Vicious Striking in the buildup to the fight.
Souvlaki doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Kavanagh cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Kavanagh misses with a body shot.
Souvlaki takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Kavanagh moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Souvlaki on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Souvlaki has a takedown stuffed.
Souvlaki misses with a looping right.
Souvlaki looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Koulouraki Souvlaki. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Souvlaki needs to keep his hands up - Kavanagh had a free shot at his head there.
A left and a right from Souvlaki both land. Nice combination.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Decent striking displayed by Kavanagh there.
Kavanagh works the jab nicely.
Souvlaki keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Kavanagh.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Kavanagh.
Souvlaki ducks right into an uppercut from Kavanagh.
Kavanagh fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Souvlaki has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Kavanagh throws a hook but Souvlaki blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Kavanagh.
A swing and a miss from Souvlaki.
Nice uppercut there from Kavanagh.
Brody Kavanagh is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Kavanagh throws a hook to the side of Souvlaki's head but Souvlaki sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A big right from Souvlaki misses.

Souvlaki closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Souvlaki is looking to stall here but Kavanagh recovers full guard.
Kavanagh pulls Souvlaki in close to his closed guard and prevents Souvlaki from doing any damage or advancing position.
Souvlaki lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Souvlaki trying to control the position from guard on top but Kavanagh is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souvlaki throws an elbow that misses. Kavanagh uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Souvlaki's guard. Nice move by Kavanagh!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souvlaki pulls Kavanagh in close to prevent any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Souvlaki is trying to keep Kavanagh in close.
Kavanagh sitting in guard here, content to control.
Kavanagh tries to free his leg and advance position but Souvlaki is retaining full guard.
Souvlaki wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
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!
Kavanagh stands and throws Souvlaki's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Kavanagh takes a little break here. Souvlaki wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Souvlaki manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souvlaki has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Kavanagh is working away from the top position though.
Kavanagh sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Kavanagh works his way into full mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Kavanagh tries to control but Souvlaki wriggling away.
Souvlaki is trying desperately to improve position.
Souvlaki is working hard here to advance position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kavanagh trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Kavanagh controlling from the full mount.
Souvlaki tries to hold on but Kavanagh postures up.
Kavanagh blocks Souvlaki's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Kavanagh looking to control and managing it successfully.
Souvlaki keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Kavanagh tries to control but Souvlaki wriggling away.
Kavanagh controlling his opponent.
Souvlaki keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brody Kavanagh dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Kavanagh gets caught napping as Souvlaki dives in and scores a takedown. Kavanagh manages to retain guard.
Brody Kavanagh has got the better of the ground game so far.
Souvlaki with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Kavanagh trying to keep a closed guard but Souvlaki is proving a slippery customer.
Souvlaki is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Kavanagh holds on and takes a little breather.
Souvlaki preventing the sweep.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Souvlaki throws an elbow that misses. Kavanagh uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Souvlaki's guard. Nice move by Kavanagh!

Kavanagh trying to control the position from guard on top but Souvlaki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souvlaki is trying to control the position but Kavanagh postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souvlaki throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Kavanagh 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.
Kavanagh passes Souvlaki's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Kavanagh trying to control the action but Souvlaki is working from the bottom.
Kavanagh is pressing down on Souvlaki's thigh, looking to free his foot. Souvlaki is holding on for now.
Souvlaki wants to improve his position but Kavanagh is controlling well.
Kavanagh is taking a breather. Souvlaki 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.
Souvlaki is trying to get back to full guard.
Souvlaki wants to control the action here but instead Kavanagh manages to pass to full mount!
Kavanagh wants to control the pace but Souvlaki is squirming around nicely.
Kavanagh controlling the position easily from mount.
Souvlaki has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souvlaki tries to lock up and control but Kavanagh gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Souvlaki is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Kavanagh is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Kavanagh takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Kavanagh trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Kavanagh tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Souvlaki is looking to get to half guard.
Kavanagh has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Kavanagh controlling from mount.

Kavanagh is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Souvlaki to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Souvlaki shrugs it off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kavanagh blocks Souvlaki's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Souvlaki wants to control but Kavanagh is having none of it.
Kavanagh prevents Souvlaki from getting the reversal.
Kavanagh looking to control and managing it successfully.
Kavanagh trying to control but Souvlaki is having none of it.
Souvlaki throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Souvlaki is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kavanagh trying to control but Souvlaki is having none of it.
Souvlaki gets back to half guard.

Kavanagh is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Kavanagh is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Souvlaki is just riding it out for now. Kavanagh eventually gives up the hold.
Souvlaki is looking to improve his position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Kavanagh wants to work for an arm triangle but Souvlaki is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brody Kavanagh showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Kavanagh throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Kavanagh lands with a thumping leg kick.
Kavanagh throws a shot from downtown. Souvlaki moves away and avoids it.
Brody Kavanagh seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Souvlaki is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Kavanagh's half guard.
Kavanagh is trying to get back to full guard.
Kavanagh is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Souvlaki scores with a couple of nice shots.
Kavanagh felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Kavanagh moves into full guard.
Souvlaki tries to free his leg and advance position but Kavanagh is retaining full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kavanagh looking to control.
Kavanagh looking for a sweep. Not yet Kavanagh, not yet.
Souvlaki throwing strikes from guard but Kavanagh blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souvlaki is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Kavanagh utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Souvlaki throws a strike but Kavanagh rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Kavanagh advances to half guard.
Souvlaki is pressing down on Kavanagh's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Souvlaki looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Kavanagh trying to control the position from guard on top but Souvlaki is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souvlaki trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Kavanagh 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.
Kavanagh advances position into side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kavanagh advances to full mount.
Souvlaki is in all sorts of trouble here.

Kavanagh is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Souvlaki has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Kavanagh controlling his opponent.
Souvlaki gets back to half guard.

Kavanagh is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Souvlaki defends it well.
Souvlaki wants to control but Kavanagh is keeping busy.
Kavanagh wants to free his trapped foot but Souvlaki is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souvlaki is looking to improve his position.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Kavanagh in particular looking to stall.
Souvlaki trying to control here.
Souvlaki is staying active underneath Kavanagh, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Souvlaki is trying to control but can't.
Souvlaki is staying active underneath Kavanagh, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Souvlaki wants to control but Kavanagh is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Kavanagh wants to take a breather but Souvlaki is having none of it.
Souvlaki striking from the bottom.
Kavanagh trying to control the pace.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Souvlaki is looking for a sweep. Kavanagh is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Kavanagh is looking for a kimura here.
Souvlaki is trying to get back to full guard.
Koulouraki Souvlaki has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Souvlaki is pressing down on Kavanagh's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Kavanagh stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Souvlaki swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Kavanagh engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Kavanagh is pushing down on Souvlaki's leg trying to pass to half guard. Souvlaki is fighting to maintain full guard but Kavanagh has managed to sneak the leg through.

And that's the end of the fight!
Brody Kavanagh comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Kavanagh has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Phil Schofield scores the fight 27:30
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Brody Kavanagh!
Brody Kavanagh seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.