PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ronaldo Souza (ranked 23369 p4p, 0 weight class) and Codename Lastairman (ranked 24380 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Souza
vs
Lastairman

185 cm
21
185 lbs
5 - 17 - 1

183 cm
19
192 lbs
5 - 5 - 1

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Knockout power

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 5 - 17 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ronaldo Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Codename Lastairman!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Alan Glass and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Souza swings for the body but Lastairman moves out of range.

Souza decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Lastairman kicks off Souza and gets to his feet.
Souza with a lazy takedown attempt
enabling Lastairman to counter with a crisp jab.
Ronaldo Souza seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Souza fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Lastairman, pushing him back against the cage.
Lastairman prevents a body shot from Souza.

Souza gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Lastairman regains guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Lastairman keeping full guard, as Souza tries to pass.
Souza is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Souza accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza throwing strikes but missing.
Souza is looking to work some ground and pound but Lastairman has wrist control.
Souza looking to pass the guard.
Souza won't allow Lastairman to get back to his feet.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

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

Souza throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
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.
Souza pulls Lastairman in close to his closed guard and prevents Lastairman from doing any damage or advancing position.
Souza is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Souza lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza tries to free his leg and advance position but Lastairman is retaining full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Souza is stalling in the full guard.
Lastairman wants to sweep here but Souza controlling him for the moment.
Souza has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Lastairman is looking to stand up but Souza isn't so interested in that idea.
Souza preventing the sweep.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's four 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.
Lastairman stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Lastairman wants it to stay on the feet.
Lastairman now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Nice sprawl there from Lastairman as Souza shoots in.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ronaldo Souza. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Souza feints and as Lastairman raises his hands in defense, Souza changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Souza stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Souza gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Souza slowing the pace effectively.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Souza tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Lastairman is leaning against Souza and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Souza tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
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 Ronaldo Souza will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Souza tries for a takedown but Lastairman circles away easily
and Lastairman counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Souza shoots in looking for a takedown. Lastairman tries to sprawl out of it but Souza keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Lastairman manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Lastairman is trying to counter with his kicks.

Souza clinches with his opponent.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Souza manages to pull guard.
Souza has Lastairman pulled in close to control his posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lastairman stands and steps away. Souza gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Souza darts in and clinches Lastairman up against the cage.
Souza tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ronaldo Souza. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lastairman doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Souza breaks the clinch.

Souza darts in and clinches Lastairman up against the cage.
Lastairman managing to block the knees to the body from Souza.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lastairman letting Souza take a breather here.
Souza presses Lastairman against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Souza prevents a body shot from Lastairman.
Lastairman tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Souza misses with a shot to the kidneys.

Souza gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Lastairman is not content to let Souza control the position.
Souza is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Lastairman can do to turn this around?
Souza is stalling here. Lastairman is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Souza seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Lastairman has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza is trying to control Lastairman's posture but Lastairman avoids it.

Lastairman decides to stand back up.
Horrible takedown attempt by Souza or perhaps it was just good defense by Lastairman, which made it look bad.
Souza leaves Lastairman with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

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.
Lastairman misses with a takedown
and Souza counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

Souza shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Souza was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Souza staying calm.
Souza working away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Ronaldo Souza will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Souza gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Lastairman misses with a body punch.

Lastairman pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Souza shoots and misses
and Lastairman counters with a stiff right hand.
Souza misses with a takedown
and Lastairman counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Souza throws a lazy head kick
and Lastairman counters with a body kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Souza tries to clinch
and Lastairman counters with a body kick.

Souza closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Lastairman's guard.
Souza pushing down on Lastairman's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lastairman keeping control of the position.
Souza is keen to just control but Lastairman is a slippery customer.
Souza trying to advance position but Lastairman counters by regaining guard.
Ronaldo Souza overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Souza wanted to stand there but Lastairman had control of the position.
Souza missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

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.
Souza controlling from the top position.
Souza trying to control but Lastairman is working from the bottom.

Souza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Souza is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lastairman keeping moving, preventing Souza from controlling successfully.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Souza tries to work over Lastairman's front leg with a kick but Lastairman checks it.
Lastairman replies with a solid counter kick to the body but Souza blocks it well.
Lastairman avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
And Lastairman responds with a good body kick, but Souza manages to step out the way in time.

Souza darts in and clinches Lastairman up against the cage.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Souza is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Lastairman to keep the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ronaldo Souza. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four 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.
Souza tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Lastairman smiles and moves away.

Souza shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Souza showed some decent athleticism there.

Lastairman has one foot on Souza's thigh - he pushes off and manages to get back to his feet.
Codename Lastairman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Souza dives in for a single leg takedown but Lastairman sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
A nice side step and Lastairman releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.

And that's the end of the fight!
Codename Lastairman comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Souza has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 29:29
Judge George Francis scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Ronaldo Souza!