PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Mamed Khalidovv (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricardo Da Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Khalidovv
vs
Da Souza

195 cm
21
200 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

184 cm
31
186 lbs
12 - 10 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Very quick

Good takedowns
Good kicks
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Mamed Khalidovv!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 10 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ricardo Da Souza!
The judges for this bout are Wagner Zegers, Saam Ante and Nard Betker.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Khalidovv gets the takedown into side control.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Khalidovv tries to move to mount but Da Souza blocks the move with his legs.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Khalidovv is looking to take a break and control but Da Souza is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Khalidovv is trying to get an arm triangle but Da Souza is defending well.

Khalidovv is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Da Souza has escaped the position, nice work there.
Da Souza tries to bench press Khalidovv off him but Khalidovv keeps the position.
Da Souza is trying to control Khalidovv's posture but Khalidovv avoids it.
Da Souza is looking to reverse the position.

Khalidovv tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Khalidovv has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Khalidovv wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Da Souza, who protects the arm well.
Khalidovv will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Khalidovv wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Da Souza, who protects the arm well.

Khalidovv goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Da Souza has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Khalidovv but great work by Da Souza.
Khalidovv is looking to regain half guard here but Da Souza keeps moving and retains side control.
Khalidovv manages to get back to half guard.
Da Souza with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

Da Souza is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Khalidovv is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Da Souza's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Da Souza's back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Khalidovv working for a choke but Da Souza is defending well.
Khalidovv is not going to allow Da Souza to sit and survive in this position.

Khalidovv looking for the choke but no joy.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Khalidovv working for a choke but Da Souza is defending well.
Da Souza turns into Khalidovv and is now in his guard.
Khalidovv keeping moving, preventing Da Souza from controlling successfully.
Da Souza postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Da Souza works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Khalidovv wants to improve his position but Da Souza is controlling well.

Khalidovv is defending against the submission attempts here by Da Souza.

Khalidovv looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Da Souza trying to control the action but Khalidovv is working from the bottom.

Khalidovv looking for submissions off his back.
Da Souza throwing shots but Khalidovv is blocking nicely.
Khalidovv works his way to full guard. Good work.

Da Souza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Da Souza missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Da Souza wants to stand but Khalidovv has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Khalidovv throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Khalidovv is looking for a triangle but Da Souza pushes his legs off easily.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Da Souza drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Da Souza jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Da Souza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Khalidovv looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Khalidovv looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Da Souza has picked Khalidovv up and slammed him! Khalidovv can't keep hold of the triangle and Da Souza manages to pass to side control!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mamed Khalidovv dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Da Souza throws a right and a left that Khalidovv avoids nicely.
Khalidovv thows a leg kick but Da Souza checks it
and Da Souza counters with a body kick.
A head kick from Da Souza lands but Khalidovv takes it in his stride.
Khalidovv takes a jab right on the kisser.
Khalidovv fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Da Souza lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Khalidovv tries to close the distance and clinch up but Da Souza swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Khalidovv fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Da Souza displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Khalidovv.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mamed Khalidovv. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Khalidovv blocks a head kick by Da Souza.
Da Souza plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Khalidovv fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Khalidovv on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Da Souza misses with a double jab.
Nice takedown defense from Da Souza. No joy for Khalidovv on that attempt.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Da Souza!

Khalidovv gets a takedown into half guard.
Khalidovv tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Da Souza looks like he's trying to stand up.
Khalidovv wants to take a breather but Da Souza is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Khalidovv is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Khalidovv throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Khalidovv is trying to control. Da Souza wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

Khalidovv is working for a kimura from half guard. He's really concentrating on the hold and it's allowed Da Souza to slip a leg under and get back to full guard.
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!

Khalidovv drops back, looking for a kneebar! Da Souza looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Da Souza looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Da Souza!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Da Souza wants to control but Khalidovv is keeping him busy.
Da Souza scoring with punches and elbows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Da Souza wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Khalidovv, who protects the arm well.
Khalidovv is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Khalidovv gets back to half guard.

Khalidovv is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Da Souza pulls his head out easily.

Khalidovv looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Da Souza is looking to take a break and control but Khalidovv is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Da Souza is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Khalidovv is defending against the submission attempts here by Da Souza.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Khalidovv looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Da Souza is trying to work for a kimura but Khalidovv is defending well.

Da Souza is looking for a kimura here.

Da Souza trying to work for an americana but Khalidovv has managed to regain full guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Da Souza advances position into side control!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricardo Da Souza 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!

No joy there for Da Souza, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Khalidovv takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Khalidovv closes the distance and clinches up with Da Souza, looking for a takedown. Khalidovv pushes Da Souza against the ropes but Da Souza circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Da Souza rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Khalidovv moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

Khalidovv shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Khalidovv showed some decent athleticism there.
Khalidovv lands strikes from half guard.
Da Souza wants to control but Khalidovv is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Da Souza is defending against the submission attempts here by Khalidovv.

Khalidovv looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Da Souza flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Da Souza wants to improve his position but Khalidovv is controlling well.

Khalidovv is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Da Souza is trying to control but can't.

Khalidovv is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Da Souza is trying to maintain the position but Khalidovv is very close to passing his half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Khalidovv is trying to work for a kimura but Da Souza is defending well.

Khalidovv is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Da Souza is just riding it out for now. Khalidovv eventually gives up the hold.
Khalidovv throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Khalidovv is looking for a kimura but Da Souza is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Khalidovv to get the leverage.

Khalidovv seems to be looking for submissions.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Khalidovv is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Da Souza doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Khalidovv.

Da Souza looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Da Souza is trying to control but can't.

Khalidovv wants to work for an arm triangle but Da Souza is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Da Souza flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.

Da Souza looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Khalidovv is just content to waste time from the top position. Da Souza takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Da Souza looking to control.
Da Souza tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Khalidovv postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Da Souza is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Khalidovv, into his guard.
Da Souza tries to free his leg and advance position but Khalidovv is retaining full guard.

Khalidovv had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Da Souza defends it easily.
Da Souza tries to free his leg and advance position but Khalidovv is retaining full guard.

Khalidovv is looking for a triangle but Da Souza pushes his legs off easily.
Da Souza trying to control but Khalidovv is working from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Da Souza drops back looking for a leg! Khalidovv is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Khalidovv manages to kick Da Souza off! Da Souza jumps back into Khalidovv's guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Khalidovv has his foot on Da Souza's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Da Souza works his way back into a safe position though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mamed Khalidovv showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Khalidovv 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 Wagner Zegers scores the fight 29:28
Judge Saam Ante scores the fight 29:28
Judge Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mamed Khalidovv!
Mamed Khalidovv retains his middleweight title!