PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Townsend (ranked 7640 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Sousa (ranked 4557 p4p, 0 weight class). Chris Sousa has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with James Townsend's chin.

Townsend
vs
Sousa

169 cm
23
193 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

185 cm
23
185 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Determined

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, James Townsend!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Chris Sousa!
The judges for this bout are Richard Clark, Chris Edwards and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sousa throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Sousa fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Townsend fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Townsend fails with a takedown attempt.
Sousa motions for Townsend to come forward. Sousa throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Townsend fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Townsend. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sousa looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Townsend could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Sousa looks winded!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sousa clinches with his opponent.
Sousa is looking for a takedown.
Sousa is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Sousa is trying to drag Townsend to the mat but Townsend just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

Townsend pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Townsend closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Townsend with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Townsend landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Townsend seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Sousa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Townsend is taking a breather. Sousa 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.
Townsend seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Sousa for as long as he can get away with.
Townsend tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Sousa.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Townsend controlling the action here.
Townsend scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Townsend perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Townsend drops an elbow to the side of Sousa's head.
Sousa wants to get back to full guard.
Townsend 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.
Still in half guard, Townsend seems content to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Townsend continues to stall.
Sousa looks like he's trying to stand up.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Townsend fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Sousa to the ground. Townsend is now in Sousa's guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Townsend is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Townsend takes a swing at Sousa's ribcage but misses.

Sousa closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Townsend quickly recovers to half guard.
Townsend wants to get back to his feet.
Townsend trying to control here.
Sousa wants to lay and pray for a moment but Townsend keeps working.

Townsend is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Sousa pulls his head out easily.

Sousa is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Townsend sees it coming and defends easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Townsend manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Sousa is breathing heavily.
Townsend defending well as Sousa loads up on a big left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Townsend shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Sousa manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Townsend stays in close to Sousa's body and controls the position.
Sousa wants to sweep here but Townsend controlling him for the moment.
Sousa can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Townsend controls the pace.
More hug and hope from Townsend.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Townsend is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Sousa.
Townsend fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Sousa throws a series of punches but Townsend moves out of range.
Townsend half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Townsend shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Townsend showed some decent athleticism there.
Still in half guard, Townsend seems content to control.
Townsend's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Sousa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Townsend working over Sousa with some ground and pound. Sousa looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Townsend sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Sousa has hold of Townsend's hands but Townsend slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sousa keeping hold of Townsend's head, controlling as best he can.
Sousa tries to get to full guard but Townsend has control of the leg.
Sousa has hold of Townsend's hands but Townsend slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Townsend is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Townsend winds up and cracks Sousa with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Townsend controlling the pace.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Townsend wants to stand up but Sousa has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Townsend stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Townsend dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Nice sprawl there from Sousa as Townsend shoots in.
Sousa throws a push kick but Townsend slaps the foot to one side.
Townsend wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Townsend shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sousa pinned against the cage. Sousa gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Sousa drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Townsend defends it well.
Sousa tries for a takedown but Townsend sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Townsend feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Townsend engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Sousa takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Sousa has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Townsend can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Townsend controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Sousa looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Townsend showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

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.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Townsend.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Townsend. That's going to take a lot out of him.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Sousa.
Horrible takedown attempt by Townsend or perhaps it was just good defense by Sousa, which made it look bad.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Townsend fails with a takedown attempt.
Sousa stuffs the takedown.
Despite the aggression on Sousa's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Sousa shoots in for a takedown but Townsend shows good takedown defense.
Nice takedown defense from Sousa. No joy for Townsend on that attempt.

Townsend closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Townsend is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sousa can do to turn this around?
Townsend scores with punches from side control.
Sousa is letting Townsend control him for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
James Townsend overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Sousa is trying to get back to half guard.
Sousa wants to control but Townsend postures up.
Sousa is trying to escape the position but Townsend is controlling the position.

Townsend decides to stand back up. Townsend steps back and let's Sousa get back to his feet.
Townsend shoots for a takedown but Sousa saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Townsend gets the takedown into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Sousa is looking to reverse the position.
Townsend happy to just control the position for now.
Chris Sousa has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
James Townsend is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Sousa tries to buck Townsend off but Townsend is having none of it.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to James Townsend.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Townsend, 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 Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Townsend!