PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ben Reed (ranked 1187 p4p, 152 weight class) and Rogerio De Souza (ranked 1200 p4p, 153 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Reed
vs
De Souza

200 cm
26
198 lbs
8 - 8 - 0

190 cm
26
196 lbs
12 - 13 - 0

Good wrestling
Lethal high kicks
Granite chin

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

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 8 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ben Reed!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rogerio De Souza!
The judges for this bout are Viktor Lagutenko, Illya Tyunina and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Reed lands a leg kick that knocks De Souza off balance momentarily.
De Souza throws an overhand right that lands on Reed's shoulder, as Reed tries to avoid the shot.
Reed misses with a hook

and De Souza counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by De Souza.
De Souza looking to pass the guard.
De Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Reed works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
De Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Reed works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
De Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Reed is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
De Souza tries to free his leg and advance position but Reed is retaining full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Souza connects with a couple of short punches.
De Souza looking to pass the guard.
Reed really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Reed has De Souza pulled in close to control his posture.
De Souza wants to pass the guard but Reed is keeping the position.
We've been hearing good reports from Reed's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Souza slips nicely into half guard.
De Souza not landing any meaningful shots this time.

De Souza 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.
De Souza is trying to control. Reed wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Reed is looking for a sweep. De Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

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.
Reed is not content to let De Souza control the position.

De Souza is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Reed has managed to free his arm - good work.

De Souza seems to be looking for submissions.
De Souza wants to pass the guard but Reed is defending well.

Reed is defending against the submission attempts here by De Souza.
Reed wants to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Souza missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Reed is in trouble now - De Souza has advanced to mount!
De Souza tries to control but Reed wriggling away.
Reed avoids a series of strikes thrown by De Souza.
De Souza wants to take Reed's back but he can't do it this time.
De Souza thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
De Souza takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
De Souza can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Reed is looking to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Souza throwing strikes here but Reed is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Reed wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by De Souza.

De Souza swings around for an armbar but it's a sloppy attempt and Reed is now in De Souza's guard. A big mistake from De Souza there, giving up the dominant position!

De Souza is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Reed is aware though and is defending well.
Reed sitting in guard, not really doing much.

De Souza looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Reed passes into half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
De Souza trying to hold on to Reed's head to control him but Reed postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rogerio De Souza 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.

De Souza misses with a wild body shot.
Reed lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Reed dips to his left and cracks De Souza with an uppercut!
Reed lands a nice looking body shot.
De Souza chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Reed can pounce on him.
De Souza blocks a leg kick.
De Souza tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
A big right from Reed misses.
De Souza with the counter takedown but Reed avoids it easily.
Good leg kick by Reed there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Reed connects with a solid leg kick.
Reed scores with a slapping inside leg kick.
Reed slips a jab and a cross from De Souza.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Reed slips a jab and a cross from De Souza.
Reed misses with a straight left.
De Souza with the counter takedown but Reed avoids it easily.
Reed darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Ben Reed is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A big right from De Souza misses.
Reed keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Reed is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Reed blocks a jab.
Ben Reed is winning the standup battle so far.
Nice defenses there by De Souza.
A big right from Reed misses.
Reed jabs De Souza right on the nose. De Souza blinks but takes it well.
De Souza scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Reed throws a hook to the side of De Souza's head but De Souza sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
De Souza feints the counter takedown.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Souza scores with a hook.
De Souza swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Reed throws a leg kick that is checked
and Reed takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Ben Reed seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Reed tries a head kick but it misses.
And De Souza tries to counter it with a takedown but Reed pushes his down on his head and steps out.
De Souza scores with a jab to the jaw.
De Souza throws a lazy right hand but Reed sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Reed turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Reed gets off balance looking for a body kick

and De Souza counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Reed makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Reed.
De Souza stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Reed swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Reed pulls De Souza in close to prevent any damage.
Reed keeping moving, preventing De Souza from controlling successfully.
Reed is trying to keep De Souza in close.
De Souza postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
De Souza throws a big right hand that misses.
De Souza postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
De Souza stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Reed swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
De Souza is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
De Souza controls from within his opponent's guard.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Reed keeping moving, preventing De Souza from controlling successfully.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
De Souza throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
It looked like Reed wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Reed looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
De Souza drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Reed defends it well.
Nice body kick there by Reed.
De Souza uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Reed.
De Souza with the counter takedown but Reed avoids it easily.
Reed moves away from the strike by De Souza.
De Souza slips a jab from Reed.
De Souza feints the counter takedown.
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 Ben Reed 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!

A solid leg kick lands there for Reed.
De Souza takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Reed throws a front kick that sends De Souza stumbling back into the cage.
Reed cracks De Souza with an open hand slap.
De Souza staying out of range there.
Reed is looking to slow De Souza down with leg kicks.
Reed tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and De Souza is able to avoid easily.
Rogerio De Souza is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

De Souza changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Reed looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
De Souza wants to lay and pray for a moment but Reed keeps working.
Reed managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by De Souza.

That's one minute gone in the round.

De Souza is in a dominant position here, looking for a kimura. Reed looks calm but he's in trouble here. De Souza gets his leg over his opponent's head and yanks on the arm. Reed is tapping like a morse code operator on the titanic! SOS! SOS! De Souza lets go of the hold and Reed can pop his arm back in it's socket.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:20 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Rogerio De Souza!
An out of breath Rogerio De Souza thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.