PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Bruce Chang (ranked 1187 p4p, 1100 weight class) and Al Ghouti (ranked 145 p4p, 136 weight class). Ghouti has chosen DAM - JASADIK-HOM as his entrance music. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Chang
vs
Ghouti

178 cm
24
160
11 - 7 - 0

177 cm
25
155
7 - 3 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Conviction

UnderGround Clothing Co.

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 11 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Bruce Chang!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Al Ghouti!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Radbod Blank and Paulsen Ambrosius.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Chang motions for Ghouti to come forward. Chang throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Chang thows a leg kick but Ghouti checks it

so Ghouti counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Ghouti trying to control but Chang is working from the bottom.
Ghouti in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Ghouti throws a big elbow that misses.
Ghouti with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Chang has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Ghouti wants to control from the top but Chang keeps moving.
Ghouti has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Ghouti throws a big elbow that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ghouti is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Ghouti in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Ghouti postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ghouti throwing strikes from guard but Chang blocks nicely.
Ghouti stopping the sweep attempt from Chang.
Ghouti stays in close to Chang's body and controls the position.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Ghouti postures up in Chang's guard and throws a big left but Chang blocks it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Ghouti is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Chang.
Chang tries a head kick but it misses.
Chang lands a nice shot that snaps Ghouti's head back.
Ghouti chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Chang can pounce on him.
Chang cracks Ghouti with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Bruce Chang is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Ghouti stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Chang.
Ghouti takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Ghouti just misses with a punch to the body.
Bruce Chang seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghouti uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Chang.
Chang throws a jab but it's blocked by Ghouti.
Ghouti wants to counter with a clinch but Chang pushes him away.
Ghouti throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Chang.
Chang feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Ghouti throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Chang counters with an inside leg kick.
Ghouti checks the leg kick.
Chang tests Ghouti's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Chang will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Ghouti let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Ghouti blocks a low kick nicely.
Ghouti keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Chang.
Ghouti tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Chang was well out of range. Poor timing from Ghouti.
Ghouti shoots in for a takedown but Chang shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Chang lands a leg kick that knocks Ghouti off balance momentarily.
Good leg kick by Chang.
Ghouti walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Chang lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Chang misses with a hook. Ghouti ducked under it nicely.

Ghouti drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Ghouti working away.
Ghouti wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chang keeps working.
Ghouti looks up at the clock and then as Chang takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Ghouti smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Ghouti trying to control the action but Chang is working from the bottom.
Chang is trying to control Ghouti's posture but Ghouti avoids it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Chang tries to bench press Ghouti off him but Ghouti keeps the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ghouti is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Chang's shoulder. That is not cool.
Chang takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Ghouti is putting a hurting on Chang here, landing some big shots from side control.
Chang avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Ghouti.
Ghouti throwing strikes but Chang manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!
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!
Ghouti tries to bench press Chang off him but Chang keeps the position.
Ghouti holds on tight, trying to prevent any damage.
Ghouti is not content to let Chang control the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Bruce Chang dominated that round.
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.

Ghouti lands with an overhand left.
Chang lands a leg kick that knocks Ghouti off balance momentarily.
Ghouti keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Ghouti with the counter takedown but Chang avoids it easily.
Chang works the jab nicely.
Ghouti misses with a hook. Chang ducked under it nicely.
Chang appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Chang pivots, looking for a leg kick but Ghouti is out of range and Chang settles back down.
Chang scores with a jab to the jaw.
Chang throws a leg kick which misses Ghouti's front leg but catches the back leg as Ghouti tries to avoid it.
Ghouti defending well as Chang loads up on a big left hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ghouti swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Chang takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Chang gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Ghouti counters with a nice double leg into half 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!
Ghouti looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Chang blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ghouti.
Ghouti wants to lay and pray for a moment but Chang keeps working.
Ghouti misses with a head shot. Chang uses the momentum to regain guard.
Ghouti wants to control from the top but Chang keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ghouti is working Chang over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Ghouti working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Ghouti throws an elbow that misses. Chang uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Ghouti's guard. Nice move by Chang!

Ghouti is looking to sweep but instead, Chang has passed into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ghouti is looking to improve his position.
Ghouti trying to control but Chang postures up.
Ghouti is looking to improve his position.
Ghouti trying to hold on to Chang's head to control him but Chang postures up.
Chang is keen to just control but Ghouti is a slippery customer.
Well, if Chang is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Ghouti is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ghouti wants to control but Chang is keeping busy.
Ghouti is looking for a sweep. Chang is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Ghouti is trying is best to control the position here.
Chang seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Ghouti does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Ghouti holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Chang ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Ghouti moves away.
It seemed like Ghouti was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Chang connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Ghouti momentarily.
Chang misses the jab.
Ghouti feints the counter takedown.
Ghouti takes a jab right on the kisser.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ghouti lands the left hand.
Chang thows a left - swing and a miss!
It seemed like Ghouti was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
The crowd cheers as Ghouti lands an impressive looking overhand right. Chang doesn't seem phased though.
Chang gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

Chang is rocked!
Chang throws a low kick, looking for Ghouti's leg but Ghouti calmly moves out of range.
Ghouti is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Chang with a body shot.
Oh Chang is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Chang misses with a low kick.
Ghouti is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Chang shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
A low kick from Chang is predictable there
and Ghouti counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
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!
Chang throws a leg kick but Ghouti checks it.
Chang on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Ghouti looks to throw the jab but Chang is out of range.
Ghouti rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
letting Chang counter with a right hand.
Ghouti scores with a nice right hand.
Chang gets caught by a big overhand right and goes down! Ghouti gets on top of him and starts throwing some serious punches until the ref intervenes and stops the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Al Ghouti!
A relieved looking Al Ghouti thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.