PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Thiago de Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shaka Zulu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Thiago de Souza has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

de Souza
vs
Zulu

183 cm
20
177 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

183 cm
23
170 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Knockout power

Evil Spirit Clothing Co. (KOF partner)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Thiago de Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shaka Zulu!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shirou Masuda and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zulu throws a right and a left that both miss.
Zulu looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? de Souza is fending him off so far but Zulu persists. Nope, de Souza circles away and we're back to standing.
Zulu uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by de Souza.
Zulu avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
de Souza connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
de Souza throws a low kick but Zulu avoids it.
The fight stays on the outside here - Zulu looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Zulu avoids the body shot from de Souza.

Zulu clinches up with de Souza and pushes him back against the ropes.
de Souza can't break the clinch.
Zulu wants to break free but de Souza has control.
de Souza tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Zulu's elbow.

de Souza decides to pull guard.
de Souza is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Zulu thows a big elbow that misses.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
de Souza trying to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Souza utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Zulu postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! de Souza is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Zulu, into his guard.
de Souza trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Zulu wants to sweep but no luck.

de Souza decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Zulu displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as de Souza throws out the jab.
Zulu fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Zulu tries to bum rush de Souza with a series of wild strikes but de Souza uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
de Souza throws a right hand that Zulu ducks under and follows up with a left that Zulu also avoids with ease.
de Souza fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Zulu.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
de Souza lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Zulu circles away quickly and effectively.
de Souza takes a swing at Zulu's ribcage but misses.
de Souza fails in his attempt to clinch.
A head kick misses from Zulu.
A combination from Zulu does no damage.
Zulu misses with a body shot.
Zulu blocks a head kick by de Souza.
Zulu scores with a head kick.
de Souza swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Zulu counters with a head kick.

Zulu shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
de Souza working a defensive guard here.
Zulu trying to control but de Souza is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zulu drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and de Souza dives on top into guard.
Zulu is trying to control the position from the bottom.
de Souza trying to control but Zulu is working from the bottom.
de Souza slips nicely into half guard.
de Souza is trying to control the action in half guard but Zulu is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Zulu has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. de Souza is working away from the top position though.
Zulu tries to roll over but de Souza keeps him under control.
Zulu trying to control here.

That's four 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.
de Souza wants to pass to mount but Zulu is defending the position.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from de Souza, right into the meat.
Zulu throws a head kick but de Souza moves out of range.
de Souza scores with a leg kick.
de Souza avoids the head kick by Zulu.
de Souza throws the kick towards the body but Zulu avoids it.
Zulu tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but de Souza swivels and escapes.
Thiago de Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shaka Zulu.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Zulu checks a leg kick.
de Souza lands a nice shot to the body.
de Souza is looking to wear down Zulu with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Zulu looks gassed!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Zulu.
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.
de Souza struggling a bit here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Zulu checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Zulu rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but de Souza moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Zulu looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
de Souza misses with a wild body shot.
Zulu jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
de Souza tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
de Souza throws out a leg kick but Zulu moves out of range and de Souza only half commits.
Zulu slips a jab and a cross from de Souza.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Zulu misses with a hook.
Zulu throws a sloppy head kick and de Souza moves out of range easily.
Thiago de Souza is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
de Souza misses with a two punch combination.
An inside leg kick from de Souza misses.

de Souza clinches with his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zulu fails to pull guard.
de Souza taking a breather.
A short right from de Souza.
Zulu tries to break free but de Souza pushes him back against the ropes.
de Souza is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
A hook to the body from de Souza.
Zulu fails to pull guard.
Zulu blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Zulu is looking for a takedown up against the ropes. de Souza gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Thiago de Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shaka Zulu.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zulu changes levels and goes for a takedown here. de Souza fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Zulu throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
de Souza fails in his attempt to clinch.
de Souza is looking to clinch.
Zulu moves out of range as de Souza throws a body kick.
Zulu misses with a telegraphed body shot
and de Souza counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
de Souza throws a nice looking combination but Zulu bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Zulu shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with de Souza but de Souza pushes him off and we're back to square one.
de Souza swings for the body but Zulu moves out of range.
de Souza swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Zulu counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Zulu.
de Souza is trying to control the position from the bottom.
de Souza is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Zulu is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza wants to hit a switch here but Zulu passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for de Souza there!
Zulu throws some wild stikes that de Souza manages to avoid easily.
de Souza is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
de Souza is looking to improve his position but Zulu isn't that keen on the idea.

Zulu is working close to his opponent, looking to work a submission by the looks of things. Oh, he's managed to get a guillotine from mount as his opponent reached up! That looks tiiiiight! Will he tap? YES, he's tapped! Impressive submission by Zulu!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:01 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Shaka Zulu!