PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Thiago de Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mikey Kim (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). de Souza comes into the arena with Dry County blaring out of the sound system. Thiago de Souza has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

de Souza
vs
Kim

183 cm
21
177 lbs
10 - 4 - 0

175 cm
26
174 lbs
9 - 11 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

5th Round

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 10 - 4 - 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 9 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mikey Kim!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Yukihiro Shimada and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
de Souza slips under a jab.
A punch combination from Kim misses.

Kim gets caught flat footed, as de Souza shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Kim keeping moving, preventing de Souza from controlling successfully.
de Souza pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Kim is keeping the position for now.
de Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Kim is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kim is trying to control the position from the bottom.
de Souza is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Souza tries to free his leg and advance position but Kim is retaining full guard.
de Souza wants to control from the top but Kim keeps moving.
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.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Kim swinging wildly here.

de Souza shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
de Souza wants to lay and pray for a moment but Kim keeps working.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kim is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of de Souza's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take de Souza's back!
de Souza manages to reverse the position and now he's in Kim's guard. Nice work there by de Souza.
de Souza trying to control but Kim is working from the bottom.
de Souza throws a strike but Kim rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Kim wants to control from the top but de Souza keeps moving.
Kim throws and elbow that misses. de Souza uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Kim's guard. Nice move by de Souza!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza looking to pass the guard.
Kim is trying to keep de Souza in close.
de Souza pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Kim is keeping the position for now.
Kim controls de Souza momentarily but de Souza frees himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
de Souza swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Kim fails with the takedown

and de Souza counters by moving into the clinch.
de Souza tries to land knees in the clinch but Kim avoids the damage to the body.
Kim jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as de Souza walks away with a smile on his face. Kim gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Kim shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Kim showed some decent athleticism there.
de Souza regains full guard. Nicely done.
Kim throws and elbow that misses. de Souza uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Kim's guard. Nice move by de Souza!
de Souza 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.

Thiago de Souza dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Kim fails with the takedown

and de Souza holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
de Souza lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
de Souza throws an elbow but it's blocked.
de Souza lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Kim backwards.
de Souza tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
de Souza lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
de Souza lands an elbow inside that Kim shrugs off.

It looks like Mikey Kim has been cut.
de Souza scores with a hook to the body.
de Souza misses with the head strike.

Kim gets control of de Souza's arms and successfully pulls guard. Kim will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
de Souza throws a big right hand that misses.
de Souza throwing strikes but missing.
de Souza seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Kim is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells de Souza's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
de Souza trying to control but Kim is working from the bottom.
de Souza looking to pass the guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells de Souza's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

de Souza postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Kim is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of de Souza, into his guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kim keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of de Souza's head.
de Souza is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Kim tries to roll over but de Souza keeps him under control.
de Souza is looking to advance position but Kim won't allow it.
de Souza is working hard here to advance position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza is looking to pass Kim's guard but actually Kim recovers to full guard.
de Souza wants to pass the guard but Kim is keeping the position.
de Souza controls from within his opponent's guard.
Kim can't keep his opponent in guard - de Souza advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Kim is pressing down on de Souza's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
de Souza looking to pass the guard.
Kim is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Kim is keen to just control but de Souza is a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Mikey Kim's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Kim shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and de Souza counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
de Souza thumps Kim with a low kick.
Kim stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from de Souza.
de Souza feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Kim's calf.
de Souza throws a leg kick which misses Kim's front leg but catches the back leg as Kim tries to avoid it.
A looping hook to the body misses from de Souza. Kim does a little dance to reset his feet.
de Souza lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Kim at a distance.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Kim swats away the attempt to clinch by de Souza.
Kim avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Kim displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as de Souza throws out the jab.
Mikey Kim seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Kim will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Kim takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
de Souza tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kim was well out of range. Poor timing from de Souza.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kim stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from de Souza.
de Souza throws a leg kick that misses.
de Souza moves in looking to clinch but Kim pushes him off.
de Souza throws a head kick that misses.
Kim closes the distance but de Souza moves to the side
and de Souza counters with a flying knee. Nice.

Kim drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
de Souza is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Kim's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

de Souza looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
de Souza tries to roll over but Kim keeps him under control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
de Souza avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Kim.
Kim missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Kim is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
de Souza makes his way to full guard. A much better position for de Souza.
de Souza controlling the position.
Kim throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as de Souza works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
de Souza looking to control.
Kim trying to control the position from guard on top but de Souza is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
de Souza is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Well, if de Souza 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza is trying to control the action in half guard but Kim is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

de Souza wants to work for an arm triangle but Kim is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Kim is looking for a sweep. de Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
de Souza wants to control but Kim is keeping him busy.
de Souza works his way into side control.
de Souza working the ground and pound from side control.
Thiago de Souza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
de Souza trying to control the action but Kim is working from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kim is being controlled here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago de Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well de Souza has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Thiago de Souza!