PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ronaldo Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sergio Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Souza
vs
Cruz

183 cm
25
184 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

181 cm
23
189 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Intelligent

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ronaldo Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Thiago Cunha and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Souza scores with a takedown into Cruz's guard.
Souza throws a big right hand that misses.
Souza thows a big elbow that misses.
Souza distracts Cruz with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Souza working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Souza is looking to work some ground and pound but Cruz has wrist control.
Souza showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cruz works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza throws a big right hand that misses.
Souza trying to control but Cruz is working from the bottom.
Cruz preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Souza with a flurry of punches that miss.
Souza throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Souza is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Souza cracks Cruz with a solid left hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Souza stands and steps away. Cruz gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Souza looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Cruz is fending him off so far but Souza persists. Nope, Cruz circles away and we're back to standing.
Cruz with a poor takedown

and Souza counters with a single leg into guard. Cruz didn't expect that.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souza trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza is working Cruz over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cruz works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Cruz looks gassed!
Souza throwing strikes but missing.
Souza stands up over Cruz, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Souza wants to control from the top but Cruz keeps moving.
Souza working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Cruz's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Souza with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Souza's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Cruz works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Souza decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Souza drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ronaldo Souza dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Souza misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Souza bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

Souza thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Souza cracks Cruz with a big elbow.
Cruz is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza trying to control the position but Cruz is working away.
Souza lands a few punches from side control.
Souza tries to advance to mount but Cruz instead regains half guard.
Souza working over Cruz with some ground and pound. Cruz looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Souza looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Souza lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Cruz has hold of Souza's hands but Souza slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Souza is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza wants to control but Cruz is keeping him busy.
Souza landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Cruz on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Souza takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Souza lands with a punch from half guard.
Souza throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Ronaldo Souza overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Souza working over Cruz with some ground and pound. Cruz looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza winds up and cracks Cruz with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Souza is nestled in close to Cruz, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Souza working over Cruz with some ground and pound. Cruz looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Souza with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Souza scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Souza lands a nice short elbow.
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!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Souza passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Cruz!
Cruz is bucking up trying to escape but Souza cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ronaldo Souza dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Cruz avoids the head kick by Souza.

Souza closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Cruz did well to prevent Souza getting side control.
Cruz is not content to let Souza control the position.
Souza wants to free his trapped foot but Cruz is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Cruz keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cruz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Cruz's head.

Souza is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Souza is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Souza seems to be looking for submissions.
Souza is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cruz can do to turn this around?
Souza is just content to waste time from the top position. Cruz takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Souza missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Souza is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Cruz is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ronaldo Souza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Souza controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Souza seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Cruz for as long as he can get away with.

Ronaldo Souza has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Souza decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is in trouble now - Souza has advanced to mount!
The referee warns Cruz that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Souza has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Cruz's face.
Sergio Cruz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Souza landing strikes from the mount.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ronaldo Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Souza, 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 30:25
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:25
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:26

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