PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Diogo Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jacob Whyte (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Jacob Whyte will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Souza
vs
Whyte

175 cm
18
130 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

189 cm
19
135 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Diogo Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jacob Whyte!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Thiago Cunha and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Whyte gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Souza to score an easy takedown into full guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Souza accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Souza is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Souza really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Souza postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Souza drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Whyte manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Souza has Whyte in his guard.
Whyte won't allow Souza to sweep him here.
Whyte trying to control but Souza is working from the bottom.
Souza has Whyte pulled in close to control his posture.
Whyte preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza working a defensive guard here.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Diogo Souza just wasn't active enough.
Whyte throws a right and a left that Souza avoids nicely.

Whyte fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Souza sprawls well initially but Whyte persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Souza manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Souza pulls Whyte in close to prevent any damage.

Souza scrambles and gets back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Souza changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Whyte looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Souza throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Whyte is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Souza's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

Souza is looking for a kimura but Whyte is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Souza to get the leverage.
Whyte is looking to improve his position.
Souza wants to take a breather but Whyte is having none of it.

Whyte is defending against the submission attempts here by Souza.
Souza lands with a punch from half guard.
Whyte is staying active underneath Souza, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Souza tries to pass to full mount but Whyte defends it.
Souza is trying to control. Whyte wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
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.
Souza slows the pace down in half guard.
Whyte blocking the ground and pound attempt from Souza.
Whyte trying to control from the bottom.
Souza seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Souza is working for a submission of some sort.
Souza content to control rather than advance.
Souza not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

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.
Whyte keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Souza slips a nice elbow through Whyte's hands, connecting with Whyte's forehead.
Souza throwing shots but Whyte is blocking nicely.
Souza is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Souza is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Whyte sees it coming and defends easily.
Souza lands strikes from half guard.
Souza missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Souza connects with a nice short shot to Whyte's temple.
Whyte blocking the ground and pound attempt from Souza.
Souza not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Whyte looks gassed!
Souza looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Souza connects with a nice short shot to Whyte's temple.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diogo Souza dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

A momentary lapse in concentration from Whyte enables Souza to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Whyte manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Souza with a flurry of punches that miss.
Souza missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Souza slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Whyte is trying to control the position but Souza postures up.
Whyte avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Souza might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Souza working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Souza has gone for a leg lock! Whyte slips out almost immediately though and dives into Souza's guard.
Souza wants to stand up but Whyte is controlling him.
Souza has his hands on Whyte's head, controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Souza has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Whyte off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Whyte throws a right hand that Souza ducks under and follows up with a left that Souza also avoids with ease.
Whyte tries to clinch up

so Souza counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Souza scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Souza throwing strikes but missing.
Souza has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Whyte works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Whyte is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Souza drops back, looking for a kneebar! Whyte looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Whyte looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Whyte!
Souza sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

Whyte wants to work for an arm triangle but Souza is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Souza gets back to full guard.
Diogo Souza overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Souza wants to stand but Whyte is controlling the position.
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.
Souza looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Souza working Whyte over with strikes.
Souza looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Whyte with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Souza missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Whyte is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Souza scores with a couple of nice shots.
Souza scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Souza is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Souza working the head and body with strikes.
Souza controlling the pace.
Souza looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Whyte with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Souza working over Whyte with some ground and pound. Whyte looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Souza connects with a nice short shot to Whyte's temple.
Souza drops an elbow to the side of Whyte's head.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Souza lands a nice short elbow.
Souza scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Whyte taking some punishment here, with Souza in his half guard.
Souza slips a nice elbow through Whyte's hands, connecting with Whyte's forehead.
Souza winds up and cracks Whyte with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Souza seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Souza connects with a nice short shot to Whyte's temple.
Souza seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Nice strikes from Souza there.
Souza controlling the pace.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Souza's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Diogo Souza dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Whyte gets caught flat footed, as Souza shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Souza wants to control from the top but Whyte keeps moving.
Souza distracts Whyte with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

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.
Whyte working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Souza.
Souza throws a strike but Whyte rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Souza pulls Whyte in close to prevent any damage.
Whyte takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza wants to sweep here but Whyte controlling him for the moment.
Souza trying to control the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Souza is on top in guard.
Whyte tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Souza with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Souza postures up in Whyte's guard and throws a big left but Whyte blocks it.
Souza throwing strikes but missing.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Whyte is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souza thows a big elbow that misses.
Whyte preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Whyte working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Souza.
Souza makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Whyte throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Whyte working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Souza.
Souza trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Souza with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Souza is looking to work some ground and pound but Whyte has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza with a nice head shot there.
Souza makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Souza working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Souza advances to half guard.
Souza is nestled in close to Whyte, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Souza lands a nice short elbow.
Souza working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Souza with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Whyte on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Souza is nestled in close to Whyte, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Nice strikes from Souza there.
Nice strikes from Souza there.

Souza is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Whyte defends it well.
Souza scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Souza is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

Souza is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Souza lands strikes from half guard.
Souza looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Souza lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Whyte taking some punishment here, with Souza in his half guard.
Souza lands with a punch from half guard.
Jacob Whyte has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Diogo Souza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Souza slows the pace down in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Diogo Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight for Diogo Souza!
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight for Diogo Souza!
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight for Diogo Souza!

Diogo Souza wins by unanimous decision!