PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Raphael Sabori (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Graeme Souness (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Sabori
vs
Souness

187 cm
24
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
22
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Raphael Sabori!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Graeme Souness!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Souness shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Sabori sprawls well. Sabori wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Souness gets slowly back to his feet.
Sabori ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Souness moves away.
Sabori misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Sabori swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Souness holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Souness working aggressively here.
Sabori is trying to break the clinch but Souness has him pressed against the cage.
Souness drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Sabori gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Souness avoiding damage as Sabori throws knees to the body.
Souness is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Sabori pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Raphael Sabori has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Graeme Souness.
Sabori wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Souness has him pressed against the cage.

Sabori escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Sabori works the jab nicely.

It looks like Graeme Souness has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souness shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sabori pinned against the cage. Sabori gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Sabori displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Souness.
Sabori wants to clinch up but Souness keeps it at a distance.
Souness tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Sabori swivels and escapes.
Souness wants to clinch up but Sabori keeps it at a distance.
Sabori throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Sabori stuffs the takedown attempt from Souness. Souness gets slowly back to his feet.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Souness.
Souness takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Souness looks gassed!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sabori throws a series of punches but Souness avoids them all with ease.
Sabori digs a good body shot into Souness's ribs.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sabori tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Souness makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Sabori is looking to clinch.
Sabori tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Souness manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Souness dives in and grabs Sabori's left leg, looking for a takedown. Sabori pushes down on Souness's head and hops out.
Sabori tries to clinch there but Souness circles away.
Souness avoids a punch combination nicely.
Sabori throws a series of strikes that have Souness backpedaling.

Sabori closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sabori lands a right hand that snaps the head of Souness backwards.
Souness wants a takedown.
Souness is trying desperately to land a takedown but Sabori is having absolutely none of it. This is turning into a bit of a nightmare for Souness.
Sabori has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Sabori wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Souness has him pressed against the cage.

Sabori pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Sabori works Souness's body with a nice hook.
Sabori misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Sabori will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Sabori moves in looking to clinch but Souness pushes him off.
Sabori throws a right hand that Souness ducks under and follows up with a left that Souness also avoids with ease.
Souness gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Sabori cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Sabori has Souness up against the cage in a clinch.
Sabori tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Souness manages to break the clinch.
Sabori lands with an uppercut that bounces Souness off the cage and back into range.
Souness takes a body punch but keeps moving.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Souness circles away from the clinch attempt.
Sabori feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Souness's calf.
Souness blocks the body kick.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sabori scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Sabori throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Sabori thumps Souness with a low kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raphael Sabori dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Graeme Souness's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

A left and a right from Sabori both land. Nice combination.
Sabori scores with a shot to the body.
Sabori connects with the punch.
Souness showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Sabori.
Sabori is looking to clinch but Souness is avoiding it.
Sabori avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sabori throws a combination that misses
and Souness counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Sabori shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Souness defends it nicely.
A head kick misses from Sabori.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souness doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Sabori counters with a one-two to the body.
Souness tries to clinch but Sabori moves out of range.
Sabori closes the distance and clinches up with Souness, looking for a takedown. Sabori pushes Souness against the cage but Souness circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Souness closes the distance and clinches.
Souness avoiding damage.
Sabori tries to break the clinch but Souness is controlling the position.
Sabori tries to break free but Souness pushes him back against the cage.
Souness will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Sabori up against the cage.
Souness blocks an elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souness working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Sabori tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Souness smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Raphael Sabori. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sabori fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Souness avoids it really well and circles away.

Souness moves into range and clinches up with Sabori.

Souness jumps guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Souness keeping moving, preventing Sabori from controlling successfully.
Saboriis looking to pass into half guard but Souness pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Souness is in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sabori is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Souness stands and throws Sabori's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Sabori wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Sabori on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Sabori tries to get out of the position.
Sabori is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Souness controlling the position from side mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Souness tries for a kimura but Sabori is defending well.
Sabori tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Souness presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Souness controlling from the full mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sabori tries to reverse the position but Souness maintains control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Raphael Sabori will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Graeme Souness's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Sabori throws a series of punches but Souness moves out of range.
Sabori throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Sabori tries to close the distance and clinch but Souness swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Sabori throws a series of punches but Souness avoids them all with ease.
Souness fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Sabori looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Souness shoots for a takedown but Sabori saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Sabori moves into the clinch successfully.
Sabori has Souness pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Souness manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Sabori lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Sabori has had enough of the clinch but Souness keeps him there for the moment.
Souness lands a good knee to the midsection. Sabori won't want to take too many of those.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souness is trying to pull guard but Sabori has him pressed against the cage.
Raphael Sabori has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Graeme Souness.
Souness goes for a takedown attempt but Sabori pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Souness takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sabori's jab looks to have found its range, popping Souness under the eye.
Sabori misses with a few strikes there.

Sabori scores with a takedown into Souness's guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Souness holds on and takes a little breather.

Sabori got a little sloppy there for a moment and Souness has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Sabori has managed to get both his arms back between Souness's legs - danger averted.
Souness bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sabori's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souness sitting in guard here, content to control.
Sabori wants to stand up but Souness is controlling him.
Souness passes easily into side control. Nice work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Sabori struggling a bit here.
Sabori is letting Souness control him for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sabori is looking to reverse the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Sabori is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Souness is controlling him well.
Sabori managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Souness.

Souness stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Souness fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sabori connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Souness shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sabori pinned against the cage. Sabori gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Sabori doesn't manage to clinch there - Souness circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souness tries to land a body kick
and Sabori counters with a solid body kick.
Sabori with a nice cross.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Sabori!
Sabori moves in looking to clinch but Souness pushes him off.
A punch combination from Sabori misses.
Souness fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A jab lands there for Sabori.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Sabori rushes Souness and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Graeme Souness has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Raphael Sabori is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Souness breaks the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Raphael Sabori showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sabori, 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Raphael Sabori!