PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rico Sosa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Wanderley Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Souza has chosen Roy Jones - Can't be touched as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Sosa
vs
Souza

184 cm
19
205 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

191 cm
27
210 lbs
2 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Determined

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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rico Sosa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 7 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Wanderley Souza!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Konstantin Menshow and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Souza fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Sosa shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Souza as he avoids it easily.

Sosa moves into the clinch successfully.

Sosa gets control of Souza's arms and successfully pulls guard. Sosa will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Sosa pushes Souza off and gets back to his feet.
Souza throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Sosa stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Sosa throws a head kick but Souza moves out of range.
Sosa changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Souza tries to avoid it but Sosa manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Souza to the ground. Souza escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Sosa tries for a takedown but Souza sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rico Sosa. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sosa closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Wanderley Souza seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Souza moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Souza lands with a good body shot.
Souza rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sosa moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Souza looks gassed!
Sosa throws a head kick but Souza moves out of range.
Sosa fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Souza lands a nice hook to Sosa's body. Sosa takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Sosa shoots in and bounces Souza off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Sosa slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Sosa knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Souza on the ground.
Sosa trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sosa working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Souza's head.

Souza working for a triangle but Sosa defends it easily.
Sosa stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Souza swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Sosa!
BOOM! Souza connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Sosa is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Sosa is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Souza prevents Sosa from getting the reversal.
Souza avoids the attempt from Sosa to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza prevents Sosa from getting the reversal.
Souza with good strikes from the mount here!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Souza working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Souza dominating with strikes here.
Sosa slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Souza throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
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.
Sosa is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Souza scores with a couple of nice shots.
Souza has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Souza is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Sosa defends it well.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Souza prevents Sosa from improving his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wanderley Souza dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Sosa looks for the body kick but Souza saw that one coming.
Souza scores with a hook to the body. Sosa takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Sosa avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Souza avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Souza throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Sosa pulls guard successfully.
Souza wants to stand but Sosa has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Souza trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Sosa looking for a sweep. Not yet Sosa, not yet.
Souza is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sosa has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Souza in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Sosa is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Wanderley Souza has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sosa is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Sosa is looking for a triangle but Souza pushes his legs off easily.
Souza trying to stand up but can't free himself from Sosa's guard.

Souza drops back looking for a leg! Sosa is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Sosa manages to kick Souza off! Souza jumps back into Sosa's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sosa wants to sweep here but Souza controlling him for the moment.
Sosa trying to keep a closed guard but Souza is proving a slippery customer.

Sosa kicks Souza off and gets to his feet.
Sosa wants to clinch.
Souza scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sosa pinned against the cage. Sosa gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Souza scores with a jab to the head.
Sosa closes this distance looking for a takedown but Souza circles away.
Sosa throws a head kick that half lands.
Souza tries to clinch but Sosa is having none of it.
Sosa circles away from the clinch attempt

and Sosa counters by moving into the clinch.

Sosa has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Souza is trying to keep an underhook but Sosa manages to get the takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza wants to get back to his feet.
Sosa keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

Sosa is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Souza is just riding it out for now. Sosa eventually gives up the hold.

Sosa is working for a submission of some sort.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rico Sosa dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Souza moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Souza scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Sosa shoots in looking for a takedown but Souza manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Sosa's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Sosa tries to clinch but Souza moves out of range.
Souza looks to clinch

and Sosa counters with a shoot takedown. Souza fights it but they end up in guard.
Sosa has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Sosa pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Souza is keeping the position for now.
Souza takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sosa sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Souza's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Souza is defending against the submission attempts here by Sosa.
Souza is trying to stand.
Sosa sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Souza is staying active underneath Sosa, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Sosa seems to be working for a kimura but Souza defends the submission attempt.
Souza avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Sosa.
Sosa is keen to just control but Souza is a slippery customer.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Rico Sosa just wasn't active enough.
Souza lands a slapping body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Sosa takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Wanderley Souza seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Souza shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sosa pinned against the cage. Sosa gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Sosa shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Sosa gets a clinch.
Sosa tries to score a body lock takedown but Souza shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rico Sosa. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Souza is pressed up against the cage. Sosa has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Souza down to the mat. Souza avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Left hook, right uppercut from Souza.
Sosa looks for a takedown but Souza sprawls well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Souza avoids the head kick by Sosa.
Souza looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Souza tries to score with a low kick but Sosa moves his leg out of the way.

Sosa moves into range and clinches up with Souza.
Souza wants to break the clinch but can't.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sosa can't get the takedown.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Souza gets underhooks to prevent Sosa's takedown attempt.
Sosa prevents Souza from breaking the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rico Sosa showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Sosa has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 29:28
Judge Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 29:28
Judge Igor Prikhodko scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rico Sosa!
During a confident post fight interview, Rico Sosa thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.