PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Nasir Israz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fabricio Sousa (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.

Israz
vs
Sousa

180 cm
20
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
18
130 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Nasir Israz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Fabricio Sousa!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Lombardi, Anthony Taglia and Dean Styles.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sousa misses with a takedown

and Israz counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Sousa throws a sloppy strike from the bottom. He's now off balance and Israz manages to pass to side control.
Israz has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Sousa!
Sousa is bucking up trying to escape but Israz cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Sousa is trying to escape the mount.
Israz 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.
Sousa is bucking up trying to escape but Israz cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Israz wants to take his opponent's back but Sousa doesn't allow it.
Israz controlling from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Israz working Sousa over with strikes here.
Sousa wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Israz gets his hands free as Sousa looks to control.
Israz biding his time, looking for the opening.
Sousa really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Israz. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Israz scores with strikes from the back.
Israz has good solid back control here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Israz avoiding Sousa 's attempts to control his hands.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sousa wants to escape the position.
Sousa is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Israz.
Israz lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
Israz trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Sousa doesn't escape.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Israz has the hooks in and he's looking for a rear naked choke here. Sousa is defending well but eventually Israz manages to get an arm under the chin and he's locked on the RNC! Sousa has no choice but to tap now! He does! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Nasir Israz!