PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Thiago de Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Horo Ihiro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I don't know about you partner, but I'm pumped for this one!

de Souza
vs
Ihiro

183 cm
18
177 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

177 cm
23
170 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Thiago de Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Horo Ihiro!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Shigeki Fujiwara and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
An inside leg kick lands from de Souza.
de Souza is looking to chop away at Ihiro's legs.
Ihiro moves in looking to clinch but de Souza pushes him off.

de Souza forces Ihiro back against the ropes and clinches.
Ihiro has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. de Souza is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Ihiro drops down looking for an ankle pick but de Souza pulls his leg out and moves away.
Ihiro shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says de Souza as he avoids it easily.
Thiago de Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Horo Ihiro.
de Souza throws a leg kick but Ihiro sees it coming and moves out of range.
de Souza scoring well with a low kick there.

de Souza gets caught flat footed, as Ihiro shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
de Souza keeping moving, preventing Ihiro from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

de Souza throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Ihiro tries to free his leg and advance position but de Souza is retaining full guard.
de Souza is pulling down on Ihiro's head. It's preventing any offense from Ihiro, at least for the moment.
Ihiro throws a big right hand that misses.
de Souza keeping full guard, as Ihiro tries to pass.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Ihiro trying to control the position from guard on top but de Souza is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Ihiro thows a leg kick but de Souza checks it
and de Souza counters with a nice leg kick.
Ihiro looks gassed!
Ihiro on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Ihiro clinches but de Souza breaks the clinch
and de Souza counters with a nice low kick that buckles Ihiro's knee momentarily.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from de Souza, right into the meat.

de Souza gets in close and instigates a clinch.
de Souza doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ihiro.
de Souza wants to break the clinch but can't.
Ihiro is pressed up against the ropes. de Souza has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Ihiro down to the mat. Ihiro avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

de Souza looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ihiro is looking for a sweep. de Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
de Souza with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
de Souza is looking to advance position but Ihiro won't allow it.
de Souza trying to control the action but Ihiro is working from the bottom.
Well, if de Souza is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Ihiro is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute de Souza jumps into side control!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
de Souza trying to control the position but Ihiro is working away.
de Souza has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Ihiro!
Ihiro holds on to de Souza as tight as he can, avoiding damage.
de Souza trying to control but Ihiro is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

de Souza connects with a solid leg kick.

Ihiro decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Ihiro is just content to waste time from the top position. de Souza takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
de Souza managing to control the position.
Ihiro works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Ihiro wants to free his trapped foot but de Souza is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Ihiro is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Ihiro looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

Ihiro is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and de Souza defends it well.
de Souza trying to control here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
de Souza is staying active underneath Ihiro, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
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.

Ihiro is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
de Souza connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
de Souza closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ihiro circles away.

de Souza looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza sitting and controlling from the half guard.

Ihiro actively working from the bottom here.
Ihiro is refusing to be controlled, as de Souza sits in half guard.
de Souza keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
de Souza throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Ihiro looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
de Souza is figuring out what he wants to do next.
de 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.
de Souza prevents Ihiro from improving his position.

Ihiro is defending against the submission attempts here by de Souza.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Ihiro misses with a kick to the body
and de Souza counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Ihiro has his takedown stuffed
and de Souza makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Ihiro really felt that one!
de Souza fails to land with a series of punches.

de Souza closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Ihiro tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but de Souza wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
de Souza is looking to take a break and control but Ihiro is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
de Souza is really struggling to control Ihiro but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Ihiro takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ihiro is letting de Souza control him for a moment.
Ihiro is looking to regain half guard here but de Souza keeps moving and retains side control.
Ihiro is not content to let de Souza control the position.
Ihiro takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
de Souza remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
de Souza wants to control but Ihiro is keeping him busy.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Thiago de Souza just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Ihiro thows a left - swing and a miss!
A solid leg kick lands there for de Souza.
Ihiro shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

so de Souza counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
de Souza wants to control from the top but Ihiro keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ihiro can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as de Souza controls the pace.
de Souza wants to pass the guard but Ihiro is keeping the position.
Horo Ihiro has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
de Souza postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Ihiro is striking from the bottom but de Souza uses the opportunity to pass into half guard.
Ihiro regains full guard. Nicely done.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Ihiro wants to hit a switch here but de Souza passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Ihiro there!
de Souza content just to control the position here.
de Souza prevents Ihiro from getting the reversal.
de Souza looking to control but Ihiro is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
de Souza controlling from the full mount.
Thiago de Souza is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago de Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
Well de 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 30:27

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