PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Sergio Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tshering Wangchuck (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Wangchuck has chosen Rapa - Rang Sem Kar Ga Mikar as his entrance music. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Souza
vs
Wangchuck

196 cm
41
240 lbs
28 - 15 - 0

197 cm
37
294 lbs
23 - 17 - 0

World class boxer
Granite chin

World class MT
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 28 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Sergio Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tshering Wangchuck!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Albert Achterberg and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Wangchuck throws a sloppy head kick and Souza moves out of range easily.
Wangchuck is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A little feinted left hand from Souza on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Souza misses with a kick to the body.
Souza pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Souza keeps the fight on the outside.
Souza tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
A nice leg kick lands there from Souza.
Wangchuck doesn't manage to clinch there - Souza circles away.
Souza tries to land a front kick but Wangchuck steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.

Wangchuck gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Souza takes a knee to the side of the body.
Wangchuck has Souza pressed against the ropes.
Wangchuck lands a right hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wangchuck is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Wangchuck trying to land knees to the body.
A left hand lands to the body for Souza.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A head punch on the inside from Wangchuck fails to land.
Souza lands a hook that snaps the head of Wangchuck backwards.
Souza blocking some punches.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Wangchuck obliges.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but Souza blocks with his arms.
Souza lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Wangchuck or not.
Souza blocks an elbow strike.
Wangchuck pushes off an throws an elbow but Souza leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.

Souza escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Wangchuck clinches.
Souza has a couple of punches blocked by Wangchuck.
Still in the clinch, Souza scores with a nice short uppercut.
Wangchuck with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Wangchuck creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Souza blocks the elbow strike.
Wangchuck scores with a hook to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wangchuck misses with an elbow strike.
Souza trying to land knees to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Souza blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Wangchuck using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Souza has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Wangchuck fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Wangchuck looking to stall.
Wangchuck looking to throw knees to the head but Souza is blocking nicely.
Souza takes a shot to the head.
Wangchuck throws a knee to the head but misses.
Wangchuck looking to throw knees to the head but Souza is blocking nicely.
Souza is trying to break free.
Wangchuck trying to land knees to the body.
Souza unloads a knee to the mid-section. Wangchuck lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Wangchuck pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the ropes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza avoids a wild elbow strike from Wangchuck.
Wangchuck lands an elbow inside that Souza shrugs off.

It looks like Sergio Souza has been cut.
Souza avoids the elbow strike from Wangchuck, against the ropes.
Souza lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Wangchuck or not.

Souza escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Souza scores with a nice body kick.
Wangchuck sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Both fighters circling a little - Souza finishes the exchange with a kick to the body.
Souza takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Wangchuck ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Souza circles away from the clinch attempt.
Souza pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces Wangchuck back to the ropes. Souza follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.
Donk. Souza catches Wangchuck right on the button with a cross.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Souza scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Souza cracks the inside of Wangchuck's front leg.
Wangchuck throws a head kick but Souza moves out of range.
Wangchuck takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
The fight stays on the outside here - Wangchuck looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Wangchuck takes the fight into the clinch.
Wangchuck misses with some punches.
Wangchuck taking a breather.
Nice elbow from Wangchuck.
Wangchuck lands a knee to the head.

Souza manages to break the clinch.
Souza looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Souza feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Wangchuck's calf.
Wangchuck chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Souza can pounce on him.
Wangchuck pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Wangchuck wants to clinch up but Souza keeps it at a distance.
Souza misses with a low kick.
Souza misses with a body kick.
Souza scores with a crisp jab that stopped Wangchuck in his tracks.
Wangchuck wants to clinch
and Wangchuck takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Sergio Souza will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Sergio Souza's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Wangchuck crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Souza - the referee stops the clock and Wangchuck gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Souza. Wangchuck manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Souza keeps the fight on the outside.
Souza circles away from the clinch attempt
and Souza counters with a leg kick.
Wangchuck takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Souza throws a leg kick but Wangchuck sees it coming and moves out of range.
Sergio Souza is winning the standup battle so far.
Souza throws the left hand but Wangchuck avoids the punch easily.
Souza looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.

Wangchuck moves into the clinch.
A hook to the body from Souza.
Souza lands a right hand.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Wangchuck takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Souza's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Wangchuck doesn't manage to clinch there - Souza circles away.
Souza misses with a body kick.
Souza swats away the attempt to clinch by Wangchuck.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza misses with a kick to the body
and Souza takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Souza throws out a leg kick but Wangchuck moves out of range and Souza only half commits.
Wangchuck is looking to clinch but Souza is avoiding it.

Wangchuck moves into range and clinches up with Souza.

Souza's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Wangchuck tries to clinch but Souza moves away
and Souza counters with a nice low kick that buckles Wangchuck's knee momentarily.
Souza has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Wangchuck.
Wangchuck tries to clinch but Souza is having none of it.
Wangchuck tries to clinch up.
Wangchuck is looking to clinch.
Wangchuck tries to clinch up.
Souza looks to score with a jab to the body but Wangchuck is just out of range.
Souza throws a low kick but Wangchuck avoids it.
Wangchuck moves in looking to clinch but Souza pushes him off.

Wangchuck clinches up with Souza and pushes him back against the ropes.
Wangchuck pushes off an throws an elbow but Souza leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
Souza blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Souza breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Wangchuck takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Sloppy strikes from Souza. Those never looked like landing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Souza throws a shot from downtown. Wangchuck moves away and avoids it.
Wangchuck connects with a solid leg kick.
Wangchuck tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Souza paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Wangchuck walks into a jab.
Tshering Wangchuck seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Wangchuck keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Souza.

Wangchuck closes the distance and clinches.
Souza takes a knee right on the jaw!
Wangchuck with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Souza lands a hook that snaps the head of Wangchuck backwards.
Wangchuck misses with a short punch on the inside.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Wangchuck throws an elbow but it misses.
A head punch on the inside from Souza fails to land.
Wangchuck landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza managing to block the knees to the body from Wangchuck.
Souza blocks an elbow strike from Wangchuck.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Wangchuck throws an elbow but misses.
Souza takes a knee right on the jaw!
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Wangchuck tries to land knees in the clinch but Souza avoids the damage to the body.
Souza lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Wangchuck pushes off an throws an elbow but Souza leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the ropes.
Wangchuck is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Wangchuck throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Wangchuck creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Wangchuck lands a nice elbow.
Souza blocks an elbow strike from Wangchuck.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wangchuck is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Souza is keeping busy.
Souza lands with a short shot to the head.
Wangchuck is struggling to control the position.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but Souza blocks with his arms.
Souza on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Souza.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Wangchuck tries a knee to the head but Souza blocks it.
Wangchuck looking to stall.
Souza putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Wangchuck in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Wangchuck lands with a left to the head.
Wangchuck taking a breather.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Tshering Wangchuck will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The cut man is working on Sergio Souza's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Souza throws a hook to the side of Wangchuck's head but Wangchuck sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Wangchuck steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Souza.
Souza swats away the attempt to clinch by Wangchuck.
Wangchuck tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in to close the distance. Souza manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
A quick step to the side and Souza tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
A jab lands there for Souza.

Wangchuck moves into the clinch.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Wangchuck trying to control the position but instead, Souza has worked for underhooks and has pushed Wangchuck into the ropes.

Souza's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Wangchuck avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Wangchuck avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Souza moves out of range of the leg kick from Wangchuck.
Souza dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Wangchuck. That did some damage!
Souza avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Good standup being displayed there by Souza as he connects with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wangchuck moves in looking to clinch but Souza pushes him off.
Wangchuck tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Wangchuck wants to clinch up but Souza keeps it at a distance.
Souza throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Souza feints and then cracks Wangchuck's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Wangchuck down.
Wangchuck tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Wangchuck checks a leg kick nicely.
Wangchuck shapes to counter with a head kick.
Wangchuck is looking to clinch.
Wangchuck ducks under a wild hook from Souza.
Wangchuck lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Souza circles away quickly and effectively.
Souza appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Wangchuck's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Souza lands a nice looking body shot.
Wangchuck tries to close the distance and clinch but Souza swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Souza throws a leg kick but Wangchuck checks it.
Wangchuck is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.
Wangchuck tries to close the distance and clinch but Souza swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Wangchuck doesn't manage to clinch there - Souza circles away.
Wangchuck tries to clinch but Souza is having none of it.
Souza throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Wangchuck sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Wangchuck wants to counter with a clinch but Souza pushes him away.
Souza lands with a kick to the temple. Wangchuck shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wangchuck lands with a kick to the ribs.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Souza fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Wangchuck tries to clinch up.

Wangchuck closes the distance and pushes Souza back into the ropes.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but Souza blocks with his arms.
Souza lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Wangchuck backwards.
Wangchuck tries to land a knee to the head but Souza blocks with his arms.
Wangchuck lands a good knee to the midsection. Souza won't want to take too many of those.
Wangchuck throws an elbow that misses.
Wangchuck trying to land knees to the body.
Wangchuck using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Souza has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Wangchuck takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
With the two fighters working up against the ropes, Wangchuck just misses with a elbow thrown towards Souza's brow.

Souza escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Souza will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Wangchuck tries a quick counter leg kick but Souza is wise to it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Souza lets loose with a powerful body kick. Wangchuck will feel that in the morning.
Wangchuck misses with a head kick.
Souza misses with a head kick.
Souza lands a jab to the nose.
Wangchuck blocks a leg kick.
Wangchuck fails with an attempt to clinch.
Wangchuck is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Wangchuck has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Souza.
Souza lands a front kick.
Souza misses with a hook. Wangchuck ducked under it nicely.
A lazy left from Souza finds it's target.
Wangchuck tries to close the distance and clinch but Souza swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Wangchuck tries to close the distance and clinch up but Souza swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wangchuck moves away from the strike by Souza.
Wangchuck throws a right and a left that both miss.
Wangchuck ducks under a wild hook from Souza.
Souza throws a wild body kick that Wangchuck sees coming a mile off.
Wangchuck steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Souza.
Souza bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Wangchuck's head backwards.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Wangchuck blocks a leg kick.
Wangchuck moves in looking to clinch but Souza pushes him off.
Wangchuck moves in looking to clinch but Souza pushes him off.
Wangchuck tries to clinch but Souza is having none of it.
Wangchuck tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Souza paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Wangchuck blocks the body kick.
Wangchuck wants to clinch.
Wangchuck on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sergio Souza showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Souza 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Sergio Souza!
A victorious Sergio Souza thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.