PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Abel Popham (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Reynaldo De Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the prize buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Popham
vs
De Souza

179 cm
18
210 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
212 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

Good wrestler
Brawler
Experienced

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Abel Popham!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Reynaldo De Souza!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Alan Glass and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Popham circles away from the clinch attempt.
Popham misses with a combination
letting De Souza counter with a right hand.
De Souza tries a head kick but it misses.

De Souza scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
De Souza trying to mount his opponent but Popham defends it.
The fighters are battling for position here. Popham manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
De Souza controls from within his opponent's guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Souza trying to control but Popham is working from the bottom.
Popham has a closed guard, preventing De Souza from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popham seems keen to control De Souza's posture.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Popham trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Popham tries to land a sweep but no joy.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
De Souza throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
De Souza tries to clinch but Popham is having none of it.

De Souza closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - De Souza lands in his opponent's guard.
De Souza trying to control but Popham is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Popham looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Popham is controlling De Souza's posture.
Popham is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
De Souza working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Popham's head.
Popham controls De Souza momentarily but De Souza frees himself.

De Souza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Souza postures up in Popham's guard and throws a big left but Popham blocks it.
De Souza wants to control from the top but Popham keeps moving.
De Souza engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
De Souza throws an elbow that misses. Popham uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in De Souza's guard. Nice move by Popham!

De Souza is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Popham is fighting to break De Souza's control of his arms but De Souza is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

Popham avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Popham tries to stand but De Souza is controlling from the bottom.
De Souza is wriggling around but Popham manages to pass to half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
De Souza tries to get to full guard but Popham has control of the leg.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Reynaldo De Souza will probably get the nod.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Popham closes this distance looking for a takedown but De Souza circles away.
De Souza pivots, looking for a leg kick but Popham is out of range and De Souza settles back down.
Nice uppercut there from De Souza.
Popham could do with losing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
De Souza stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and De Souza wants it to stay on the feet.

De Souza closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Popham to the mat! Popham manages to get full guard.
De Souza pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Popham is keeping the position for now.
De Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Popham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
De Souza showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Souza postures up in Popham's guard and throws a big left but Popham blocks it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popham being controlled here, momentarily.
De Souza must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Popham avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
De Souza has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Popham is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
De Souza would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
De Souza avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
De Souza tries to counter with a clinch but Popham shakes him off and moves away.
The fight stays on the outside here - De Souza looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Popham closes the distance and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Popham tries for a takedown but De Souza manages to get underhooks.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Abel Popham. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Popham can't get the takedown.
Popham wants a takedown.
De Souza drops down looking for an ankle pick but Popham pulls his leg out and moves away.
Popham throws a sloppy head kick and De Souza moves out of range easily.
Abel Popham is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
De Souza ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
De Souza misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Popham looking to land some kicks to the body here.

De Souza shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Popham's guard.
De Souza is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Souza really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Popham. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
De Souza in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
De Souza is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's four 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.
Popham wants to sweep but no luck.
De Souza wants to get up but he can't break Popham's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Popham forces De Souza back against the cage and clinches.
A head punch on the inside from Popham fails to land.
De Souza fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Popham gets control of De Souza's arms and successfully pulls guard. Popham will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
De Souza wanted to stand there but Popham had control of the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
De Souza trying to control but Popham is working from the bottom.
De Souza pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Popham is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Reynaldo De Souza showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

A head kick misses from De Souza.

De Souza closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Popham tries to improve position but can't.
Popham manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Popham punching from the bottom.
De Souza is looking to take a break and control but Popham is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Popham moves into full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Popham working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from De Souza.
Popham trying to keep a closed guard but De Souza is proving a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Popham is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
De Souza slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
De Souza trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Popham manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Popham postures up.
Popham wants to control from the top but De Souza keeps moving.

That's two 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.
Popham stopping the sweep attempt from De Souza.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
De Souza tries to clinch there but Popham circles away.
Popham is looking for a counter combo.
Popham is trying hard to land a takedown here. De Souza sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

De Souza shoots in and gets a takedown into Popham's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
De Souza throws a strike but Popham rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

De Souza keeping moving, preventing Popham from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Souza working a defensive guard here.
De Souza will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
De Souza is adopting a defensive guard.
De Souza is trying to control the position but Popham postures up.
De Souza wants to sweep but no luck.

De Souza throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

De Souza working for a triangle but Popham defends it easily.

That's four 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.
De Souza is trying to keep Popham in close.
De Souza looking to hit a scissor sweep but Popham is one step ahead there.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
De Souza wants to slow Popham down by chopping away at his legs.
Abel Popham has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Reynaldo De Souza is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
De Souza throws a sloppy head kick and Popham moves out of range easily.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Abel Popham.
I think De Souza has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 28:30
Judge Alan Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Reynaldo De Souza!