PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Gilberto Da Souza (ranked 2292 p4p, 249 weight class) and Jack Xavier (ranked 1894 p4p, 211 weight class). Jack Xavier has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Da Souza
vs
Xavier

181 cm
26
156 lbs
14 - 5 - 0

175 cm
27
166 lbs
8 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
KO power

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

Trap-Alot-Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 14 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Gilberto Da Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jack Xavier!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Shigeki Sano and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Xavier feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Xavier seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Souza is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Xavier defends well.
Xavier not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
It looks like Xavier might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Xavier stands and throws Souza's legs to the side, diving into side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Xavier tries for a kimura but Souza is defending well.
Souza tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Xavier wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Xavier controlling from side mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Xavier keeping hold of Souza's head, controlling as best he can.
Xavier is looking to control Souza's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Xavier avoid being mounted?

Xavier is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Souza pulls his head out easily.
Xavier works his way to full guard. Good work.
Souza wanted to stand there but Xavier had control of the position.
Xavier is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Xavier looking to hit a scissor sweep but Souza is one step ahead there.

Xavier is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Souza is aware though and is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza passes into half guard.

Souza is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Xavier doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Souza.

Xavier looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Xavier manages to get to full guard.
Souza wants to stand but Xavier has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Souza got a little sloppy there for a moment and Xavier has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Souza has managed to get both his arms back between Xavier's legs - danger averted.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza preventing the sweep.

Xavier working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Souza doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Souza manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Xavier has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Kalashnikov ELITE MMA Gym . Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.

Souza drops back, looking for a kneebar! Xavier looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Xavier looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Xavier!

Xavier wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Souza, who protects the arm well.
Souza is trying to get back to half guard.
Souza looking for a sweep but Xavier has passed into full mount! Oh no!
Xavier with some aggressive grappling here, looking for the finish.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Xavier wants to take Souza's back but he can't do it this time.
Souza is squirming around, avoiding Xavier's attempts to control the action.
Souza is controlling an arm, preventing Xavier from taking his back. Although keeping him in mount is no better to be honest.
Xavier controlling the position easily from mount.
Xavier tries to control but Souza wriggling away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Souza has given up his back.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jack Xavier 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.

Souza shoots for a takedown but Xavier saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Xavier shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Xavier trying to control from half guard but Souza is working away.
Jack Xavier has got the better of the ground game so far.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Xavier in particular looking to stall.

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

Souza looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Souza tries to regain full guard. Instead though, Xavier has advanced to mount. Uh oh.
Xavier looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Xavier is working for a guillotine from mount but Souza frees his head quite easily.
Xavier can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Souza is looking to escape.
Souza tries to reverse the position but Xavier maintains control.
Xavier controlling from the full mount.
Xavier wants to take Souza's back here but Souza is holding on to an arm, himself looking to escape.
Souza is trying desperately to improve position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza is working hard here to advance position.
Xavier controlling the pace for now.

Xavier is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Souza to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Souza shrugs it off.
Souza is squirming around, avoiding Xavier's attempts to control the action.
Souza is trying desperately to improve position.
Souza gets back to half guard.
Xavier has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Souza looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Souza is defending against the submission attempts here by Xavier.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Xavier moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Souza.
A lull in the action here.

Xavier thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Xavier controlling the position.

Xavier has hold of Souza's arm here. He's working for an Americana. It looks like he might have it! Souza tries to escape but he's just digging himself in deeper - Xavier cranks the arm and Souza screams in pain! The ref makes a decision and ends the fight before the tap - no complains from Souza, who is just happy to have his arm attached to his body.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Jack Xavier!
After winning the bout, Jack Xavier thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.