PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mawute Vudaga (ranked 4333 p4p, 4106 weight class) and Gonzo Souza (ranked 455 p4p, 437 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Vudaga
vs
Souza

180 cm
25
159
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
24
155
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mawute Vudaga!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Gonzo Souza!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Yves DeLean and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Souza has Vudaga up against the cage in a clinch.

Vudaga drags the fight down to the ground.
Souza advances position into side control!
Souza throws a strike aimed at the side of Vudaga's head but Vudaga avoids it well.
Vudaga is looking to regain half guard here but Souza keeps moving and retains side control.
The referee asks Souza politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Souza prefers to stall for the moment though.
Souza misses with the ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Souza decides to stand back up. Souza steps back and let's Vudaga get back to his feet.

Souza forces Vudaga back against the cage and clinches.
The referee is keeping an eye on Vudaga - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Souza keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Vudaga's efforts to push away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Vudaga breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Souza shoots in and bounces Vudaga off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Vudaga is controlling Souza's posture.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Souza working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Souza in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Souza throwing strikes but missing.
Vudaga has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Souza cracks Vudaga with a solid left hand.
Souza controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Souza wants to pass the guard but Vudaga is keeping the position.
Souza stopping the sweep attempt from Vudaga.
Souza pushes down on Vudaga's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Vudaga is trying to stand up here but Souza is controlling him well.
Souza has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Vudaga is bucking up trying to escape but Souza cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vudaga just holding on.
Vudaga wants to try and get back to his feet.
Souza lands a nice shot to the head.
Souza wants to control but instead Vudaga manages to regain half guard.
Vudaga is looking for a sweep. Souza is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Souza not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Vudaga wants to get back to full guard but Souza has passed into side control.
Vudaga is breathing heavily.
Souza cracks Vudaga with an elbow. That is naaassty.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vudaga tries to improve position but can't.
Souza moves into full mount!
Souza tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Souza scores with a couple of good head shots there.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Souza with a couple of short strikes.
Souza tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Souza working Vudaga over with strikes here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Gonzo Souza dominated that round.
That's time! Vudaga's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Souza gets a clinch.

Souza pulls guard successfully.
Souza controls Vudaga momentarily but Vudaga frees himself.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Souza seems keen to control Vudaga's posture.
Gonzo Souza has got the better of the ground game so far.
Vudaga is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Souza pulls Vudaga in close to his closed guard and prevents Vudaga from doing any damage or advancing position.
Vudaga working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza wants to sweep here but Vudaga controlling him for the moment.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Souza is on top in guard.

Souza stops Vudaga from standing up.
Souza distracts Vudaga with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Vudaga is looking to sweep but instead, Souza has passed into half guard.
Souza has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Souza with shots to the head and body - Vudaga looks very uncomfortable down there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Souza has control of Vudaga's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Vudaga regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Vudaga is wriggling around trying to escape.
Souza looking to ground and pound but Vudaga is blocking nicely.
Vudaga manages to control the position for a moment.
Vudaga is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vudaga reaches up to try and control the position but Souza seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Vudaga rolls and tries to escape and now Souza has his back!
Vudaga trying to control the hands but Souza breaks the grip.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Souza has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Vudaga's body.
Vudaga looking very determined here, making life difficult for Souza.
Souza has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Souza struggling to land strikes to the head as Vudaga covers up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Souza has the rear naked choke here! This is very bad for Vudaga! Can he survive? No! He's out! Souza gets to his feet and celebrates with his cornermen. He looks absolutely delighted. In the post fight interviews he takes time to thank his parents and everyone who has believed in him from the start. How sweet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Gonzo Souza!
Mawute Vudaga was interviewed post fight and said 'This is but a speedbump in my life of many. Tonight we mourn and tomorrow we go again.'.