PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bruno Novaes (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and vinny souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Novaes comes to the cage accompanied by Racionais Mc's - Capítulo 4 Versículo 3. Buckle up people - heeeeeeeeeere we go!

Novaes
vs
souza

187 cm
20
202 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

183 cm
20
209 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Prefers ground

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

[JMFC] Blueprint Clothing
[JMFC] Slaughterhouse Nutrition

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 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Bruno Novaes!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, vinny souza!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Thiago Cunha and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

souza shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

souza is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
souza wants to control but Novaes is keeping him busy.
Novaes manages to get to full guard.
Novaes not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Novaes has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but souza can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Novaes wants to sweep but no luck.

souza drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and souza jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Novaes is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.

souza has gone for a leg lock! Novaes slips out almost immediately though and dives into souza's guard.
Novaes works a leg free and moves into half guard.

souza looking for submissions off his back.
souza looks gassed!
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Novaes connects with a nice short shot to souza's temple.
Novaes takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Novaes passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for souza!
Novaes takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
souza tries to hold on but Novaes postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Novaes working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Novaes controlling from the full mount.
Novaes tries to control but souza wriggling away.
Novaes working the ground and pound effectively.
Novaes avoids the attempt from souza to control.
Novaes has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Novaes jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but souza manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Novaes is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. souza knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
souza prevents Novaes from moving into mount.
Novaes trying to control the action but souza is working from the bottom.
Novaes passes to full mount! That's big trouble for souza!

Novaes is working for a guillotine from mount but souza frees his head quite easily.
Novaes looking to control but souza is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

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.
Novaes is landing with some decent strikes but souza is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

Novaes has control of souza's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and souza regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Novaes wants to control the pace but souza is squirming around nicely.
souza is desperately trying to improve his position but Novaes has a good base and remains in mount.
souza tries to lock up and control but Novaes gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Novaes trying to control but souza is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bruno Novaes dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

souza gets caught flat footed, as Novaes shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
souza manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Novaes manages to get himself to full guard.
Novaes manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
souza is wriggling around trying to escape.

souza defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Novaes.
souza in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Novaes tries to control but souza wriggling away.
souza regains half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
souza won't allow Novaes to pass to mount.
Novaes wants to lay and pray for a moment but souza keeps working.
souza won't allow Novaes to pass to mount.
souza looks like he's trying to stand up.

Novaes is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and souza defends it well.
Bruno Novaes overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

souza looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Novaes content to control rather than advance.

That's two 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.
Novaes'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.
souza has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Novaes is working away from the top position though.
Novaes content to control rather than advance.
Novaes is looking to advance position but souza won't allow it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
souza is looking to control Novaes's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can souza avoid being mounted?

Novaes is working for a kimura but souza is defending it quite comfortably.
souza tries to get to full guard but Novaes has control of the leg.
Novaes stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Novaes has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Novaes is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Novaes trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Novaes wants to finish this one by submission but souza is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Novaes.

Novaes working for a guillotine from mount but souza is in no mood to give up.
souza tries to reverse the position but Novaes maintains control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bruno Novaes dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

souza doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Novaes counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Novaes.
Novaes pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. souza is keeping the position for now.

Novaes decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on souza, up you get!
souza slaps away a takedown attempt from Novaes, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Novaes fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.

souza drives through with a takedown into guard.

souza thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

souza thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
souza trying to control but Novaes is working from the bottom.
souza stopping the sweep attempt from Novaes.
Novaes is controlling souza's posture.
souza wants to control from the top but Novaes keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
souza misses with a takedown attempt

and Novaes counters with a takedown into side control.
souza is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Novaes is controlling him well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Novaes is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down souza's shoulder. That is not cool.
Novaes looks up at the clock and then as souza takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Novaes smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
souza gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
souza is in all sorts of trouble here.
souza is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Novaes has control of souza's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and souza regains control of the situation pretty easily.
souza is looking to improve his position but Novaes isn't that keen on the idea.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Novaes looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Novaes is going olschool here, as he tries to force souza to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so souza shrugs it off.
Novaes avoids the attempt from souza to control.
Novaes working the ground and pound effectively.
Bruno Novaes is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Novaes sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
souza wants to hold on but Novaes pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Novaes sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
souza working to try and regain half guard.
Novaes looking to control and managing it successfully.
souza tries to reverse the position but Novaes maintains control.
Novaes controlling from mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
souza tries to hold on but Novaes pushes him away.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bruno Novaes showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Novaes, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bruno Novaes!