PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Musa Borzoev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ronaldo Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Musa Borzoev could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Ronaldo Souza's chin.

Borzoev
vs
Souza

200 cm
20
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

184 cm
20
185 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Musa Borzoev!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ronaldo Souza!
The judges for this bout are Cecil Peabody, Daniel Franklin and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Souza tries to close the distance and clinch but Borzoev swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Borzoev swats away the attempt to clinch by Souza.
Souza keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Souza fails in his attempt to clinch.

Borzoev moves into the clinch.
Souza is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.

Borzoev is trying to trip Souza. He has hold of a leg but Souza is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Borzoev persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Souza is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Borzoev stays in close to Souza's body and controls the position.
Souza keeping moving, preventing Borzoev from controlling successfully.
Borzoev postures up.
Souza is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Souza is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza wants to sweep here but Borzoev controlling him for the moment.
Souza lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Borzoev!
Borzoev really wants to buck Souza off and get back to his feet.
Borzoev wants to hold on but Souza pushes him away.
Souza tries to control but Borzoev wriggling away.
Borzoev tries to hold on but Souza postures up.
Souza controlling the position easily from mount.

That's two 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.
Souza trying to control but Borzoev is having none of it.

Despite being in the dominant position, Ronaldo Souza just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Souza tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Borzoev counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Souza tries to stall but Borzoev uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

Borzoev manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Borzoev looking for a sweep. Not yet Borzoev, not yet.
Souza is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Borzoev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souza is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

Souza gets to his feet - Borzoev follows without any prompting.
Borzoev really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Borzoev is breathing heavily.
Souza closes the distance looking to clinch
and Borzoev counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Souza tries to clinch but Borzoev moves away

and Borzoev decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Souza's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Souza looking to control.
Borzoev stops Souza from standing up.
Souza is pulling down on Borzoev's head. It's preventing any offense from Borzoev, at least for the moment.
Borzoev sitting in guard here, content to control.
Souza is looking to stand up but Borzoev isn't so interested in that idea.
Borzoev stopping the sweep attempt from Souza.
Borzoev trying to stand up but can't free himself from Souza's guard.
Souza working a defensive guard here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Musa Borzoev dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Souza darts in trying to clinch

and Borzoev counters with a takedown into side control.
Souza has one of Borzoev's arms on lockdown, trying to prevent him from doing any damage.
Souza manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Souza wants to take a breather but Borzoev is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Despite being in the dominant position, Ronaldo Souza just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Souza moves into range and clinches up with Borzoev.
Souza is trying to stall.

Borzoev jumps into guard, dragging Souza to the mat.
Borzoev controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Souza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Souza trying to control but Borzoev is working from the bottom.
Borzoev trying to keep a closed guard but Souza is proving a slippery customer.
Souza trying to control but Borzoev is working from the bottom.

Borzoev is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Souza defends well.
Souza wants to get up but he can't break Borzoev's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Souza passes Borzoev's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Borzoev trying to hold on to Souza's head to control him but Souza postures up.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Souza wants to clinch

and Borzoev counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Souza is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Borzoev throws a big right hand that misses.

Borzoev drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Borzoev jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Souza manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Borzoev manages to get himself to full guard.
Borzoev working a defensive guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Souza trying to control the position from guard on top but Borzoev is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souza wants to stand but Borzoev has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Borzoev is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Souza defends well.
Souza wants to control from the top but Borzoev keeps moving.
Souza stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Borzoev swivels though and keeps the full guard.

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.
Borzoev is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Borzoev will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Souza tries to clinch but Borzoev is having none of it.
Souza wants to clinch

so Borzoev counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Souza looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Souza wants to stand and escape but Borzoev is having none of it.
Borzoev controlling from the top position.
Borzoev trying to control the position from guard on top but Souza is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Souza wants to stand but Borzoev is controlling the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Musa Borzoev 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 tries to clinch but Borzoev moves away

and Borzoev counters by clinching up.
Souza is trying to maintain a safe position but Borzoev gets an underhook and turns Souza into the cage.

Souza is fighting off a takedown attempt but Borzoev is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Souza to the mat. Souza regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Borzoev stays in close to Souza's body and controls the position.
Borzoev postures up.

Borzoev thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Borzoev prevents Souza from getting back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Souza is trying to control the position but Borzoev postures up.
Souza is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Souza trying to control the action but Borzoev is working from the bottom.
The fighters are battling for position here. Borzoev manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Souza trying to control but Borzoev is working from the bottom.
Souza wanted to stand there but Borzoev had control of the position.

Borzoev is looking for a triangle but Souza pushes his legs off easily.
Borzoev keeping moving, preventing Souza from controlling successfully.
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.
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 advances to half guard.
Borzoev is staying active underneath Souza, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Borzoev fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Souza tries to clinch up

and Borzoev counters by moving into the clinch.
Souza is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Souza is trying to slow the pace down but that's a couple of times in a row that he's tried to get underhooks and Borzoev has denied him.
Borzoev stalls.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Souza is pushing Borzoev up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

Borzoev has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Souza uses from the top position.
Borzoev is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Borzoev keeping moving, preventing Souza from controlling successfully.
Musa Borzoev overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Borzoev has a closed guard, preventing Souza from standing up.
Souza trying to control but Borzoev is working from the bottom.

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.
Borzoev is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Borzoev keeping moving, preventing Souza from controlling successfully.
Souza wants to stand but Borzoev is controlling his posture from full guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Borzoev fails with the takedown.
Souza darts in trying to clinch

and Borzoev holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Borzoev is looking to break free of the clinch but Souza has double underhooks.
Ronaldo Souza has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Musa Borzoev is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Souza fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Souza misses with a hook from the clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
Musa Borzoev showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Borzoev, 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 Cecil Peabody scores the fight 30:27
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Musa Borzoev!