PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Thiago de Souza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Keiji Numa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). de Souza comes to the cage accompanied by Dry County. Numa has chosen Ladies and Gentlemen as his entrance music. Keiji Numa will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

de Souza
vs
Numa

183 cm
26
177 lbs
18 - 8 - 0

169 cm
25
180 lbs
9 - 10 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Solid boxing
KO power

BJJ Brown Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 !
GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 !

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 18 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Thiago de Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Keiji Numa!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Skip Squint and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Numa looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Numa thuds his shin into the meat of de Souza's side.
de Souza displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Numa misses with a jab, cross combination.
de Souza fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Numa manages to avoid it.
A head kick by Numa misses
and de Souza counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Numa scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Numa fails with the takedown.
de Souza misses the jab.
de Souza avoids the head kick by Numa.
A nice inside leg kick there by Numa. That's going to slow de Souza down.
Numa will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Numa misses with a straight right.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Souza jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Numa misses with a double jab.
Some wild striking there from de Souza.
Numa misses with a few strikes there.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

de Souza breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Horrible takedown by Numa or perhaps it was just good defense by de Souza which made him look bad.
Numa lands a really nice looking cross but de Souza seems unphased.
Numa thows a left - swing and a miss!
Good exchange - de Souza coming out on top.
Numa swinging wildly here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from de Souza misses the target.
de Souza showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Numa.
Numa shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has de Souza pinned against the cage. de Souza gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Thiago de Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Keiji Numa.
Numa with a lazy takedown attempt
and de Souza counters with a straight right hand.
Numa throws a head kick that misses
and de Souza counters with a left to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
de Souza will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
de Souza missing with a left hand there. Numa was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Numa throws a low kick but it's checked well by de Souza.
Numa throws the kick towards the body but de Souza avoids it.
de Souza scores with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
de Souza shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Numa but Numa pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Numa will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Numa swinging wildly here.
de Souza throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Numa pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Numa throws a head kick that misses.
de Souza misses with a straight right.
de Souza on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.

de Souza fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Numa, pushing him back against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Numa wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
de Souza tries to work over Numa's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Numa is looking to break free of the clinch but de Souza has double underhooks.
de Souza tries to land knees in the clinch but Numa avoids the damage to the body.

de Souza is trying to trip Numa. He has hold of a leg but Numa is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. de Souza persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Numa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from de Souza.
Numa preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
de Souza will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
de Souza stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Numa swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Numa working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from de Souza.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
de Souza throws a strike but Numa rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
de Souza looking for a sweep. Not yet de Souza, not yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Numa throwing strikes from guard but de Souza blocks nicely.
de Souza bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Numa's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Numa throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Numa with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Numa tries to bum rush de Souza with a series of wild strikes but de Souza uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
de Souza misses with a hook. Numa ducked under it nicely.
Numa lands a front kick.
de Souza throws a leg kick but Numa moved away.
Numa throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck de Souza on the side of the head.
Numa feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to de Souza's calf.
Numa misses with a body shot.
de Souza motions for Numa to come forward. de Souza throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Numa sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Thiago de Souza is winning the standup battle so far.
de Souza misses with a body shot.
Numa throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Souza displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Numa.
de Souza tries to land a front kick but Numa steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
de Souza throws a jab but it's blocked by Numa.
de Souza checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Keiji Numa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
de Souza throws a leg kick but Numa sees it coming and moves out of range.
de Souza throws a shot from downtown. Numa moves away and avoids it.
A chopping leg kick lands by Numa.
Numa fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

de Souza rushes Numa and presses him up against the cage.
de Souza trying to land knees to the body.

de Souza's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Numa feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to de Souza's calf.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Numa looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Keiji Numa is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Numa looks to land a combination but de Souza avoids it well.
de Souza throws a shot from downtown. Numa moves away and avoids it.
Numa misses with a head kick.
de Souza throws a quick inside leg kick.
The fighters circling - Numa throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Numa checks a leg kick.
de Souza stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Numa.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sloppy strikes from Numa. Those never looked like landing.
Numa swings away with a leg kick that misses.
de Souza throws a quick inside leg kick.
Numa rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and de Souza counters with a thumping low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Numa looks to land a combination. de Souza sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
de Souza chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Numa can pounce on him.
de Souza misses with a body kick.
Numa misses with a series of wild punches.
de Souza fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Numa has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
de Souza throws a push kick but Numa slaps the foot to one side.
de Souza shoots in but no luck this time.
A nice combination there by Numa.
Numa tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
de Souza is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Numa.
de Souza misses with a hook. Numa ducked under it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Numa throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
de Souza defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Numa.
Numa misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from de Souza.
Numa throws a right and a left that de Souza avoids nicely.
Numa misses with a two punch combination.
Numa tries for a takedown but de Souza circles away easily

and de Souza counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Thiago de Souza has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Keiji Numa.
A shot in the inside from de Souza.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

de Souza is trying to trip Numa. He has hold of a leg but Numa is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. de Souza persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
de Souza works a leg free and moves into half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
de Souza works his way into full mount!
Numa is breathing heavily.
de Souza has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Numa's face.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago de Souza dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

de Souza throws a solid leg kick but Numa takes the impact on his shin and smiles at de Souza.
de Souza misses with a leg kick.
Numa tries a head kick but it misses.

de Souza fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Numa to the ground. de Souza is now in Numa's guard.
Numa looking for a sweep. Not yet Numa, not yet.
de Souza postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
de Souza scoring with some ground and pound.
de Souza is pushing down on Numa's leg trying to pass to half guard. Numa is fighting to maintain full guard but de Souza has managed to sneak the leg through.

Numa looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
de Souza not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
de Souza looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Numa trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
de Souza passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Numa!
de Souza in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.

Numa is rocked!
de Souza controlling his opponent.
Numa is still in real trouble! Can de Souza finish him?
de Souza lands a heavy shot. That's hurt Numa! de Souza sees the opportunity and turns up the heat - strike after strike land to the defenseless Numa and the ref dives in to save him! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:45 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Strikes). Thiago de Souza!
Thiago de Souza took to the microphone after his victory and thanked his sponsors, GR Design - Top quality, from $10 to $150 ! for their support in the buildup to the fight.