PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rogerio De Souza (ranked 1998 p4p, 235 weight class) and Sam Rinaldi (ranked 1346 p4p, 166 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

De Souza
vs
Rinaldi

190 cm
26
196 lbs
11 - 13 - 0

187 cm
31
195 lbs
14 - 3 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Dark Knight Nutrition
Urban Fighter

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 11 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rogerio De Souza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Sam Rinaldi!
The judges for this bout are Hugh Johnson, Winston Howard and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rinaldi cracks a nice hook into De Souza's ribs.
De Souza cracks Rinaldi with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Rinaldi pushes forward with a 1-2 combination that forces De Souza back to the cage. Rinaldi follows up with a solid lead hook to the liver.

It looks like Rogerio De Souza has been cut.
A lazy left from Rinaldi finds it's target.
A big right from De Souza misses.
De Souza avoids a punch combination nicely.
Rinaldi blocks a jab.
Rinaldi swings widly with a right hand
letting De Souza counter with a right hand.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
De Souza fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Rinaldi manages to avoid it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rinaldi takes one on the chin but keeps coming.

It looks like Sam Rinaldi has been cut.
Sloppy strikes from De Souza. Those never looked like landing.
It seemed like Rinaldi was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
De Souza lands with an overhand left.
Rinaldi feints a jab promting De Souza to slip. Rinaldi then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. De Souza slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Rinaldi cracks De Souza with a right hand to the side of the head.
De Souza dodges the punch combination from Rinaldi.
De Souza tests Rinaldi's chin there with a solid looking shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rinaldi misses with a straight right.
Nice body punch from Rinaldi.
Rinaldi gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Rinaldi keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Rinaldi misses with a wild body shot.
A counter left hand to the body from De Souza misses its target.

De Souza moves into the clinch.

De Souza works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Rinaldi has his hands on De Souza's head, controlling the position.
Rinaldi preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Rinaldi has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but De Souza can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Rinaldi is trying to keep De Souza in close.
Rinaldi looking to hit a scissor sweep but De Souza is one step ahead there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
De Souza throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Rinaldi works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
De Souza is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Rinaldi wants to sweep but no luck.
De Souza looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
This has been an exciting period of action!
De Souza wants to control from the top but Rinaldi keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rinaldi wants to sweep but no luck.

Rinaldi is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
De Souza engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Rinaldi throws an ugly left hook that misses
and De Souza counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Rinaldi throws a combination but it was largely blocked by De Souza.
Rinaldi throws a big shot that misses.
De Souza lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rinaldi circles away quickly and effectively.
Rinaldi takes one on the button.
De Souza tries to bum rush Rinaldi with a series of wild strikes but Rinaldi uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
De Souza scores with a hook to the body. Rinaldi takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Rinaldi takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
De Souza cracks Rinaldi with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.

That has opened up Sam Rinaldi's cut even more.
De Souza slips a jab from Rinaldi.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
De Souza scores with a jab. Rinaldi acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Sam Rinaldi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

De Souza manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Rinaldi on his heels. He'll look to pass Rinaldi's guard now, I'm sure.
Rinaldi can't keep his opponent in guard - De Souza advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
De Souza trying to advance position but Rinaldi counters by regaining guard.
De Souza looking to sit in guard and control but Rinaldi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

De Souza throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

De Souza is looking to cinch up a triangle. Rinaldi throws the leg off to one side though and gets in tight to De Souza's body to avoid the submission. De Souza has instead reached around Rinaldi's neck and now has a guillotine! Oh, this is biiiig trouble! De Souza arches his back and squeezes and forces the tap from his hapless opponent.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Rogerio De Souza!
Our winner, Rogerio De Souza, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.