PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Julimar Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ray Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hardy is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: I shot the Sheriff. Ray Hardy will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Santos
vs
Hardy

175 cm
19
130 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

193 cm
18
142 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Julimar Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Ray Hardy!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Colin Fotheringham and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardy takes a shot to the body in his stride.
No joy there for Santos, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Hardy fails with a takedown attempt.
Santos fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Santos clinches.
Hardy looking to stall.
Santos dodges an elbow strike from Hardy.
Hardy stalling against the cage.

Santos pulls guard effortlessly.
Hardy wants to control from the top but Santos keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Santos looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hardy is one step ahead there.
Santos has a closed guard, preventing Hardy from standing up.

Hardy drops back looking for a leg! Santos is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Santos manages to kick Hardy off! Hardy jumps back into Santos's guard.
Santos might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Santos has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Hardy has passed into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Hardy presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Santos on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Santos tries to get out of the position.

Hardy looking to secure an arm triangle but Santos defends it well.
Santos is working to get back to half guard.
Santos is working hard here to advance position.
Santos tries to lock up and control but Hardy gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Santos bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Hardy keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Santos's corner is telling him to maintain position.

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.
Santos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hardy swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Santos controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Santos trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Hardy is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Santos trying to control the position from guard on top but Hardy is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Hardy closes the distance and clinches up with Santos, looking for a takedown. Hardy pushes Santos against the cage but Santos circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Santos decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Hardy slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Santos won't allow Hardy to get back to his feet.
Santos has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Hardy pulls Santos in close to his closed guard and prevents Santos from doing any damage or advancing position.
Hardy wants to stand but Santos is controlling the position.
Hardy wants to sweep here but Santos controlling him for the moment.
Santos is stalling in the full guard.
Santos trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Hardy is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Hardy throws a head kick but Santos moves out of range.

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.
Santos lands with a straight right. Hardy didn't see that one coming.
Hardy uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Santos.
Santos just misses with a punch to the body.
Hardy avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Hardy tries to close the distance and clinch but Santos swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Santos loads up on a big right hand but Hardy slips the punch.
Hardy with a lazy takedown attempt
and Santos counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Julimar Santos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ray Hardy.
Hardy fails with an attempt to clinch.

Santos gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Santos ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Santos no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

Santos escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Hardy gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Santos looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hardy is one step ahead there.
Hardy trying to control the position from guard on top but Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Santos has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Hardy can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Julimar Santos dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Hardy shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Santos counters with a straight right hand.
Hardy ducks under a wild hook from Santos.
Santos lands a nice shot to the body.
Hardy takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Hardy tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Santos misses with an uppercut. Hardy saw that one coming.

Santos scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Santos content to control rather than advance.
Santos'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.
Hardy trying to control from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Santos manages to move to mount!
Santos tries to control but Hardy wriggling away.
Hardy is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Santos can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Hardy is looking to escape.
Santos controlling the position easily from mount.

Santos is working for a guillotine from mount but Hardy frees his head quite easily.
Hardy is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Santos looking to control but Hardy is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Hardy wants to hold on but Santos pushes him away.
Hardy is squirming around, avoiding Santos's attempts to control the action.
Santos controlling the pace for now.
Hardy is trying to reverse the position but instead Santos has taken his back - oops!
Santos is not going to allow Hardy to sit and survive in this position.

Santos is looking for the choke from the back position but Hardy is controlling his hands well.
Hardy manages to reverse the position and now he's in Santos's guard. Nice work there by Hardy.

Santos looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy wants to control from the top but Santos keeps moving.
Hardy advances position into side control!
Santos is trying to get back to half guard.
Hardy wants to control but Santos is keeping him busy.
Hardy is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Santos really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Santos tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Hardy wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Hardy trying to control the action but Santos is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Santos is looking for a sweep.
Hardy is looking to take a break and control but Santos is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Santos feints and as Hardy raises his hands in defense, Santos changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Santos prevents Hardy from getting back to his feet.
Santos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Hardy swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Hardy pulls Santos in close to prevent any damage.
Santos passes Hardy's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Julimar Santos 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!

Hardy tries to clinch but Santos moves away
and Santos counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Hardy tries for a takedown but Santos circles away easily

and Santos holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Santos managing to block the knees to the body from Hardy.
Santos goes for a takedown attempt but Hardy pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Hardy with a poor takedown

and Santos counters with a shoot takedown. Hardy fights it but they end up in guard.
Hardy wants to get back to his feet but Santos is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Santos stays in close to Hardy's body and controls the position.
Hardy keeping full guard, as Santos tries to pass.
Santos won't allow Hardy to sweep him here.
Santos controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Santos stops Hardy from standing up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.
Santos is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

Hardy manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Hardy misses with a takedown attempt
and Santos connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Julimar Santos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ray Hardy.

Hardy rushes Santos and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Santos is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Santos creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Hardy throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Hardy tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Hardy lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Hardy wants to break the clinch but can't.
Hardy is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Santos is defending well for now.
Hardy misses with the head strike.
Hardy has Santos pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Santos manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.

Santos breaks from the clinch.
Santos swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Hardy.
Santos ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hardy moves away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Hardy counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Santos trying to hold on to Hardy's head to control him but Hardy postures up.

Santos actively working from the bottom here.
Santos wants to get back to full guard but Hardy has mounted him!
Hardy trying to control but Santos is having none of it.
Santos is looking to improve his position but Hardy isn't that keen on the idea.
Hardy looking to control and managing it successfully.
Santos is squirming around, avoiding Hardy's attempts to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos is trying desperately to improve position.
Hardy manages to capitalize on a mistake by Santos to take his back!
Hardy controlling from the back.
Hardy controlling well, preventing Santos from escaping the position.
Hardy slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
A lull in the action here.
Santos tries to roll but Hardy sticks to his back.
Santos trying to control the action but Hardy just sinks the hooks in.
What can Santos do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!

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.
Santos is in bad spot here.
Hardy punishes Santos with strikes from the back mount.

Hardy looking to finish the fight with a rear naked choke. Santos is controlling Hardy 's left arm and he spins nicely into guard.
Santos slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Hardy wants to stand up but Santos is controlling him.
Santos pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Hardy is keeping the position for now.
Hardy is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Julimar Santos.
Well Santos has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 James Atkins scores the fight for Julimar Santos!
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight for Julimar Santos!
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight for Julimar Santos!

Julimar Santos wins by unanimous decision!