PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between machine terminator (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Takanori dos Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

terminator
vs
dos Santos

185 cm
20
193 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
23
186 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good in bed

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

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 London, machine terminator!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Takanori dos Santos!
The judges for this bout are Sam Margolis, Andrew Berry and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
dos Santos takes a swing at terminator's ribcage but misses.
dos Santos looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.

dos Santos rushes terminator and presses him up against the cage.

dos Santos jumps into guard, dragging terminator to the mat.
terminator is looking to stand up but dos Santos won't let him.
terminator won't allow dos Santos to sweep him here.
dos Santos is trying to keep terminator in close.
terminator preventing the sweep.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
dos Santos is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
terminator wants to control from the top but dos Santos keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

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

terminator tries to keep at a distance but dos Santos has taken the fight into the clinch.
dos Santos is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
terminator keeps control of dos Santos as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
dos Santos has terminator pressed against the cage, preventing terminator from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
terminator working hard to break the clinch.

dos Santos pulls guard effortlessly.
dos Santos has a closed guard, preventing terminator from standing up.

dos Santos pushes terminator off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
dos Santos throws a right and a left that terminator avoids nicely.
dos Santos shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts terminator as he jumps to the side.
A combination from dos Santos does no damage.

dos Santos fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with terminator, pushing him back against the cage.
terminator is trying to drag dos Santos to the mat but dos Santos just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
terminator looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
dos Santos digs a right hand underneath terminator's ribcage. terminator let out a lung full of air as it connected.
terminator tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. dos Santos smiles and moves away.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
dos Santos working the head and body with strikes.
dos Santos missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
terminator is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
terminator keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
terminator is pressing down on dos Santos's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
dos Santos postures up in terminator's guard and throws a big left but terminator blocks it.
terminator preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

dos Santos stands and steps away. terminator gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
terminator tries a head kick but it misses.
terminator shoots in but no luck this time.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for machine terminator. That's going to take a lot out of him.
terminator is breathing heavily.

dos Santos drives through with a takedown into guard.
dos Santos thows a big elbow that misses.
dos Santos is looking to work some ground and pound but terminator has wrist control.

dos Santos decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takanori dos Santos dominated that round.
That's time! terminator's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

dos Santos closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
A nice left hand lands by dos Santos.
dos Santos will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning terminator up against the cage.
terminator is looking to break free of the clinch but dos Santos has double underhooks.
terminator wants to break free but dos Santos has control.
terminator tries to land a knee to the head but dos Santos blocks with his arms.
dos Santos is looking to break free of the clinch but terminator has double underhooks.
terminator wants to break the clinch but can't.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
dos Santos keeps the fight in the clinch, despite terminator's efforts to push away.
dos Santos prevents terminator from breaking the clinch.

dos Santos pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A punch lands to the side of terminator 's head but he takes it in his stride.

That's one minute gone in the round.
dos Santos fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
terminator misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
dos Santos throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around terminator's waist but terminator gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing dos Santos off to one side.
Takanori dos Santos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
dos Santos throws a push kick but terminator slaps the foot to one side.
dos Santos lands a front kick.
dos Santos stuns terminator with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
dos Santos throws a sloppy head kick
and terminator counters with a nice uppercut.
terminator tries a head kick but it misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
terminator misses with a combination

and dos Santos holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

dos Santos works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
terminator utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

dos Santos stands up from terminator's guard - dos Santos perhaps looking for a knockout.
dos Santos throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
dos Santos throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and terminator makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
terminator clinches but dos Santos breaks the clinch

and dos Santos counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
terminator wants to get back to striking at distance but dos Santos won't allow it.

dos Santos breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
dos Santos rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but terminator moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
terminator closes the distance but dos Santos moves to the side

and dos Santos counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by dos Santos.
terminator working hard to break the clinch.
terminator is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
terminator wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

dos Santos wants the takedown. terminator is fighting it off but dos Santos persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in terminator's guard against the cage.

dos Santos gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

dos Santos closes the distance and clinches.
A nice glancing elbow lands by dos Santos.
dos Santos prevents terminator from breaking the clinch.
terminator is trying to break the clinch but dos Santos has him pressed against the cage.

dos Santos has terminator pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. dos Santos pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending terminator tumbling to the mat - dos Santos dives into terminator's guard.
terminator working a defensive guard here.
terminator working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from dos Santos.
terminator is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Takanori dos Santos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

dos Santos throws out a powerful jab.
terminator wants to clinch

and dos Santos counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

dos Santos pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
dos Santos throws a series of punches but terminator avoids them all with ease.
Nice takedown defense from terminator. No joy for dos Santos on that attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
terminator lands with a kick to the temple. dos Santos shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

It looks like Takanori dos Santos has been cut.
dos Santos moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from dos Santos is defended easily by terminator.

That's one minute gone in the round.
terminator throws a head kick but dos Santos moves out of range.

dos Santos has managed to clinch.
dos Santos keeps control of terminator as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
dos Santos wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but terminator has him pressed against the cage.
terminator is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
terminator is working for takedown but dos Santos is calmly controlling the position for now.
dos Santos lands with a light punch inside.

That's two 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.
terminator looking to slow down the pace here.
terminator wants to break free but dos Santos has control.
dos Santos lands a nice shot to the body.

dos Santos breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
terminator tries a head kick but it misses.
terminator tries to clinch up

and dos Santos holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

dos Santos's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

dos Santos rushes terminator and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
dos Santos is working for takedown but terminator is calmly controlling the position for now.
machine terminator has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Takanori dos Santos.
terminator tries to break free but dos Santos pushes him back against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

dos Santos manages to pull guard.
dos Santos controls terminator momentarily but terminator frees himself.
terminator has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of dos Santos is proving hard to escape from.
machine terminator has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
dos Santos manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
dos Santos unloads with some shots from mount but terminator bucks and avoids them well.

That's four 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.
dos Santos misses with a head shot.
terminator takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
dos Santos has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of terminator's face.
dos Santos looking to control but terminator is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Takanori dos Santos is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

dos Santos is going oldschool here, as he tries to force terminator to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so terminator shrugs it off.
terminator is trying desperately to improve position.

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 machine terminator.
I think dos Santos has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Sam Margolis scores the fight 28:29
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Takanori dos Santos!