PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Felix Gibbs (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcelo Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Gibbs might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Enter Sandman -- Metallica. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Gibbs
vs
Santos

174 cm
24
155 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

168 cm
20
158 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Determined

Empire Threads - The Best $15 You've Ever Spent!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Felix Gibbs!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Marcelo Santos!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Elvis Blanc and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santos waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Gibbs.
Gibbs stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Gibbs wants it to stay on the feet.
Santos shoots in looking for a takedown but Gibbs manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Santos's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Santos misses with a right hand

and Gibbs counters with a shoot takedown. Santos fights it but they end up in guard.
Gibbs stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Santos swivels though and keeps the full guard.

Gibbs avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Santos keeping moving, preventing Gibbs from controlling successfully.

Gibbs thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Gibbs throws a big elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gibbs tries to free his leg and advance position but Santos is retaining full guard.
Santos manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

Santos looking to secure an arm triangle but Gibbs defends it well.
Gibbs is squirming around, avoiding Santos's attempts to control the action.
Gibbs is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos breaks from Gibbs's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Santos punching from mount but Gibbs doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Gibbs tries to reverse the position but Santos maintains control.
Gibbs tries to lock up and control but Santos gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Santos postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Gibbs looks a forlorn figure.
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!
Gibbs is in all sorts of trouble here.
Santos trying to control but Gibbs is having none of it.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Santos looking to secure an arm triangle but Gibbs defends it well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Gibbs sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Santos slows the pace down in half guard.
Gibbs manages to get to full guard.
Santos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Gibbs swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gibbs looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Santos stops Gibbs from standing up.
Santos trying to control but Gibbs is working from the bottom.
Gibbs is looking to stand up but Santos isn't so interested in that idea.
Santos passes easily into side control. Nice work.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Santos is looking to take a break and control but Gibbs is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Santos is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Gibbs knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Marcelo Santos will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Gibbs avoids a punch combination nicely.
Santos looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Gibbs is fending him off so far but Santos persists. Nope, Gibbs circles away and we're back to standing.

Gibbs fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Santos, pushing him back against the cage.
Santos changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Gibbs fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Santos shoots in looking for a takedown but Gibbs manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Santos's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Felix Gibbs has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marcelo Santos.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Santos takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.

Gibbs has managed to clinch.

Gibbs turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!

Gibbs thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Santos is not content to let Gibbs control the position.
You can see the frustration on Santos's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Gibbs is looking to take a break and control but Santos is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gibbs landing a few strikes.
Santos is not content to let Gibbs control the position.
Gibbs throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Santos seems a little lost for a moment, as Gibbs dominates the positioning.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gibbs working away.

Gibbs is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Santos is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Gibbs lands a few punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gibbs trying to control the position but Santos is working away.

Gibbs thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Gibbs stands up and beckons Santos to his feet.

Gibbs scores a takedown into full mount!
Gibbs manages to capitalize on a mistake by Santos to take his back!

Gibbs is working hard for the rear naked choke here.
Santos tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos is trying to escape the mount.
Santos is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Gibbs with a couple of short strikes.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gibbs can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Santos is looking to escape.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Santos sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Santos trying to control from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Felix Gibbs dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Santos gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Gibbs counters with a one-two to the body.

Gibbs closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Santos to the mat! Santos manages to get full guard.
Gibbs would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Santos 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.
Gibbs wants to pass the guard but Santos is keeping the position.
Gibbs is working hard here to advance position.

Gibbs gets to his feet. Santos looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!

That's one minute gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Santos misses the target.

Santos bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Santos misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Santos takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Santos is looking to take a break and control but Gibbs is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Santos tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Gibbs is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Santos off and has taken his back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gibbs looking for the choke from the back.
Gibbs is trying to stick to Santos's back but Santos is turning into Gibbs. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Gibbs's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Santos.
Gibbs is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Santos trying to control the position from guard on top but Gibbs is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Santos won't allow Gibbs to sweep him here.

Santos is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Gibbs is on top in guard.
Gibbs wants to pass the guard but Santos is keeping the position.

Gibbs drops back looking for a leg! Santos is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Santos manages to kick Gibbs off! Gibbs jumps back into Santos's guard.
Santos keeping moving, preventing Gibbs from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos looking for a sweep. Not yet Santos, not yet.
Santos has Gibbs pulled in close to control his posture.
Gibbs stays in close to Santos's body and controls the position.

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

Santos dives in and scores a takedown into Gibbs's guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Gibbs isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Santos stacks Gibbs on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Santos!
Gibbs is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Santos's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.

And that's the end of the fight!
Felix Gibbs showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Gibbs 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 29:28
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Felix Gibbs!
Felix Gibbs very nearly forgot to thank Empire Threads - The Best $15 You've Ever Spent! amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.