PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Nicky Santoro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stelian Zeklos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Santoro might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to A Warrior's Call - Volbeat. Zeklos comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Du Riechst So Gut kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Santoro
vs
Zeklos

191 cm
26
215 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

183 cm
23
219 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Nicky Santoro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Stelian Zeklos!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Marco Blurström and Matti Vanhoillinen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santoro is looking to clinch but Zeklos is avoiding it.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Zeklos tries to close the distance and clinch up but Santoro swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Zeklos connects with a leg kick. Santoro looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Zeklos takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

It looks like Stelian Zeklos has been cut.
Santoro misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Zeklos.
Santoro tries to close the distance and clinch but Zeklos swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Nicky Santoro seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Santoro looks to land a right hand but Zeklos moved out of range.
Santoro lands a slapping body shot.
Santoro swings for the body but Zeklos moves out of range.
Santoro looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Santoro shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.

It looks like Nicky Santoro has been cut.

Santoro scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Zeklos prevents Santoro from improving position.
Zeklos is trying to control Santoro's posture but Santoro avoids it.

Santoro is trying to get an arm triangle but Zeklos is defending well.

Santoro looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Santoro working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zeklos holds on tight, trying to prevent any damage.
Zeklos is trying to control Santoro's posture but Santoro avoids it.

Santoro looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Sloppy strikes there by Santoro.
Zeklos wants to control but Santoro postures up.

Santoro is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Zeklos knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Santoro tries to move into full mount but can't pass Zeklos's legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zeklos wants to control but Santoro postures up.
Santoro throws a strike aimed at the side of Zeklos's head but Zeklos avoids it well.
Zeklos is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Santoro asserts his dominance and retains side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Santoro tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Santoro working the ground and pound from side control.
Zeklos is trying to get back to half guard.
Santoro is chipping away with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Santoro is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Zeklos has escaped the position, nice work there.
Zeklos prevents Santoro from improving position.
Zeklos is looking to regain half guard here but Santoro keeps moving and retains side control.

Zeklos throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
Santoro keeps the fight on the outside.
Stelian Zeklos is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Santoro takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Zeklos dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Santoro. That did some damage!
Zeklos doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
A nice leg kick lands there from Zeklos.
Nice body kick there by Zeklos.
Santoro clobbers Zeklos with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Santoro shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Zeklos but Zeklos pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Santoro is breathing heavily.

Zeklos has closed the distance and engaged Santoro in a clinch.
Zeklos swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch on the inside from Zeklos fails to land.
Zeklos misses with a punch on the inside.
Santoro is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Zeklos swings wildly with an uppercut but Santoro uses good head movement to avoid it.
Zeklos is defending well against a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Nicky Santoro. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Zeklos lands with a short head shot on the inside.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Zeklos scores with a nice hook to the head.
Zeklos scores with a shot to the side of Santoro's head.
Zeklos throws a head punch that misses.
Zeklos lands a right hand.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Nicky Santoro will probably get the nod.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Zeklos clinches up with Santoro and pushes him back against the cage.
Zeklos misses with a hook from the clinch.
Zeklos can't find room to land a body shot as Santoro controls the action.
Zeklos misses with a short punch on the inside.
Zeklos throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Santoros head.

Santoro is rocked!
Zeklos has Santoro pressed against the cage. He pushes Santoro back and as he springs towards him off the cage, Zeklos throws a beautiful elbow that sends Santoro crashing to the floor! Zeklos piles on the pressure with more strikes! Santoro is flailing away but he's not defending himself and the referee steps in to stop the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:28 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Stelian Zeklos!
After the fight, Stelian Zeklos was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.