PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Davis Davies (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gustavo Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gustavo Santos is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Davies
vs
Santos

170 cm
20
153 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

169 cm
30
145 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good takedowns
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Davis Davies!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gustavo Santos!
The judges for this bout are William Peck, Trevor Gratis and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Santos shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Davies manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Santos trying to stand up but can't free himself from Davies's guard.

Davies looking for a guillotine here but Santos defends easily.
Santos is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Davies has his foot on Santos's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Santos works his way back into a safe position though.
Santos slips nicely into half guard.
Santos wants to pass the guard but Davies is defending well.
Santos trying to control from half guard but Davies is working away.

Davies is defending against the submission attempts here by Santos.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davies is staying active underneath Santos, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Santos prevents Davies from improving his position.
Davies is trying to maintain the position but Santos is very close to passing his half guard.

Santos is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Davies has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Santos is working away from the top position though.
Santos drops an elbow to the side of Davies's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos controlling the action here.
Santos is keen to just control but Davies is a slippery customer.
Santos prevents Davies from improving his position.
Davies slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Davies lands a decent shot there.
Davies avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Santos passes Davies's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Santos is looking for a kimura here.
Santos not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Davies wants to get back to full guard but Santos has passed into side control.
Davies wants to control but Santos postures up.
A lull in the action here as Santos stalls from top position.
Davies is looking for a sweep.
Davies is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Santos off and has taken his back!

Davies has decided that he can't make progress quickly enough from the back position and has rather unusually decided to stand up from the dominant position. Obviously he's going to be looking for the knockout on the feet here!
Davies fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Santos manages to avoid it.
Davies misses with an uppercut. Santos saw that one coming.
Santos looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Santos swings away with a body shot that misses
and Davies counters with a nice uppercut.
Davies is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Davies misses with a series of wild punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Davies paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Santos looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Santos postures up.

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.
Davies keeping full guard, as Santos tries to pass.
Davies seems keen to control Santos's posture.
Santos in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Davies is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Santos passes into half guard under a barage of strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gustavo Santos dominated that 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.

Davies takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Davies misses with a looping left.
Santos shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch but Davies swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Santos ducks under a wild hook from Davies.
Santos's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Davies connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Santos scrambles back to his feet.
Santos shoots in and drives through. Davies sprawls well.
Davies leaves Santos with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Nice defenses there by Santos.
Davies swinging wildly here.
Davies misses with an uppercut.
Santos showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Davies.
Santos shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Davies pinned against the cage. Davies gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Davis Davies has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gustavo Santos.
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!
Santos shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Davies as he avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Davies.
A big right from Davies misses.
Santos avoids a punch combination nicely.
Davies throws a series of punches but Santos moves out of range.
Davies misses with an uppercut
and Santos counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Santos shoots in for a takedown but Davies shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Santos uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Davies.
Santos takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Santos slips under a jab from Davies.
Santos has a takedown stuffed.
Davies lands a jab to the head.

Santos closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Davies quickly recovers to half guard.
Santos trying to control from half guard but Davies is working away.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Davies makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Davies.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Davies trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Santos loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Santos avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Santos lands a couple of elbows.

Davies is looking for a triangle but Santos pushes his legs off easily.
Davies trying to keep a closed guard but Santos is proving a slippery customer.

Santos decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Santos fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Davies avoids it really well and circles away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Davies counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Davies waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Santos.
Sloppy strikes from Davies. Those never looked like landing.
Davies dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Santos cracks a nice hook into Davies's ribs.
Santos with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Davies to score with a decent uppercut.
Santos shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Davies eats them both and turns towards Santos to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Santos throws a right and a left that Davies avoids nicely.

Santos looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Santos is breathing heavily.
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!
Davies controls Santos momentarily but Santos frees himself.

Davies throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Santos stands and throws Davies's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Davies is looking for a sweep.
Santos working the head with strikes.
Santos lands a few punches from side control.

Santos wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Davies, who protects the arm well.
Davies tries to improve position but can't.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Santos lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Davies manages to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Gustavo Santos will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Santos staying out of range there.
Santos uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Davies.
Davies is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

Santos shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Gustavo Santos has got the better of the ground game so far.
Santos stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Davies swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Santos has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Santos forces his way into half guard.
Davies wants to improve his position but Santos is controlling well.
Davies trying to control here.
Davies wants to get back to full guard.
Davies is trying to control but can't.
Davies has hold of Santos's hands but Santos slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Davies has hold of Santos's hands but Santos slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davies trying to hold on to Santos's head to control him but Santos postures up.
Santos frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Santos looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

Santos jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Davies manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Santos trying to control the action but Davies is working from the bottom.

Santos is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Davies is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Davies tries to strike from the bottom but misses.
Davies manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Davies is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Davies taking some punishment here, with Santos in his half guard.
Davies makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Davies.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Davies keeping full guard, as Santos tries to pass.

Davies throws his legs up looking for a submission but Santos uses it to pass to side control.
Santos working the head and body with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos wants to lay and pray for a moment but Davies keeps working.
Santos is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Davies throws a couple of punches but he's in a bad position and they don't land.

Santos tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Santos has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Davies is looking for a sweep.

Santos has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Santos fails with the takedown
enabling Davies to counter with a crisp jab.
Santos gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Davies misses with a few strikes there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Davies throws a series of punches but Santos avoids them all with ease.
Davies misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Santos.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Santos fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Davies avoids it really well and circles away.
Davies misses with a looping left.
Davies slaps away a takedown attempt from Santos, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Davis Davies has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Gustavo Santos.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A punch combination from Davies misses.
Santos tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Davies swivels and escapes.
Davies scores with a nice strike.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Santos on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Santos will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Santos avoids the body shot from Davies.
Davis Davies has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gustavo Santos is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Davies looks to score with a jab to the body but Santos is just out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gustavo Santos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Santos winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 William Peck scores the fight 27:30
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 27:30
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30

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