PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ricardo Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Junior Dos Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Dos Santos is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: The Prodigy - Bring The Noise. Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Santos
vs
Dos Santos

192 cm
25
250 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

193 cm
25
247 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Junior Dos Santos!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Mauricio Rocha and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch up but Dos Santos swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Dos Santos falls off balance throwing a combination

and Santos counters by moving into the clinch.
Dos Santos is trying to break the clinch but Santos has him pressed against the cage.
Santos misses with a knee strike.
Dos Santos jumps guard but Santos turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Dos Santos struggles to land a body shot inside as Santos controls his hands.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Dos Santos has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Santos scores a nice knee to the body.
Santos landing knees to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Santos with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Santos tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dos Santos avoids it.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Dos Santos has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Santos misses with a knee to the head.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Dos Santos has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Dos Santos takes a knee right on the jaw!

It looks like Junior Dos Santos has been cut.
Dos Santos avoiding damage as Santos throws knees to the body.
Dos Santos looking for a takedown.
Santos misses with a knee to the head.
Santos with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Santos misses with a knee strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos tries to circle away but Santos has him pinned against the cage.
Dos Santos wants to break free but Santos has control.
Dos Santos tries a body shot but Santos blocks it.
Santos throws a knee to the head but misses.
Santos tries to land a knee to the head but Dos Santos blocks with his arms.
Santos trying to land knees to the body.
Santos landing knees to the body.
Santos with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Santos is breathing heavily.
Santos misses with a knee to the head.
Santos keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Dos Santos's efforts to push away.
Santos misses with a knee to the head.
Santos prevents Dos Santos from breaking the clinch.
Dos Santos tries to break the clinch but Santos is controlling the position.
Dos Santos takes a knee right on the jaw!
Santos misses with a knee to the head.

Dos Santos pulls guard effortlessly.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Dos Santos is on top in guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Dos Santos stands and throws Santos's legs to the side, diving into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Dos Santos advances to full mount.
Dos Santos throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Dos Santos looking to control and managing it successfully.
The referee warns Santos that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Santos is looking to escape.
Dos Santos controlling his opponent.
Dos Santos cracks Santos with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Dos Santos tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Let's hope that Dos Santos has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Santos knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Dos Santos on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos tries to control but Santos wriggling away.
Santos wants to get back to his feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Junior Dos Santos was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Santos tries to clinch but Dos Santos moves out of range.
Santos takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.

It looks like Ricardo Santos has been cut.
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 tries to clinch but Dos Santos moves out of range.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Dos Santos shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Santos defends it nicely.
Ricardo Santos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Junior Dos Santos.
Santos takes a jab right on the kisser.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Dos Santos dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Santos's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Santos tries to clinch up but Dos Santos circles away and keeps his distance.

Santos clinches up with Dos Santos and pushes him back against the cage.
Dos Santos wants to get back to striking at distance but Santos won't allow it.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Dos Santos tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Santos smiles and moves away.
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch but Dos Santos swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Dos Santos throws a low kick but it's checked well by Santos.
Santos tries to clinch but Dos Santos moves out of range.
Dos Santos keeps the fight on the outside.
Santos is looking to clinch.
Dos Santos throws a leg kick that misses.
Dos Santos lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Dos Santos.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Santos fails with an attempt to clinch.
Santos fails with an attempt to clinch.
Santos doesn't manage to clinch there - Dos Santos circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos wants to clinch.
Santos showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Dos Santos.
Santos fails with an attempt to clinch.

Dos Santos lands a jab followed by a vicious hook that sends Santos sprawling to the canvas. Dos Santos follows him down, looking for the kill. Can Santos hang on?

Santos is rocked!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Dos Santos wants to take a breather but Santos is having none of it.
Dos Santos trying to control the pace.
Dos Santos is trying to control. Santos wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Junior Dos Santos wasn't active enough on the ground.
Dos Santos keeps the fight on the outside.
Dos Santos circles away from the clinch attempt.
Santos wants to clinch.
Dos Santos circles away from the clinch attempt.
Santos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Oooh a lovely combination from Dos Santos sends Santos down but not out. Dos Santos dives into side control looking to finish.

Ricardo Santos's cut is getting worse.
Dos Santos is looking to take a break and control but Santos is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Dos Santos taking a breather here.
Dos Santos trying to control the action but Santos is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos advances to mount.
Dos Santos controlling the position easily from mount.
Santos is trying to stand up.
Dos Santos sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Dos Santos throws some wild stikes that Santos manages to avoid easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Dos Santos takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Dos Santos throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Santos because Dos Santos loaded up on that one.
Dos Santos controlling from mount.
Santos is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Santos holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Dos Santos tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Dos Santos thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.

Dos Santos looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Dos Santos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Santos moves in looking to clinch but Dos Santos pushes him off.
Dos Santos misses with a series of wild punches.
A lazy left from Dos Santos finds it's target.
Santos tries to clinch there but Dos Santos circles away.
Santos stuffs the takedown attempt from Dos Santos. Dos Santos gets slowly back to his feet.
Good shot there by Dos Santos.
Dos Santos lands a nice hook to Santos's body. Santos takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Dos Santos with a nice cross.

Ricardo Santos's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Santos takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
The fight stays on the outside here - Dos Santos looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Santos closes the distance looking to clinch
and Dos Santos connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Ricardo Santos is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos tries to clinch up but Dos Santos circles away and keeps his distance.

Santos closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Dos Santos goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Santos with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Dos Santos has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Santos misses with a knee strike.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Santos prevents Dos Santos from breaking the clinch.
Knees in the clinch landing for Santos.
Santos with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Santos with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Dos Santos.
Dos Santos tries to break the clinch but Santos is controlling the position.
Dos Santos is trying to break free.
Dos Santos can't break the clinch.
Dos Santos is trying to force a seperation but Santos has the dominant position.
Dos Santos wants to take the fight to the mat but Santos manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Dos Santos gets control of Santos's arms and successfully pulls guard. Dos Santos will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Dos Santos is pulling down on Santos's head. It's preventing any offense from Santos, at least for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Dos Santos is on top in guard.
Dos Santos content to stall in guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Junior Dos Santos hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Dos Santos throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Santos defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Dos Santos.
Ricardo Santos has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Junior Dos Santos.
Santos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Dos Santos swats away the attempt to clinch by Santos.
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Dos Santos paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Santos ducks right into an uppercut from Dos Santos.
Dos Santos looks to land a combination. Santos sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Santos moves into range and clinches up with Dos Santos.
Santos with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Ricardo Santos has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Dos Santos breaks the clinch.
Santos fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos throws a one two combo.

Jeez, Ricardo Santos's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.
Dos Santos has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Dos Santos fails with the takedown.

Oooh a lovely combination from Dos Santos sends Santos down but not out. Dos Santos dives into side control looking to finish.
Junior Dos Santos is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Oh Santos is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Ricardo Santos's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:38 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Junior Dos Santos!
During a confident post fight interview, Junior Dos Santos thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.