PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Dewitt Gay (ranked 7121 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paolo Santos (ranked 5805 p4p, 259 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Gay
vs
Santos

223 cm
18
140 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

161 cm
25
145 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dewitt Gay!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Paolo Santos!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Matheus Silva and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Santos shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Santos engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Santos working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Santos sitting in guard here, content to control.
Santos's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gay keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gay looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Santos gets to his feet - Gay follows without any prompting.
Santos should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.

Santos looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Gay gets back to full guard.
Gay being controlled here, momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Gay escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Santos gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Santos seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Gay will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Santos preventing the sweep.
Santos must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Santos throws a strike but Gay rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Santos seems keen to control Gay's posture.
Gay is looking to work some ground and pound but Santos has wrist control.
Santos doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Santos has control of Gay's left arm, preventing Gay from doing any damage.
Gay really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Gay in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four 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.
Gay is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Santos is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Gay showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Santos.

Santos gets a takedown into half guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santos wants to control but Gay is keeping him busy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paolo Santos dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Gay takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Gay throwing a counter right hand but Santos manages to avoid it.
Paolo Santos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Gay gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Gay throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.

Gay escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Santos gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Gay manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Santos manages to get himself to full guard.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Santos is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gay scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gay throws a big elbow that misses.
Gay trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Santos is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Santos throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Santos is trying to keep Gay in close.

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.
Santos might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Gay haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Gay working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Santos's head.
Santos managing to control the position.
Gay trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Santos clinches up against the cage.

Santos breaks the clinch.
Santos tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Gay loads up on a big right hand but Santos slips the punch.

Santos gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Gay blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Santos has Gay pressed against the cage.

Santos jumps guard and drags Gay to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Santos really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gay. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Santos looking to hit a scissor sweep but Gay is one step ahead there.
Santos utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Santos manages to escape and get back to his feet.

Santos moves into the clinch successfully.
Santos avoiding damage as Gay throws knees to the body.

Santos pulls guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gay throwing strikes from guard but Santos blocks nicely.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gay postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paolo Santos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Santos showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Gay.

Santos forces Gay back against the cage and clinches.
Santos pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Santos gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Santos is trying to control. Gay wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Gay works his way to full guard. Good work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Gay is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Santos missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gay has a closed guard, preventing Santos from standing up.
Santos scoring with punches to the head and body.
Santos postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Santos content to stall in guard here.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Santos has Gay up against the cage in a clinch.
Santos working Gay over with knees to the body.
Santos has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Santos has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Gay uses from the top position.
Gay postures up.
Santos working a defensive guard but Gay manages to pass into side control anyway.
Santos can't do much from the bottom here.
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 sneaks back into half guard.
Santos is positioning himself well to prevent Gay advancing to mount.

Santos is defending against the submission attempts here by Gay.
Santos looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.

Gay seems to be working for a kimura but Santos defends the submission attempt.
Santos wants to improve his position but Gay is controlling well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santos wants to control but Gay is keeping busy.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paolo Santos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Santos has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 27:30
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 27:30
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 27:30

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