PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Santiago Costa (ranked 884 p4p, 396 weight class) and Alan Spence (ranked 142 p4p, 58 weight class). Spence comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Were Coming kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Costa
vs
Spence

183 cm
37
190
28 - 27 - 0

185 cm
31
186
14 - 7 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Bondi MMA ðŸï¸
FUClothing

Brooklyn Threads
Brooklyn Apothecary

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 28 - 27 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Santiago Costa!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, Alan Spence !
The judges for this bout are Andrew Berry, Phil Schofield and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Costa tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Spence manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Santiago Costa seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fight stays on the outside here - Costa looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Spence swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Costa.
Costa throws a sloppy body shot
and Spence counters with a stiff right hand.
Costa is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Costa drives through with a takedown into guard.
Costa works a leg free and moves into half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Costa missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Costa passes into side control, despite Spence 's attempt to control the position.
Costa throws an elbow but Spence slips to the side and avoids it well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Costa in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

Costa wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Spence , who protects the arm well.

Costa thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Spence is not content to let Costa control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Spence is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Spence is controlling Costa's trapped leg to prevent Costa from advancing to side control.

Costa is looking for a kimura but Spence is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Costa to get the leverage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Costa is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Spence defends it well.
Costa throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Spence looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Costa thows a huge punch but Spence dodges it nicely.

Costa is working for a kimura but Spence is defending it quite comfortably.
Costa has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Costa slows the pace down in half guard.
Costa not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Costa passes to full mount!
Costa thowing shots but they're missing.
We've been hearing good reports from Costa's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spence in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.

Costa jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Spence is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Spence and Costa has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Costa is looking to take a break and control but Spence is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Costa is really struggling to control Spence but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Spence tries to bench press Costa off him but Costa keeps the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Costa is putting a hurting on Spence here, landing some big shots from side control.
Spence is not content to let Costa control the position.
Costa in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Spence is trying to improve his position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The ground and pound from Costa seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Spence is not content to let Costa control the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Santiago Costa dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Costa fails with an attempt to clinch.
Spence walks into a jab.
Costa fails in his attempt to clinch.
Costa wants to clinch
and Spence counters with a nice uppercut.
Costa tries to clinch but Spence moves out of range.
Costa shoots in for a takedown but Spence shows good takedown defense.
Costa needs to keep his hands up - Spence had a free shot at his head there.
Costa tries to close the distance and clinch but Spence swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Costa scores with a nice head shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Costa tries to clinch up but Spence circles away and keeps his distance.
Costa tries to clinch
and Spence counters with a nice body shot.
Costa misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Spence .
Costa is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Spence can do to turn this around?
Costa digs a good hook to Spence 's body.
Spence throws a wild body kick that Costa sees coming a mile off.
Costa wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Spence connects with a body shot.
Alan Spence is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Costa lands a jab to Spence 's midsection.

Costa shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Costa wants to control from the top but Spence keeps moving.
Costa throwing strikes from guard but Spence blocks nicely.
Spence avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Spence is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Spence prevents Costa from improving his position.
Spence controlling the action here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Spence passes into side control, despite Costa's attempt to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Costa manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Costa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Spence is controlling the pace.
Costa is looking to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Spence wants to pass to mount but Costa is defending the position.
Costa wants to improve his position but Spence is controlling well.
Costa has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Spence is working away from the top position though.

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.
Costa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Spence is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Costa tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Spence paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Costa keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Costa lands a nice shot that snaps Spence 's head back.

Costa closes the distance and clinches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A short left from Costa.
Costa stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
A left hand lands to the body for Costa.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Santiago Costa will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. And we move into the final round!

Costa looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Spence is clearly looking to counter with head kicks.
Costa tries to clinch there but Spence circles away.
It seemed like Spence was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Costa tries to clinch there but Spence circles away.
Spence steps in looking to counter with the mid kick but it doesn't connect.
A solid body kick from Spence .

Costa moves into the clinch.
Costa is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Costa pressing his opponent against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Costa misses with a body punch.
Spence is leaning against Costa and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Spence prevents a body shot from Costa.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Costa tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Spence swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Costa misses with a punch to the body.
Costa tries a body shot but Spence blocks it.
Costa is stalling here.
Costa tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Spence lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Spence working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Spence throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Spence blocking some punches.
Spence prevents a body shot from Costa.
Costa lands a shot to the body.
Costa tries a body shot but Spence blocks it.
Santiago Costa is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Spence working aggressively here.
Spence lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Spence tries a body shot but Costa blocks it.
Spence misses with the head strike.

Spence pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Costa rushes Spence and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Spence scores with a shot to the side of Costa's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Spence breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Costa.
Costa remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Costa seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Spence for as long as he can get away with.
Costa's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Further stalling from Costa.
Spence tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Costa wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Spence is not content to let Costa control the position.
Alan Spence has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Spence is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Costa trying to control the action but Spence is working from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alan Spence comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Costa has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Andrew Berry scores the fight 29:28
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 29:28
Judge Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Santiago Costa!
Jumping up and down and very excited, Santiago Costa waved his t-shirt featuring FUClothing's logo in front of the cameras.
In defeat, Alan Spence stepped up to the mic, saying 'My foot was a balloon'.