PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rusty Shackelford (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and JC Dos Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Shackelford comes to the cage accompanied by Airplanes. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Shackelford
vs
Dos Santos

200 cm
21
270 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

192 cm
19
265 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rusty Shackelford!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, JC Dos Santos!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Frank Dennis and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A nice combination there by Shackelford.
Shackelford bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Dos Santos tries to close the distance and clinch but Shackelford swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Shackelford circles away from the clinch attempt.
Shackelford misses with a two punch combination.
Rusty Shackelford seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Shackelford lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Shackelford throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Shackelford keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Dos Santos.
Dos Santos just misses with a punch to the body.
Dos Santos takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Dos Santos misses the shot to the body.

Shackelford fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Dos Santos, pushing him back against the cage.

Shackelford gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Shackelford not doing much here.
Shackelford trying to control the action but Dos Santos is working from the bottom.
Dos Santos is holding on to half guard well.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos is trying to maintain the position but Shackelford is very close to passing his half guard.
Dos Santos regains full guard. Nicely done.
Dos Santos tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Shackelford trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Shackelford is looking to stand up but Dos Santos won't let him.
Shackelford is breathing heavily.
Dos Santos looking for a sweep. Not yet Dos Santos, not yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dos Santos is adopting a defensive guard.
Shackelford loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Dos Santos wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Shackelford tries to close the distance and clinch up but Dos Santos swats him away and circles back towards the center.
A looping hook to the body misses from Dos Santos. Shackelford does a little dance to reset his feet.
Shackelford looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Dos Santos throws a body punch but Shackelford moves out of range.
Dos Santos falls off balance throwing a combination
and Shackelford counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Shackelford lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Shackelford is looking to clinch.
Dos Santos connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Shackelford misses with the combination.
Shackelford lands a nice leg kick that just misses Dos Santos's sensitive parts.
Dos Santos throws a jab when Shackelford was well out of range.
A punch combination from Shackelford misses.
A jab from Shackelford does it's job there.
Shackelford avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Shackelford throws a series of strikes that have Dos Santos backpedaling.
Dos Santos is looking to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shackelford bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Dos Santos's head.
Shackelford tries to clinch up.
Shackelford fails in his attempt to clinch.
Shackelford's corner calls for a 1-2. Shackelford obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.

Dos Santos scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Shackelford is letting Dos Santos control him for a moment.
Shackelford is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Dos Santos content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by JC Dos Santos.
Dos Santos throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Rusty Shackelford is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Shackelford wants to clinch.
Dos Santos takes one to the chin there.
Shackelford tries to clinch there but Dos Santos circles away.
Shackelford lands with a nice combination. Dos Santos backs away looking to recover.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Shackelford thumps Dos Santos with a low kick.
Dos Santos tries to clinch up but Shackelford circles away and keeps his distance.
Shackelford lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Dos Santos circles away quickly and effectively.
Good exchange - Shackelford coming out on top.
Dos Santos dodges the punch combination from Shackelford.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Dos Santos shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Shackelford is trying to defend but Dos Santos finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Dos Santos perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Dos Santos takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Dos Santos with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Shackelford is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Dos Santos jumps into side control!
Shackelford is trying to get back to half guard.
Dos Santos cracks Shackelford with a big right hand but Shackelford just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Shackelford gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Shackelford is bucking up trying to escape but Dos Santos cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos content just to control the position here.
Shackelford is looking to get to half guard.
Dos Santos controlling from mount.
Dos Santos's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Dos Santos cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos landing strikes from the mount.
Dos Santos controlling from mount.

Despite being in the dominant position, JC Dos Santos just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Shackelford misses with a combination

and Dos Santos counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Shackelford!
Dos Santos content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shackelford working to try and regain half guard.
JC Dos Santos has got the better of the ground game so far.
Dos Santos controlling from mount.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Dos Santos with a couple of short strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Dos Santos content just to control the position here.
Shackelford tries to hold on but Dos Santos pushes him away.
Dos Santos controlling from the full mount.
Shackelford is working to get back to half guard.
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.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

JC Dos Santos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Shackelford will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Dos Santos dodges the punch combination from Shackelford.
A bone on bone clash there as Dos Santos blocks the leg kick.

Dos Santos scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by JC Dos Santos.
Shackelford avoids the body shot from Dos Santos.
Dos Santos throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Dos Santos thows a body shot but no joy.
Dos Santos tries to close the distance and clinch but Shackelford swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Dos Santos fails in his attempt to clinch.
A looping hook to the body misses from Dos Santos. Shackelford does a little dance to reset his feet.
Dos Santos swinging wildly here.
Shackelford getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Dos Santos takes a swing at Shackelford's ribcage but misses.
Shackelford misses with the combination.
Dos Santos with a poor takedown

and Shackelford moves into the clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Shackelford looking for a takedown.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Shackelford gets the underhooks and prevents it.

Shackelford manages to pull guard.
Shackelford wants to sweep but no luck.
Dos Santos being controlled here momentarily.
Shackelford not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Dos Santos content to stall in guard here.
Dos Santos postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Shackelford tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Dos Santos is stalling in the full guard.
Dos Santos is working Shackelford over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shackelford looking to hit a scissor sweep but Dos Santos is one step ahead there.
Dos Santos works over Shackelford with some ground and pound from guard.
Dos Santos controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Shackelford trying to control the position.
Dos Santos pushes down on Shackelford's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Dos Santos in particular looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shackelford wants to improve his position but Dos Santos is controlling well.
Dos Santos is controlling the pace.
Shackelford tries to roll over but Dos Santos keeps him under control.
Shackelford is trying to control but can't.
Dos Santos sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Shackelford is trying to get back to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Well, if Dos Santos is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by JC Dos Santos.

Dos Santos shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Dos Santos passes to side control.
Shackelford tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Dos Santos wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Shackelford is trying to escape the position but Dos Santos is controlling the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
JC Dos Santos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Dos Santos has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 27:29
Judge Frank Dennis scores the fight 27:29
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 27:29

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