PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Kuula Kallo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rodney Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rodney Santos will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Kallo
vs
Santos

165 cm
20
151 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
25
155 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Inexperienced

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kuula Kallo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rodney Santos!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Kenichi Hosakawa and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santos throws a sloppy head kick and Kallo moves out of range easily.
Santos scores with a three punch combo!

It looks like Kuula Kallo has been cut.
Kallo shoots in but no luck this time.
Santos pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Rodney Santos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Santos misses with a head kick.

Kallo moves into the clinch successfully.
Santos is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Kallo tries for a takedown but Santos manages to get underhooks.

Santos pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Santos throws a head kick that looked like it stung.
Kallo avoids the head kick by Santos.
Kallo closes the distance and clinches up with Santos, looking for a takedown. Kallo pushes Santos against the cage but Santos circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kuula Kallo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kallo tries to score a power double leg takedown but Santos sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Kallo somewhat.
Santos tries a head kick but it misses.
Kallo moves out of range as Santos throws a body kick.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Kallo crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Santos - the referee stops the clock and Kallo gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Santos. Kallo manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Santos scoring well with a low kick there.
Kallo tries a head kick but it misses.
Kallo has a takedown stuffed.
Kallo avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kallo throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Santos counters with a big head kick but Kallo shrugs it off.
Kallo is looking to land body kicks.
Kallo shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Santos as he jumps to the side.
Kallo is breathing heavily.
Santos misses with a series of wild punches.
Kallo fails with a takedown attempt.
Santos throws a sloppy head kick

and Kallo counters with a nice double leg into side control. Santos won't be happy with that.
Santos is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Kallo has just dragged him back down to the mat.

Kallo tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Kallo looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!

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

Kallo goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Santos has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Kallo but great work by Santos.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos tries to stand but Kallo is controlling his head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Santos is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

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.
Kallo manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Kallo keeping hold of Santos's head, controlling as best he can.
Santos really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kallo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Kallo manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Santos scores with a head kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Santos connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Santos pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Santos throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Kallo lands a nice looking body kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rodney Santos dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Kuula Kallo's cut.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Santos keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Kallo drives through and clinches with Santos against the cage.
Santos gets underhooks to prevent Kallo's takedown attempt.

Kallo manages to break the clinch.
Kallo comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Kuula Kallo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Kallo shoots in and drives through. Santos sprawls well.
Santos tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Kallo manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Santos checks a low kick from Kallo.
Kallo swats away the attempt to clinch by Santos.
Kallo avoids the head kick by Santos.
Kallo looks for a takedown but Santos sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kuula Kallo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Santos with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Santos jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.

Santos takes the fight into the clinch.
Santos avoiding damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

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

Kallo drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Kallo trying to control the position from guard on top but Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kallo throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Santos works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Kallo drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Santos dives on top into guard.
Santos wanted to stand there but Kallo had control of the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos stops Kallo from standing up.
Santos has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Kallo is proving hard to escape from.
Kallo manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Santos manages to get himself to full guard.
Kallo won't allow Santos to get back to his feet.
Kallo passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Santos is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Kallo has just dragged him back down to the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kallo wants to control but Santos is keeping him busy.
Santos takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Santos wants to get back to his feet but Kallo drags him back down.
Kallo happy to just control the position for now.

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

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.
Santos taking punishment in the form of punches.

Kallo is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Santos knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Santos is trying to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kuula Kallo dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Kuula Kallo's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Santos scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Kallo thows a body kick. Santos tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Kallo tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Kallo throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Kallo tries for a takedown but Santos sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Santos misses with a head kick.
Santos keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Santos throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Santos throws a right hand that Kallo ducks under and follows up with a left that Kallo also avoids with ease.
Kallo throws a body punch but Santos moves out of range.
Kallo tries a low kick but Santos avoids it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kallo throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Santos's waist but Santos gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Kallo off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kuula Kallo. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos lands with a nice body punch.
Kallo blocks a head kick by Santos.
Santos scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Santos tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Kallo was well out of range. Poor timing from Santos.
Rodney Santos is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kallo pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Kallo tries to land a front kick but Santos steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Santos is looking to clinch.
Santos tries a head kick but it misses.
Santos connects with a solid leg kick.
Kallo swats away the attempt to clinch by Santos.
Santos on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Kallo. Kallo obviously looking to wear him down.
Kallo shoots in but Santos avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Santos lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Kallo slips a jab and a cross from Santos.
Kallo keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Kallo closes the distance and pushes Santos back into the cage.
Kallo utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Kallo has Santos pressed against the cage, preventing Santos from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Santos tries to circle away but Kallo has him pinned against the cage.
Kallo wants a takedown but no success here.
Kallo has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Santos is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Kallo misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Santos.
Santos is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Santos is pressed up against the cage. Kallo has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Santos down to the mat. Santos avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Santos throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Santos looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Kallo moves in looking to clinch but Santos pushes him off.
Santos lands with a hook. Kallo tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

Kallo clinches up with Santos and pushes him back against the cage.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Kallo has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Kallo takes a knee to the side of the body.
Santos is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Kallo breaks from the clinch.
No luck for Kallo with that takedown attempt.
Santos lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kallo takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.

Kallo shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Kallo was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Kallo trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Kallo tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Kallo get's back to his feet.
An inside leg kick from Santos misses.
Santos dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Kallo. That did some damage!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos throws a sloppy head kick and Kallo moves out of range easily.
Kallo lands a leg kick that knocks Santos off balance momentarily.
Santos fails to land with a series of punches.
Kallo changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Santos tries to avoid it but Kallo manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Santos to the ground. Santos escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Santos moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Santos moves into range and connects with a jab.
Santos throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Kallo.
Kallo misses with a takedown attempt - Santos sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Santos throws a head kick that misses.
Kallo shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Santos as he jumps to the side.
Kallo lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Kallo shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Santos but Santos pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Santos pulls out of a head kick attempt.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Kuula Kallo.
I think Kallo 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kuula Kallo!