PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Steve Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and William Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Santos
vs
Harrison

185 cm
21
196 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

186 cm
22
195 lbs
5 - 7 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Powerful

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 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Steve Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 7 - 0, fighting out of London, William Harrison!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, James Ackerman and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Harrison shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Santos napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Santos manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

Harrison is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Santos pulls his head out easily.

Harrison actively working from the bottom here.
Harrison is looking to improve his position.
Santos trying to pass the guard but Harrison defending well.

Harrison looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Santos throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Santos missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Santos trying to control the action but Harrison is working from the bottom.
Harrison is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Santos not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Harrison tries to get to full guard but Santos has control of the leg.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Harrison is defending against the submission attempts here by Santos.
Santos thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Harrison's head.
Harrison wants to control but Santos is keeping busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Harrison tries to roll over but Santos keeps him under control.

Santos looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Harrison wants to improve his position but Santos is controlling well.

Harrison looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Harrison looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Harrison is refusing to be controlled, as Santos sits in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison trying to control from the bottom.
Santos tries to pass the half guard into mount. Harrison knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Santos throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Harrison punching from the bottom.
Harrison is staying active underneath Santos, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Santos is trying to work for a kimura but Harrison is defending well.
Harrison tries to get to full guard but Santos has control of the leg.
Santos sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Harrison defending well though.
Harrison is trying to maintain the position but Santos is very close to passing his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Harrison holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Harrison is pressing down on Santos's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Harrison looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Santos trying to control the position from guard on top but Harrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Santos 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.
Harrison working a defensive guard here.

Harrison had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Santos defends it easily.
Harrison is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The fighters are battling for position here. Santos manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but William Harrison will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Harrison drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

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

Harrison is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Santos knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Santos manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Harrison is trying to maintain the position but Santos is very close to passing his half guard.
Santos thows a huge punch but Harrison dodges it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison is looking to control Santos's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Harrison avoid being mounted?

Santos is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Harrison is just riding it out for now. Santos eventually gives up the hold.
Santos wants to stand but his hand is trapped. Harrison uses the opportunity to regain full guard.
Santos throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Harrison works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Santos looking to sit in guard and control but Harrison gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Harrison is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Santos is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Harrison defends well.
Harrison controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Harrison trying to control but Santos is working from the bottom.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Harrison stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Santos swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos keeping moving, preventing Harrison from controlling successfully.
Harrison won't allow Santos to sweep him here.

William Harrison has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.

Harrison shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Santos is looking for a sweep. Harrison is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Santos is looking to escape.
Santos is trying to maintain the position but Harrison is very close to passing his half guard.
Harrison prevents Santos from standing back up.
Harrison is looking to take a break and control but Santos is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Santos works his way to full guard. Good work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harrison 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.
Harrison trying to control the position from guard on top but Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Harrison thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Santos is looking for a triangle but Harrison pushes his legs off easily.

Santos throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Harrison controls from within his opponent's guard.
Santos has momentary wrist control but Harrison slips an elbow through the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

William Harrison showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Santos's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Santos gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Harrison to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Harrison trying to control the position from guard on top but Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Harrison is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Santos is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Santos has escaped and now he's on top!
Harrison throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

Harrison working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Santos has passed into half guard!
Harrison tries to get to full guard but Santos has control of the leg.
Santos works his way into full mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Santos wants to control the pace but Harrison is squirming around nicely.
Harrison wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Santos.
Harrison tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Harrison wants to hold on but Santos pushes him away.
Harrison is desperately trying to improve his position but Santos has a good base and remains in mount.
Harrison tries to hold on but Santos postures up.
Harrison takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Santos throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Santos wants to control the pace but Harrison is squirming around nicely.
Poor strikes thrown by Santos there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Harrison tries to hold on but Santos pushes him away.
Harrison manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Harrison looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Harrison trying to control from the bottom.
Harrison has his hands clasped together around Santos's back. He's all about the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Harrison does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Santos prevents Harrison from improving his position.
Steve Santos has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Santos throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Harrison trying to hold on to Santos's head to control him but Santos postures up.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Santos tries to stand but can't do so whilst Harrison controls his leg.
Harrison keeping hold of Santos's head, controlling as best he can.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. William Harrison wasn't active enough on the ground.
Harrison misses with a looping left.

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.

Santos feints and then winds up with a huge right hand that connects perfectly and sends Harrison sprawling to the canvas! Harrison rolls over backwards and springs off the cage and manages to regain his footing - how acrobatic! Oh, he's still wobbly - can Santos finish him?!

It looks like William Harrison has been cut.
Santos throws a shot from downtown. Harrison moves away and avoids it.

Harrison closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Santos did well to prevent Harrison getting side control.
William Harrison has got the better of the ground game so far.
Harrison sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Santos misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Santos misses with some strikes from the bottom.
William Harrison is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Santos is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Santos is working hard here to advance position.
Harrison sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Harrison moves into side control, avoiding the strikes from Santos.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Santos showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Harrison 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 William Gold scores the fight 28:29
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 28:29
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... William Harrison!