PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Marcos Dos Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joerome Strong (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Dos Santos
vs
Strong

197 cm
31
199 lbs
10 - 13 - 0

190 cm
22
195 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 10 - 13 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Marcos Dos Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Joerome Strong!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Jack Bonds and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Dos Santos dives in and grabs Strong's left leg, looking for a takedown. Strong pushes down on Dos Santos's head and hops out.
Strong leaves Dos Santos with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Strong throws a quick inside leg kick.
Marcos Dos Santos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dos Santos shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Strong defends it nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcos Dos Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Dos Santos circles away from the clinch attempt.
Dos Santos shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Strong as he avoids it easily.
Strong throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Dos Santos shoots and misses
and Strong counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Strong displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Dos Santos.
Dos Santos is breathing heavily.
Dos Santos shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Strong defends it nicely.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Strong.
Strong scores with a leg kick.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Strong - that will leave a mark!
Strong misses with a few strikes there.

Strong closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Dos Santos avoiding damage as Strong throws knees to the body.
Strong working Dos Santos over with knees to the body.
Strong lands a good knee to the midsection. Dos Santos won't want to take too many of those.
Strong lands an elbow that stopped Dos Santos in his tracks for a moment.
Dos Santos tries to score a body lock takedown but Strong shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Strong lands a knee to the head.
Dos Santos takes an elbow to the forehead.
Dos Santos is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Strong pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Strong lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

It looks like Marcos Dos Santos has been cut.
Strong is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Dos Santos is keeping busy.

Strong breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Strong is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Dos Santos looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Dos Santos doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Strong counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Strong ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Dos Santos takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Strong connects with a high kick.
Joerome Strong is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Strong fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Dos Santos has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.

Strong has Dos Santos up against the cage in a clinch.
Strong scores a nice knee to the body.
Strong slowing the pace effectively.
Dos Santos tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Strong just stands there and leans against the cage.
Dos Santos fails to pull guard.
Dos Santos tries to pull guard but Strong won't allow it.
Strong has Dos Santos pressed against the cage.

Dos Santos manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Dos Santos working for submissions but it's allowed Strong to get to half guard.
Strong really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Dos Santos. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Strong content to control rather than advance.
Strong seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos gets full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dos Santos keeping moving, preventing Strong from controlling successfully.
Dos Santos has a closed guard, preventing Strong from standing up.
Strong trying to control but Dos Santos is working from the bottom.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Joerome Strong hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Dos Santos closes the distance and clinches up with Strong, looking for a takedown. Dos Santos pushes Strong against the cage but Strong circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Strong instigates a clinch.
Strong throws an elbow that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Strong lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Strong misses with an elbow strike.
Dos Santos goes for a takedown attempt but Strong pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Strong lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
No joy there for Strong, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Strong wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Dos Santos changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Strong tries to avoid it but Dos Santos manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Strong to the ground. Strong escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Strong stuffs the takedown attempt from Dos Santos. Dos Santos gets slowly back to his feet.
Strong thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Dos Santos if he has to take too many more of those.

Strong has Dos Santos up against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Dos Santos on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Strong unloads a knee to the mid-section. Dos Santos lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Strong tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Dos Santos avoids it.

Strong breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joerome Strong dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Marcos Dos Santos's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Strong throws a left that rocks Dos Santos and follows with a right that sends him tumbling to the canvas! Strong dives into side control, looking to finish! Can Dos Santos regain composure!

Dos Santos is rocked!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Dos Santos tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Strong wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Oh Dos Santos is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Strong is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Dos Santos tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Strong decides to stand up, so the ref orders Dos Santos to his feet.
Dos Santos tries for a takedown but Strong circles away easily

and Strong counters by moving into the clinch.
Dos Santos seems to have got his legs back now.
Strong is trying to maintain a safe position but Dos Santos gets an underhook and turns Strong into the cage.
Dos Santos takes an elbow to the temple.
Dos Santos fails to pull guard.
Strong has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Dos Santos managing to block the knees to the body from Strong.

Strong breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Strong throws a right hand that Dos Santos ducks under and follows up with a left that Dos Santos also avoids with ease.
Strong stalks Dos Santos and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Dos Santos's face. Dos Santos staggers backwards, shaken.
Strong misses with a series of wild punches.
Dos Santos has his takedown stuffed
and Strong counters with a nice low kick that buckles Dos Santos's knee momentarily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcos Dos Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Dos Santos doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Strong counters with a crisp right that sends Dos Santos to the canvas! Strong follows up with punches from the mount and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Joerome Strong!