PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between James Braddock (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricardo Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ricardo Santos has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Braddock
vs
Santos

195 cm
25
280 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

192 cm
25
250 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Dangerous knees
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, James Braddock!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Santos!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Paulo Santos and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santos tries to clinch

and Braddock counters by clinching up.
Braddock is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Santos tries to land a knee to the head but Braddock blocks with his arms.
Santos tries a knee to the head but Braddock blocks it.
Santos tries a knee to the head but Braddock blocks it.
Braddock avoiding damage as Santos throws knees to the body.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Braddock drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Braddock stalling in the clinch.
Braddock is trying to drag Santos to the mat but Santos just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Braddock. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Braddock has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Santos working Braddock over with knees to the body.
Braddock goes for a takedown in the clinch but Santos prevents it.
Braddock gets through Santos's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Braddock goes for a takedown attempt but Santos pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Santos fails with an attempt to clinch.
Santos tries to clinch up
and Braddock counters with a two punch combo.
Santos defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Braddock.
Santos defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Braddock.

Santos instigates a clinch.
Santos crunches a lovely knee into Braddock's ribcage.
Braddock is breathing heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Santos landing knees to the head.
Santos with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Santos tries a knee to the head but Braddock blocks it.
Braddock has Santos pushed against the cage.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Braddock has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Braddock tries to break free but Santos pushes him back against the cage.
Santos missing with knees to the body.
Santos throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Braddock blocks it with crossed arms.
Santos is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Braddock is defending well for now.
Santos gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Braddock.
Braddock managing to block the knees to the body from Santos.
Santos misses with a knee strike.
Braddock is trying to break the clinch but Santos has him pressed against the cage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braddock jumps guard but Santos stands there with Braddock around his waist. Braddock gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Braddock 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.
Braddock displaying some good clinch control by pressing Santos up against the cage.
Santos with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Braddock pulls guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Braddock has a closed guard, preventing Santos from standing up.
Braddock controlling Santos's posture.
Braddock looking for a sweep. Not yet Braddock, not yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Braddock has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Santos has passed into side control.

Santos decides to stand up, so the ref orders Braddock to his feet.

Santos clinches up with Braddock and pushes him back against the cage.
Braddock is looking for a takedown.
Santos with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Braddock wants to break the clinch but can't.
Santos throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Braddock blocks it with crossed arms.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Santos tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Santos using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Braddock has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Braddock shoots for a double leg takedown but Santos sprawls well. He's pushed Braddock's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Braddock closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Santos looking to throw knees to the head but Braddock is blocking nicely.
Braddock fails to pull guard.
Santos misses with a knee strike.
Braddock jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Santos walks away with a smile on his face. Braddock gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Braddock. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Braddock.
Braddock fails to land with a series of punches.
Nice sprawl there from Santos as Braddock shoots in.
Santos stuffs the takedown attempt from Braddock. Braddock gets slowly back to his feet.
Braddock fails to land with a series of punches.
Ricardo Santos is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Braddock clinches.
Santos is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Braddock is defending well for now.
Braddock drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Santos gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Braddock tries to pull guard but Santos forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Braddock can't break the clinch.
Ricardo Santos seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Braddock is trying to drag Santos to the mat but Santos just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Santos with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Santos crunches a lovely knee into Braddock's ribcage.
Braddock takes a knee right on the jaw!
Santos connects with a knee to the head.
Santos tries to land a knee to the head but Braddock blocks with his arms.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Braddock decides to pull guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Braddock is trying to control the position but Santos postures up.
Santos wants to stand but Braddock is controlling his posture from full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Santos is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Braddock is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Santos won't allow Braddock to get back to his feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of James Braddock.
Braddock looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Santos is fending him off so far but Braddock persists. Nope, Santos circles away and we're back to standing.
Santos tries to clinch but Braddock moves out of range.
Santos tries to clinch
and Braddock counters with a series of strikes. Santos will be more careful next time no doubt.
Santos closes the distance but Braddock moves to the side

and Braddock counters by moving into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Braddock working hard to break the clinch.
Santos throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Braddock blocks it with crossed arms.
Santos stops a takedown attempt from Braddock.
Santos looking to throw knees to the head but Braddock is blocking nicely.
Braddock stalls.

Braddock manages to pull guard.
Santos wanted to stand there but Braddock had control of the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Braddock pulls Santos in close to prevent any damage.

Braddock is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that James Braddock will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

No luck for Braddock with that takedown attempt.
Santos wants to clinch but Braddock slips to the side
and Braddock counters with a series of strikes. Santos will be more careful next time no doubt.
Braddock looks for a takedown but Santos sprawls well.
Santos wants to clinch

and Braddock counters with a takedown into side control.
Braddock throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Braddock wants to lay and pray for a moment but Santos keeps working.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Santos. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Braddock wants to control for a moment but Santos uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos is looking to escape.
Braddock not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Still in half guard, Braddock seems content to control.

We're going to have a standup here because James Braddock wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Braddock forces Santos back against the cage and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braddock is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Santos throws a knee to the head but misses.
Santos tries to land a knee to the head but Braddock blocks with his arms.
Santos utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Santos avoids the elbow strike from Braddock, against the cage.

Braddock ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Braddock no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

Braddock working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Santos doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Santos manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Braddock has his foot on Santos's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Santos works his way back into a safe position though.
Santos being controlled here momentarily.

Braddock throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Santos escapes and throws Braddock's legs to the side, diving into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braddock is trying to control Santos's posture but Santos avoids it.
James Braddock overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Santos decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Braddock shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Braddock. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos tries to clinch up
and Braddock counters with a nice body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos is looking to clinch but Braddock is avoiding it.
Braddock shoots in for a takedown but Santos shows good takedown defense.
Santos darts in trying to clinch
and Braddock counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
James Braddock is winning the standup battle so far.
Braddock moves in looking to clinch but Santos pushes him off.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Braddock will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Braddock is looking to clinch but Santos is avoiding it.
Braddock misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Braddock showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Braddock 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Ricardo Santos!