PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Chad Casablanca (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The key to victory for Chad Casablanca has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Casablanca
vs
Santos

170 cm
18
147 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

170 cm
20
150 lbs
3 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Chad Casablanca!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, John Santos!
The judges for this bout are Winston Howard, Donatello Bradman and John Mangel.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Casablanca throws a body kick that misses.

Casablanca has taken the fight to the clinch.

Casablanca pulls guard successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Casablanca managing to control the position.
Santos pushes down on Casablanca's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Casablanca has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
Casablanca is trying to maintain the position but Santos is very close to passing his half guard.
Santos prevents Casablanca from improving his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Casablanca defending well though.

Santos is looking for a kimura here.
Santos is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.

That's two 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.
Casablanca is doing well to avoid being mounted. He's controlling the position at the moment.
Santos thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Casablanca's head.
Casablanca gets full guard.

Santos drops back, looking for a kneebar! Casablanca looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Casablanca looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Casablanca!
Santos looks winded!
Santos is looking to regain half guard here but Casablanca keeps moving and retains side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Casablanca wants to lay and pray for a moment but Santos keeps working.
Casablanca knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Santos on the ground.

Casablanca is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Santos knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Santos is trying to improve his position.

That's four 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.

Casablanca is trying to get an arm triangle but Santos is defending well.

Casablanca stands up and beckons Santos to his feet.

Santos closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Casablanca did well to prevent Santos getting side control.
Santos is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Chad Casablanca will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Santos tries for a takedown but Casablanca circles away easily

and Casablanca decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Santos's guard.
Casablanca throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Santos wants to sweep here but Casablanca controlling him for the moment.
Casablanca wants to control from the top but Santos keeps moving.
Santos is looking to stand up but Casablanca isn't so interested in that idea.
Santos is breathing heavily.

Santos looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Casablanca passes into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Casablanca content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Santos tries to roll over but Casablanca keeps him under control.

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.
Casablanca controlling the action here.

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

Casablanca looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Santos!
Casablanca tries to move to mount but Santos blocks the move with his legs.
Santos is trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Casablanca takes a little break here. Santos wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.

Casablanca working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

Casablanca goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Santos rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Casablanca's guard! Nice work there by Santos!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Casablanca not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Casablanca looking to hit a scissor sweep but Santos is one step ahead there.
Casablanca trying to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chad Casablanca dominated that second round.
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. This is the final round!

Casablanca keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Casablanca stuffs the takedown attempt from Santos. Santos gets slowly back to his feet.
Good work by Santos as he checks the leg kick.
Casablanca throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Santos has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Casablanca.
Santos takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Santos tries to sprawl but Casablanca drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Casablanca not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Santos looking for submissions off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Casablanca not doing much here.
Casablanca is trying to control. Santos wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Chad Casablanca just wasn't active enough.
Santos tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Casablanca was well out of range. Poor timing from Santos.

Santos gets caught napping as Casablanca dives in and scores a takedown. Santos manages to retain guard.
Santos keeping moving, preventing Casablanca from controlling successfully.
Casablanca is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Santos is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Chad Casablanca.

Casablanca scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Casablanca takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Santos is not content to let Casablanca control the position.
Santos wants to get back to full guard.
Chad Casablanca is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Chad Casablanca wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Santos shoots in but no luck this time.
Chad Casablanca has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Santos.

Casablanca drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Chad Casablanca overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Casablanca wants to control but Santos is keeping him busy.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Chad Casablanca just wasn't active enough.
Casablanca stuffs the takedown.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chad Casablanca showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Casablanca has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Winston Howard scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donatello Bradman scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Mangel scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chad Casablanca!
Chad Casablanca seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.