PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Gabriel Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Santos
vs
Smith

181 cm
23
188 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

185 cm
20
187 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Tends to cut

CROWN

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Gabriel Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Paul Smith!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Hirohito Nitta and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Santos darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Santos slows the pace down in half guard.
Smith is staying active underneath Santos, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Smith really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Santos. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Smith is looking to escape.

Santos is looking for a kimura but Smith is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Santos to get the leverage.
Smith won't allow Santos to pass to mount.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Smith can do anything to dispel that myth.
Santos sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Smith defending well though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith wants to get back to his feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Santos shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Smith's guard.

Santos thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Santos pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Smith is keeping the position for now.

Smith pushes Santos off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Smith tries to clinch but Santos moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos shoots in and drives through. Smith sprawls well.
Smith throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Santos.
Smith wants to clinch up but Santos keeps it at a distance.
Smith fails in his attempt to clinch.
Smith throws a leg kick which misses Santos's front leg but catches the back leg as Santos tries to avoid it.
Paul Smith is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Santos circles away from the clinch attempt.
Smith tries to close the distance and clinch up but Santos swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Smith closes the distance and clinches.
Smith missing with knees to the body.
Santos is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Santos on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Smith breaks from the clinch.
Santos looks for a takedown but Smith sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gabriel Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Smith's waist but Smith gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Santos off to one side.
Santos is breathing heavily.

Smith gets caught flat footed, as Santos shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Santos wants to control from the top but Smith keeps moving.
Smith wants to stand up but Santos is controlling him.
Smith keeping full guard, as Santos tries to pass.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos with a flurry of punches that miss.

Santos drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Santos jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Santos looking to pass the guard.
Santos slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Smith tries to escape but Santos is in control.
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 Gabriel Santos will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Smith throws a right and a left that Santos avoids nicely.
Smith fails with an attempt to clinch.
Santos will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Santos scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Santos thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Smith's head.
Santos keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Santos trying to control the action but Smith is working from the bottom.
Smith is trying to stand.
Santos is tying to control. Smith wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith is looking to escape.
Smith is breathing heavily.
Smith tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Santos manages to move to mount!
Santos trying to control but Smith is having none of it.

Santos stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Smith lands an overhand right.

Santos closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Santos lands in his opponent's guard.
Santos forces his way into half guard.

Santos is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Smith doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Santos.
Well, if Santos is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Santos is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Santos seems to be working for a kimura but Smith defends the submission attempt.

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 missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Santos is looking for a kimura but Smith is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Santos to get the leverage.
Santos wants to control but Smith is keeping him busy.

Santos seems to be looking for submissions.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Smith is trying to stand up here but Santos is controlling him well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabriel Santos 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!

Smith tries to close the distance and clinch up but Santos swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Smith moves in looking to clinch but Santos pushes him off.
Gabriel Santos seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Santos walks into a jab.
Smith lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Santos shoots in looking for a takedown. Smith tries to sprawl out of it but Santos keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Smith manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Santos shoots in for a takedown but Smith shows good takedown defense.

Santos looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Smith is trying to stand up here but Santos is controlling him well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Santos is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Smith sees it coming and defends easily.
Smith wants to get back to his feet.
Santos wants to take a breather but Smith is having none of it.
Smith wants to get back to his feet.

Smith is defending against the submission attempts here by Santos.

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 sneakily working for an arm triangle but Smith sees it coming and defends easily.

Santos is trying to work for a kimura. He's got his hands clasped together - this could be trouble! No, Smith has managed to free his arm - good work.
Santos looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Santos wants to work for an arm triangle but Smith is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Smith is looking to escape.
Santos is looking to advance position but Smith won't allow it.
Santos is working hard here to advance position.

Santos is working for a kimura but Smith is defending it quite comfortably.

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.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Smith fails with an attempt to clinch.
Paul Smith has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Smith scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Gabriel Santos is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Horrible takedown by Santos or perhaps it was just good defense by Smith which made him look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gabriel Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Smith throws a right hand that Santos ducks under and follows up with a left that Santos also avoids with ease.
Gabriel Santos is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Santos misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paul Smith comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Santos 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gabriel Santos!