PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Micheal Knight (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Santi Santoro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Knight
vs
Santoro

158 cm
19
150 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

173 cm
26
156 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 London, Micheal Knight!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Santi Santoro!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Chris Edwards and Richard Clark.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Knight shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Santoro has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Knight is working away from the top position though.
Knight is just content to waste time from the top position. Santoro takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Knight trying to control the position from guard on top but Santoro is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Santoro controlling Knight's posture.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santoro wants to sweep here but Knight controlling him for the moment.
Knight is looking to work some ground and pound but Santoro has wrist control.
Santoro lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Knight wants to sweep here but Santoro controlling him for the moment.

Knight is looking for a triangle but Santoro pushes his legs off easily.
Knight avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Santoro must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Santoro postures up in Knight's guard and throws a big left but Knight blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knight controls Santoro momentarily but Santoro frees himself.
Santoro is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Santoro throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Knight works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Knight keeping moving, preventing Santoro from controlling successfully.

Santoro got a little sloppy there for a moment and Knight has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Santoro has managed to get both his arms back between Knight's legs - danger averted.
Santoro stands up over Knight, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Santoro with a nice head shot there.
Knight working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Santoro.
Santoro is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Knight throws his legs up looking for a submission but Santoro uses it to pass to side control.
Santoro scores with a couple of short elbows.
Santoro is chipping away with strikes.
Knight on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Santoro grinds an elbow into Knight's temple.
Santoro misses with the ground and pound.
Santoro is looking to take a break and control but Knight is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Santoro looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Santoro throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Knight taking punishment in the form of punches.
Santoro lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Knight down.
Santoro working away.
Santoro lands an elbow.
Knight tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Santoro working away.
Santoro working the ground and pound.
Knight might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santoro in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
An elbow from Santoro crashes against the mat.
Knight manages to work his way to half guard, despite Santoro's best efforts.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Santi Santoro dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Santoro tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Knight was well out of range. Poor timing from Santoro.

Knight gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Santoro has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Knight is trying to keep an underhook but Santoro manages to get the takedown into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Knight is trying to stand.
Knight wants to get back to full guard.
Santoro throwing shots but Knight is blocking nicely.
Santoro throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Santoro wants to control but Knight is keeping him busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Santoro scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Santoro is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Knight is defending against the submission attempts here by Santoro.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knight wants to get back to full guard.
Santoro not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Santoro working the head and body with strikes.
Santoro winds up and cracks Knight with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Santoro not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Knight trying to control from the bottom.
Knight avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Santoro.
Knight is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Santoro scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Santi Santoro has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Knight is trying to get back to full guard.
Santoro working Knight over with strikes.
Santoro is trying to control. Knight wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Santoro working over Knight with some ground and pound. Knight looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Santoro working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Knight is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Santoro scores with a couple of nice shots.
Santoro throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Knight wants to control but Santoro is keeping busy.
Santoro sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Knight defending well though.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Knight shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Santoro is trying to defend but Knight finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Santoro is trying to get back to full guard.
Knight is pressing down on Santoro's thigh, looking to free his foot. Santoro is holding on for now.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Santoro can do anything to dispel that myth.
Santoro trying to hold on to Knight's head to control him but Knight postures up.
Santoro wants to get back to full guard but Knight has passed into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santoro wants to control but Knight postures up.
Santoro is looking to reverse the position.
Knight remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Sloppy strikes there by Knight.
Santoro has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Santoro prevents Knight from moving into mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santoro can't do much from the bottom here.
Santoro is trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Santi Santoro showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Santoro closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Knight quickly recovers to half guard.
Santoro lands with a punch from half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Santoro lands a nice short elbow.
Santoro is keen to just control but Knight is a slippery customer.
Santoro drops an elbow to the side of Knight's head.
Santoro throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Knight is trying to maintain the position but Santoro is very close to passing his half guard.
Santoro trying to control from half guard but Knight is working away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Santoro blocks the strikes from Knight.
Santoro controlling the action here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knight wants to improve his position but Santoro is controlling well.
Knight is looking to control Santoro's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Knight avoid being mounted?
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Santoro wants to take a breather but Knight is having none of it.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Micheal Knight is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Santoro shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Santoro showed some decent athleticism there.
Knight is looking to improve his position.
Santoro not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santoro is stalling here. Knight is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Santoro seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Knight has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Knight tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Santoro is looking for a sweep.
Santoro defending against the ground and pound.
Santoro tries to improve position but can't.
Knight working away.
Santoro tries to improve position but can't.
Knight working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santoro seems a little lost for a moment, as Knight dominates the positioning.
The strikes coming from Knight are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Santoro is not content to let Knight control the position.
Santoro wants to control but Knight postures up.
Santoro regains half guard.
Santoro makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Santoro.
Santi Santoro is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Santoro has his hands on Knight's head, controlling the position.

That's four 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.
Santoro trying to keep a closed guard but Knight is proving a slippery customer.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Santoro's jab looks to have found its range, popping Knight under the eye.
A slow jab from Santoro misses its intended target.

Santoro changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Knight looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Knight is trying to improve his position.
Sloppy strikes there by Santoro.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
You can see the frustration on Knight's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Santoro scores with punches from side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Santi Santoro comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Santoro winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 27:30
Judge Chris Edwards scores the fight 27:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Santi Santoro!