PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Khabib Nurmagemedov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fidel Santiago (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nurmagemedov kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Kanye West ft Jay-Z Nicki Minaj Rick Ross and Bon Iver - Monster. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Nurmagemedov
vs
Santiago

177 cm
21
155 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

168 cm
25
155 lbs
1 - 1 - 1

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Experienced

Powerful takedowns
Counter fighter
Powerful

GREEN!160
Big Bear Amsterdam 160Q & Laundry

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 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Khabib Nurmagemedov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Fidel Santiago!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Edson Gomes and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nurmagemedov jabbing away but nothing is landing.
A nice inside leg kick there by Nurmagemedov. That's going to slow Santiago down.
Santiago ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nurmagemedov missing with a left hand there. Santiago was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Nurmagemedov bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Santiago takes one to the side of the head.
Nurmagemedov fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Nurmagemedov looks to land a left hand but Santiago moved out of range nicely.
Nurmagemedov lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Nurmagemedov throws a hook but Santiago blocks it.
Nurmagemedov throws a nice looking combination but Santiago bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Nurmagemedov loads up on a big right hand but Santiago slips the punch.
Santiago tries to counter with a clinch but Nurmagemedov shakes him off and moves away.
Nurmagemedov has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Nurmagemedov throws a jab but it's blocked by Santiago.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov misses with a looping left.
Santiago feints the counter takedown.
Nurmagemedov tries to work over Santiago's front leg with a kick but Santiago checks it.
And Santiago tries to counter it with a takedown but Nurmagemedov pushes his down on his head and steps out.
A swing and a miss from Nurmagemedov.
Santiago feints the counter takedown.
Nurmagemedov clobbers Santiago with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Nurmagemedov throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Santiago.
Santiago avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Nurmagemedov throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Santiago with the counter takedown but Nurmagemedov avoids it easily.
Santiago checks a leg kick.
We've been informed that Santiago has been sparring a lot of Muay Thai in the buildup to this fight so let's see if that has an impact on the result.
The fighters circling - Nurmagemedov throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Khabib Nurmagemedov seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nurmagemedov lands with a shot to the body.
The fighters circling - Nurmagemedov throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Santiago with the counter takedown but Nurmagemedov avoids it easily.
Nurmagemedov tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Santiago was well out of range. Poor timing from Nurmagemedov.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov throws a lazy right hand but Santiago sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Nurmagemedov lands a nice leg kick that just misses Santiago's sensitive parts.
Nurmagemedov throws out a leg kick but Santiago moves out of range and Nurmagemedov only half commits.
Nurmagemedov displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nurmagemedov throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Santiago sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Santiago moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Nurmagemedov misses with a looping right.
A jab from Nurmagemedov misses.
Santiago steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Nurmagemedov.
Santiago takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Santiago shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Nurmagemedov as he jumps to the side.
Nurmagemedov misses the jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov throws a hook to the side of Santiago's head but Santiago sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Nurmagemedov throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Santiago counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Nurmagemedov controlling the position for now.
Santiago tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Nurmagemedov is looking to improve his position.
Santiago is looking to stand up but he'll have to free his leg first. Instead, Nurmagemedov manages to get to full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Nurmagemedov holds on and takes a little breather.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Santiago takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Santiago is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Santiago slips a straight right by Nurmagemedov.
Nurmagemedov looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Santiago avoids a punch combination nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Khabib Nurmagemedov dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Nurmagemedov pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Santiago steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Nurmagemedov.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Nurmagemedov.
Nurmagemedov is working Santiago over with some ground and pound from side control.
Nurmagemedov 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.
Nurmagemedov working the body and head with strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Santiago is trying to escape the position but Nurmagemedov is controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Nurmagemedov knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Santiago on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Nurmagemedov throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Nurmagemedov controlling from side mount.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Santiago takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Nurmagemedov controlling the position from side mount.
Khabib Nurmagemedov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Santiago is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Nurmagemedov off and has taken his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov looking to control the position.
Santiago controlling well, preventing Nurmagemedov from escaping the position.
Nurmagemedov trying to control the hands but Santiago won't let him.
Nurmagemedov manages to reverse the position and now he's in Santiago's guard. Nice work there by Nurmagemedov.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Nurmagemedov controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Santiago looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Nurmagemedov puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Khabib Nurmagemedov dominated that second round.
That's time! Nurmagemedov's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Santiago moves out of range of the strikes.
Nurmagemedov cracks a nice hook into Santiago's ribs.
Khabib Nurmagemedov is winning the standup battle so far.
Donk. Nurmagemedov catches Santiago right on the button with a cross.
Nurmagemedov jabs Santiago right on the nose. Santiago blinks but takes it well.
Nurmagemedov dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Nurmagemedov throws a low kick but Santiago avoids it.
Nurmagemedov misses with a straight right.
Santiago feints the counter takedown.
Nurmagemedov misses with a hook. Santiago ducked under it nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A combination from Nurmagemedov does no damage.
The fighters circling - Nurmagemedov throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Santiago gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Nurmagemedov counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santiago shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Nurmagemedov pinned against the ropes. Nurmagemedov gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Nurmagemedov slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Santiago is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Santiago avoids a punch combination nicely.
Nurmagemedov punishes Santiago's body with a nice straight punch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov misses with a low kick.
Nice shot by Nurmagemedov.
Nurmagemedov misses with a straight right.
Nurmagemedov lands a body shot.
Nurmagemedov lunges at Santiago with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Santiago's hand.
Nurmagemedov leaves Santiago with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Khabib Nurmagemedov has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Fidel Santiago.
Nurmagemedov misses with a two punch combination.
Santiago defending well as Nurmagemedov loads up on a big left hand.
Nurmagemedov with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Fidel Santiago is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov misses with a few strikes there.
Santiago tries to clinch there but Nurmagemedov circles away.
Nurmagemedov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Santiago can do to turn this around?
Sloppy strikes from Nurmagemedov. Those never looked like landing.

Nurmagemedov looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Santiago!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Santiago manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Khabib Nurmagemedov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nurmagemedov content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nurmagemedov's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

And that's the end of the fight!
Khabib Nurmagemedov showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Nurmagemedov 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:26
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:26
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Khabib Nurmagemedov!
Khabib Nurmagemedov managed to slip a mention for his sponsors, GREEN!160, into his post fight interview.