PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Paul Lopez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Royce Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Santos's choice of entrance music: Jiu Jitsu. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Lopez
vs
Santos

177 cm
21
173 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

174 cm
25
181 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight 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, Paul Lopez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Royce Santos!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Luis Engracia and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santos jabs Lopez to the body, keeping him at a distance.

Lopez looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Santos pushes Lopez off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Santos shoots in and bounces Lopez off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

Lopez pushes Santos off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Santos shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Lopez defends it nicely.
Lopez drops down looking for a counter takedown but Santos sprawls and moves away.

Santos moves into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Lopez has Santos pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Lopez pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Santos tumbling to the mat - Lopez dives into Santos's guard.
Santos bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Lopez's guard.
Lopez has Santos pulled in close to control his posture.
Santos pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Lopez is keeping the position for now.
Lopez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Santos trying to control but Lopez is working from the bottom.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Santos working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Santos postures up.
Santos working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Santos wants to control from the top but Lopez keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lopez is on top in guard.
Lopez tries to stand but Santos is controlling from the bottom.
Santos is adopting a defensive guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos keeping full guard, as Lopez tries to pass.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Santos clinches up against the cage.
Lopez throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Santoss head.

Santos breaks the clinch.

Lopez gets tackled into the cage by Santos. Santos maintains the clinch.

Santos has picked Lopez up - he's going for a ride! Santos dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Santos throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lopez tries to roll over but Santos keeps him under control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Santos throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Lopez is looking to escape.
Lopez keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Lopez moves into full guard.
Santos looking to pass the guard.

Santos stands up from Lopez's guard - Santos perhaps looking for a knockout.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Lopez shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Lopez was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Royce Santos will probably get the nod.
That's time! Lopez's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Santos throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Lopez's waist but Lopez gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Santos off to one side.
Lopez throws a sloppy head kick and Santos moves out of range easily.

Lopez drives through with a takedown into guard.

Santos wriggles free and stands up.

Santos forces Lopez back against the cage and clinches.
Santos is pushing Lopez up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Santos tries to score a body lock takedown but Lopez shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A short body shot lands from Lopez as the two fighters clinch.

Santos breaks from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Lopez swivels and escapes.
Paul Lopez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Royce Santos.
Lopez tries to clinch up.

Santos closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Lopez has clasped his hands together around Santos's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Santos wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Lopez is looking to take a break and control but Santos is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Santos regains half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos is trying to maintain the position but Lopez is very close to passing his half guard.
Lopez prevents Santos from improving his position.
Paul Lopez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Lopez sitting and controlling from the half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos tries to roll over but Lopez keeps him under control.
Lopez wants to control but Santos is keeping him busy.
Lopez is thwarting Santos's attempts to control the position.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Santos fails with a takedown attempt.
Santos swats away the attempt to clinch by Lopez.
Lopez tries a head kick but it misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Lopez fails with an attempt to clinch.
Santos feints the counter takedown.

Lopez shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Santos is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Lopez looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santos trying to control here.
Lopez not landing any meaningful shots this time.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Lopez 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. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Lopez.

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

Lopez fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Santos to the ground. Lopez is now in Santos's guard.
Lopez won't allow Santos to sweep him here.
Santos trying to control the position here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lopez wants to get up but he can't break Santos's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Santos scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Santos misses with a takedown attempt - Lopez sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Santos takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Lopez throws a left and a right that both miss

and Santos counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Santos.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Santos got a little sloppy there for a moment and Lopez has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Santos has managed to get both his arms back between Lopez's legs - danger averted.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Lopez wants to sweep but no luck.
Santos slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Lopez trying to keep a closed guard but Santos is proving a slippery customer.
Lopez keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.

Santos stands up from Lopez's guard - Santos perhaps looking for a knockout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Lopez shoots in and gets a takedown into Santos's guard.
Lopez won't allow Santos to sweep him here.
Santos controls Lopez momentarily but Lopez frees himself.
Santos has a closed guard, preventing Lopez from standing up.
Santos wants to sweep here but Lopez controlling him for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Lopez throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Santos works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Santos has his hands on Lopez's head, controlling the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Lopez fails in his attempt to clinch.
Lopez throws a nice looking combination but Santos bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Lopez misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Lopez shoots in and gets a takedown into Santos's guard.

Santos has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Lopez off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Paul Lopez is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Santos shoots in but no luck this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paul Lopez showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Lopez 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 29:28
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paul Lopez!