PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Victor Mordino (ranked 7757 p4p, 745 weight class) and Junior Dos Santos (ranked 2165 p4p, 325 weight class). Junior Dos Santos will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Mordino
vs
Dos Santos

187 cm
22
180 lbs
1 - 6 - 1

196 cm
24
172 lbs
11 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Very quick

Excellent grappler
Counter fighter
Granite 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 1 - 6 - 1, fighting out of London, Victor Mordino!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Junior Dos Santos!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, James Atkins and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Mordino shoots in and bounces Dos Santos off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Mordino has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Dos Santos looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Mordino wants to pass the guard but Dos Santos is keeping the position.
Mordino controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Dos Santos keeping moving, preventing Mordino from controlling successfully.
Mordino looking to pass the guard.

Mordino got a little sloppy there for a moment and Dos Santos has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Mordino has managed to get both his arms back between Dos Santos's legs - danger averted.
Mordino tries to free his leg and advance position but Dos Santos is retaining full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Dos Santos had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Mordino defends it easily.
Dos Santos is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Mordino tries to free his leg and advance position but Dos Santos is retaining full guard.
Mordino trying to control the position from guard on top but Dos Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Dos Santos had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Mordino defends it easily.
Mordino wants to control from the top but Dos Santos keeps moving.
Mordino tries to free his leg and advance position but Dos Santos is retaining full guard.

Mordino got a little sloppy there for a moment and Dos Santos has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Mordino has managed to get both his arms back between Dos Santos's legs - danger averted.
Mordino wants to pass the guard but Dos Santos is keeping the position.

Dos Santos looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mordino wants to control from the top but Dos Santos keeps moving.
Mordino trying to move into half guard but instead Dos Santos has managed to sweep!

Dos Santos thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dos Santos is fighting to break Mordino's control of his arms but Mordino is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mordino wants to sweep but no luck.
Dos Santos postures up.

Dos Santos drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Dos Santos jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Dos Santos trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Mordino working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Dos Santos.

Dos Santos postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Mordino is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Dos Santos, into his guard.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Dos Santos working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Mordino doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Mordino manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Mordino is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Dos Santos is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Dos Santos looking for a guillotine here but Mordino defends easily.

Dos Santos escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Mordino gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Mordino slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Dos Santos is looking to stand up but Mordino isn't so interested in that idea.
Mordino trying to control the position from guard on top but Dos Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mordino is really struggling to control Dos Santos but he's trying to hold on to the position.

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.
Mordino passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Mordino moves into full mount!
Mordino content just to control the position here.
Dos Santos is squirming around, avoiding Mordino's attempts to control the action.
Mordino wants to take his opponent's back but Dos Santos doesn't allow it.
Dos Santos is squirming around, avoiding Mordino's attempts to control the action.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Mordino sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Dos Santos regains half guard.
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 Victor Mordino will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Mordino closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Dos Santos to the mat! Dos Santos manages to get full guard.
Mordino wants to control from the top but Dos Santos keeps moving.
Dos Santos wants to sweep but no luck.

Dos Santos has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Mordino can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Dos Santos is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Mordino defends well.
Mordino is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Dos Santos has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Mordino can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Mordino is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Mordino trying to control but Dos Santos is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mordino tries to free his leg and advance position but Dos Santos is retaining full guard.

Dos Santos had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Mordino defends it easily.

Dos Santos working for a triangle but Mordino defends it easily.
Mordino slips nicely into half guard.

Dos Santos looking for submissions off his back.
Mordino wants to take a breather but Dos Santos is having none of it.
Mordino sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Dos Santos is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos is refusing to be controlled, as Mordino sits in half guard.
Mordino content to control rather than advance.
Dos Santos wants to get back to full guard.

Dos Santos looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Mordino is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Dos Santos doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Mordino.

Mordino is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Mordino controlling the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mordino'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.
Mordino is keen to just control but Dos Santos is a slippery customer.

Dos Santos looking for submissions off his back.

Mordino looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Dos Santos is staying active underneath Mordino, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Dos Santos is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Mordino's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Mordino's back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Mordino fending off the submission attempt from Dos Santos.

Dos Santos has the rear naked choke here! This is very bad for Mordino! Can he survive? No! He's out! Dos Santos gets to his feet and celebrates with his cornermen. He looks absolutely delighted. In the post fight interviews he takes time to thank his parents and everyone who has believed in him from the start. How sweet.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Junior Dos Santos!
Junior Dos Santos decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.