PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rafael De Santos (ranked 2663 p4p, 301 weight class) and Daniel Hazlehurst (ranked 3745 p4p, 381 weight class). Hazlehurst has chosen Queen - One Vision as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

De Santos
vs
Hazlehurst

186 cm
30
199 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

183 cm
24
202 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Basic striking
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rafael De Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Daniel Hazlehurst!
The judges for this bout are Phil Schofield, Colin Fotheringham and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

De Santos shoots in and bounces Hazlehurst off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Hazlehurst keeping moving, preventing De Santos from controlling successfully.
De Santos wants to pass the guard but Hazlehurst is keeping the position.
Hazlehurst is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
De Santos works a leg free and moves into half guard.
De Santos prevents Hazlehurst from improving his position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hazlehurst is trying to stand up here but De Santos is controlling him well.
De Santos tries to pass to full mount but Hazlehurst defends it.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hazlehurst is looking to control De Santos's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Hazlehurst avoid being mounted?
Hazlehurst tries to kick De Santos off but De Santos keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

De Santos is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Hazlehurst sees it coming and defends easily.

Hazlehurst is defending against the submission attempts here by De Santos.

De Santos is looking for a kimura here.
De Santos trying to pass the guard but Hazlehurst defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Hazlehurst trying to control but De Santos postures up.

De Santos is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

De Santos is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Hazlehurst has managed to free his arm - good work.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Hazlehurst is trying to get back to full guard.

De Santos is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Hazlehurst defends it well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Santos thows a huge punch but Hazlehurst dodges it nicely.
De Santos prevents Hazlehurst from improving his position.
Hazlehurst wants to get back to his feet.
Hazlehurst is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Hazlehurst looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
De Santos throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
De Santos trying to pass the guard but Hazlehurst defending well.

De Santos trying to work for an americana but Hazlehurst has managed to regain full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
De Santos trying to control but Hazlehurst is working from the bottom.
Hazlehurst is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst De Santos is controlling him.
De Santos tries to free his leg and advance position but Hazlehurst is retaining full guard.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
De Santos shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hazlehurst defends it nicely.
De Santos fails to land the takedown.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
De Santos fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rafael De Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
De Santos goes for a double leg but Hazlehurst avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Hazlehurst continues to drive forward.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael De Santos dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Hazlehurst swings for the body but De Santos moves out of range.
De Santos looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

Hazlehurst gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Hazlehurst keeping moving, preventing De Santos from controlling successfully.
Hazlehurst avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
De Santos stops Hazlehurst from standing up.
De Santos advances position into side control!
De Santos trying to control the position but Hazlehurst is working away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
De Santos throwing shots but missing, from side control.

De Santos wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Hazlehurst, who protects the arm well.

De Santos is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Hazlehurst is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Santos tries to score with some ground and pound. Hazlehurst controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
De Santos is looking to take a break and control but Hazlehurst is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Hazlehurst can't do much from the bottom here.

De Santos thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Hazlehurst is not content to let De Santos control the position.

That's two 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.

De Santos is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Hazlehurst has escaped the position, nice work there.
De Santos throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
De Santos tries to advance to mount but can't.
Hazlehurst is pushing De Santos's head away, looking to escape. De Santos manages to hold on to the position though.

De Santos tries for a kimura but Hazlehurst is defending well.
De Santos fails to land a wild elbow strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

De Santos goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Hazlehurst has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for De Santos but great work by Hazlehurst.
De Santos is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hazlehurst can do to turn this around?
De Santos is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Hazlehurst staying calm.
De Santos is looking to regain half guard here but Hazlehurst keeps moving and retains side control.
Rafael De Santos overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Santos gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
De Santos moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Hazlehurst trying to control the position from guard on top but De Santos is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

De Santos working for a triangle but Hazlehurst defends it easily.
Hazlehurst is looking to stand up but De Santos won't let him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael De Santos dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

De Santos looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
De Santos shoots in for a takedown but Hazlehurst shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
De Santos tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Hazlehurst defends well and De Santos ends up having to push Hazlehurst into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rafael De Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hazlehurst leaves De Santos with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
De Santos looks to land a body kick but Hazlehurst moved away.
De Santos will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Hazlehurst keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
The fighters circling - Hazlehurst throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Hazlehurst throws a body punch but De Santos moves out of range.
De Santos tries for a takedown but Hazlehurst sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hazlehurst fails to land with a series of punches.
Hazlehurst leaves De Santos with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Hazlehurst throws a right hand that De Santos ducks under and follows up with a left that De Santos also avoids with ease.
De Santos shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Hazlehurst but Hazlehurst pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Santos misses with a takedown attempt - Hazlehurst sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Hazlehurst stuffs the takedown attempt from De Santos. De Santos gets slowly back to his feet.
De Santos goes for a double leg but Hazlehurst avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Hazlehurst continues to drive forward.
De Santos throws a head kick that misses.
Hazlehurst scores with a three punch combo!
De Santos tries to score a power double leg takedown but Hazlehurst sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten De Santos somewhat.
Hazlehurst leaves De Santos with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Hazlehurst throws a good cross that connects.
De Santos closes this distance looking for a takedown but Hazlehurst circles away.
It seemed like Hazlehurst was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Daniel Hazlehurst is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
De Santos tries for a takedown but Hazlehurst circles away easily
and Hazlehurst counters with a one-two to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hazlehurst looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Nice sprawl there from Hazlehurst as De Santos shoots in.
De Santos avoids a punch combination nicely.
De Santos with a lazy takedown attempt
and Hazlehurst counters with a one-two to the body.
De Santos walks into a stiff left hand from Hazlehurst.
Hazlehurst throws a right and a left that De Santos avoids nicely.
De Santos changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
De Santos keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hazlehurst lands a jab to De Santos's midsection.
Hazlehurst lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.

De Santos is rocked!

Excellent takedown into side control there by De Santos.

Hazlehurst sneaks out the side door and pushes De Santos away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Oh De Santos is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Hazlehurst scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
De Santos seems to have got his legs back now.
Hazlehurst throws a perfectly timed hook that sends De Santos crashing down! De Santos tries to stagger back to his feet but Hazlehurst just hammers him until the ref stops the fight! A confused De Santos asks the ref what just happened. Poor fella.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:53 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Daniel Hazlehurst!