PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Marco Battaglia (ranked 6577 p4p, 2380 weight class) and Jorge Dos Santos (ranked 640 p4p, 309 weight class). Dos Santos has chosen 2Pac - All Eyez On Me as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Battaglia
vs
Dos Santos

190 cm
20
190
0 - 1 - 0

181 cm
23
190
6 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Good kicks
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Conquer

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Marco Battaglia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Jorge Dos Santos!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Sam Margolis and James Ackerman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Battaglia fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Dos Santos sprawls well initially but Battaglia persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Battaglia performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

Battaglia seems to be looking for submissions.
Battaglia landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Dos Santos is looking for a sweep. Battaglia is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Dos Santos blocking the ground and pound attempt from Battaglia.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Well, if Battaglia is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

Battaglia is looking for a kimura here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Battaglia takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Dos Santos is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Dos Santos has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.

Battaglia 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 trying to stand.

That's two 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.
Battaglia throwing shots but Dos Santos is blocking nicely.
Battaglia controlling the pace.
Dos Santos wants to get back to his feet.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Battaglia content to control rather than advance.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Battaglia slips a straight right by Dos Santos.
Battaglia drops down looking for a counter takedown but Dos Santos sprawls and moves away.
Battaglia dodges the punch combination from Dos Santos.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Battaglia jabs Dos Santos right on the nose. Dos Santos blinks but takes it well.

Battaglia changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Dos Santos looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Dos Santos tries to bench press Battaglia off him but Battaglia keeps the position.

Battaglia is trying to get an arm triangle but Dos Santos is defending well.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Dos Santos is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Dos Santos is not content to let Battaglia control the position.
Dos Santos tries to bench press Battaglia off him but Battaglia keeps the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Battaglia 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.
Battaglia landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Dos Santos is trying to escape the position but Battaglia is controlling the position.
Battaglia has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Dos Santos taking punishment in the form of punches.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Dos Santos misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Battaglia lands a really nice looking cross but Dos Santos seems unphased.
Dos Santos takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Battaglia is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Dos Santos can do to turn this around?
Dos Santos misses with a lunging right hand
and Battaglia cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
A good leg kick by Dos Santos.
Battaglia lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Dos Santos scores with a jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dos Santos misses with a left hand

and Battaglia counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Marco Battaglia overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Dos Santos is defending against the submission attempts here by Battaglia.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Battaglia keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Dos Santos tries to kick Battaglia off but Battaglia keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Battaglia lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Battaglia throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Dos Santos is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Battaglia controlling the action here.
Battaglia is looking to pass Dos Santos's guard but actually Dos Santos recovers to full guard.
Dos Santos wants to sweep but no luck.
Dos Santos trying to keep a closed guard but Battaglia is proving a slippery customer.
Battaglia is stalling in the full guard.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Battaglia'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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Dos Santos misses the shot to the body.
Dos Santos cracks Battaglia with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Battaglia looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Dos Santos scores with a body shot.
Nice uppercut there from Battaglia.
Jab from Battaglia.
Some wild striking there from Dos Santos.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Dos Santos.
Battaglia is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Battaglia fakes the leg kick and cracks Dos Santos in the body.
Jorge Dos Santos is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Battaglia connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Dos Santos's hands.
A jab from Battaglia does it's job there.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Battaglia shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Dos Santos napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The referee asks Battaglia politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Battaglia prefers to stall for the moment though.
Further stalling from Battaglia.
Battaglia working the ground and pound.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Marco Battaglia 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. This is the final round!

Dos Santos scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Dos Santos throws the left hand but Battaglia avoids the punch easily.
Dos Santos on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Battaglia. Battaglia obviously looking to wear him down.
Battaglia fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Dos Santos checks it well.
Marco Battaglia seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Battaglia with a nice cross.
Battaglia with a nice calf kick.
Battaglia misses with a hook to the body
and Dos Santos connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Battaglia fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Dos Santos.
Dos Santos scores with a body shot.
Dos Santos jabbing away but nothing is landing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dos Santos throws a leg kick but Battaglia sees it coming and moves out of range.
Battaglia uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Battaglia tries to score a power double leg takedown but Dos Santos sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Battaglia somewhat.

Battaglia looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Dos Santos!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Battaglia in side control lands a decent elbow.
Battaglia working the ground and pound but Dos Santos is defending the strikes.
Battaglia is working Dos Santos over with some ground and pound from side control.
Battaglia controlling the position from side mount.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Battaglia.
Battaglia working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dos Santos is looking for a sweep.
Battaglia controls the position from side control.
Dos Santos is looking for a sweep.
Battaglia lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Battaglia working the ground and pound from side control.
A lull in the action here.
Marco Battaglia is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
If it seems like I'm not saying a lot, it's just because Battaglia is stinking the place up with his stalling.
Battaglia continues to hold on tight.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Jorge Dos Santos has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Dos Santos throws a big shot that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marco Battaglia showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Battaglia 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 James Glass scores the fight 30:27
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 30:27
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marco Battaglia!