PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Juanito Santos (ranked 5730 p4p, 4834 weight class) and Ric Flair (ranked 633 p4p, 573 weight class). This should be a great matchup!

Santos
vs
Flair

191 cm
20
187
1 - 1 - 0

185 cm
18
195
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Juanito Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ric Flair!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Santiago Holmes and Sandra Marshall.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Flair gets a double leg takedown into Santos's guard.
Flair won't allow Santos to sweep him here.
Santos looking to control.
Flair is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Flair lands a couple of elbows.
Santos is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Flair trying to hold on to Santos's head to control him but Santos postures up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Flair is controlling Santos's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Flair really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Santos. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Santos wants to lay and pray for a moment but Flair keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Santos wants to control but Flair is keeping him busy.
Flair tries to roll over but Santos keeps him under control.
Flair is staying active underneath Santos, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Santos moves into full mount! Flair won't be happy about that!
Flair is in all sorts of trouble here.
Flair is still trying to improve position.
Flair is squirming around, avoiding Santos's attempts to control the action.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Flair really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Santos is landing with some decent strikes but Flair is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Flair is wriggling around trying to escape.
Santos controlling the pace for now.
Flair wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Santos.
Flair is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Santos jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Flair is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Flair and Santos has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Santos grinds an elbow into Flair's temple.
Flair is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Flair keeps trying to improve his position.
Santos working away.
Santos lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Flair down.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Flair taking a bit of punishment here - Santos scoring with strikes.
Flair is holding Santos down, trying to stall.

Santos wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Flair, who protects the arm well.
Santos wants to lay and pray for a moment but Flair keeps working.
Flair tries to buck Santos off but Santos is having none of it.
Santos has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santos scoring with punches from side control.
Santos is looking to take a break and control but Flair is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Juanito Santos dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Santos closes the distance and clinches up with Flair, looking for a takedown. Santos pushes Flair against the cage but Flair circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Flair now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Santos throws a head kick but Flair moves out of range.
Santos tries to clinch there but Flair circles away.
Santos throws a wild body kick that Flair sees coming a mile off.
Flair lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
A big left from Flair misses.
Santos takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.

Flair scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Santos is looking to control Flair's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Santos avoid being mounted?
Flair is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Flair trying to mount his opponent but Santos defends it.

Flair is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Santos has managed to free his arm - good work.
Flair stalling.
Santos trying to control here.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

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.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A left lands for Flair.
Juanito Santos is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Santos throws a right and a left that both miss.
Santos looks to land a combination but Flair avoids it well.
Santos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A jab from Flair finds it's way through Santos's defenses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Flair as he jumps to the side.
Santos throws a series of punches but Flair avoids them all with ease.

Flair throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Santos was covering up waiting for the punch and Flair finishes the takedown easily into guard.

Santos uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Santos misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Flair drives through with a takedown into guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Santos working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Flair.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flair postures up in Santos's guard and throws a big left but Santos blocks it.
Flair loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Flair sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Flair is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Santos is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Santos has escaped and now he's on top!

Flair keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ric Flair showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Flair takes a swing at Santos's ribcage but misses.
Flair misses with a looping right.
Santos tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Flair manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Flair misses with a body shot.
Santos tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Flair manages to circle out of the way.
Flair avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
And Flair tries to counter it with a takedown but Santos pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch but Flair swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Santos misses with a body kick.
Flair checks the leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Flair throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Santos is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Flair.
Flair misses with a lunging right hand

and Santos holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Santos tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Flair smiles and moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Santos jumps guard and drags Flair to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Flair slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Santos is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Santos utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Santos looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Flair trying to control but Santos is working from the bottom.
Santos being controlled here, momentarily.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Flair's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Santos avoids the body shot from Flair.
Flair circles away from the clinch attempt.
Santos tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Flair swivels and escapes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Flair scores with a decent looking hook.
Flair throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Santos sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Santos uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Flair.
Santos takes a shot right to the bread basket.
A head kick misses from Santos.
Santos tries to clinch up.
Santos has his takedown stuffed
and Flair connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Juanito Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Flair closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Santos quickly recovers to half guard.
Flair throwing shots but Santos is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Flair takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Santos blocking the ground and pound attempt from Flair.
Santos is looking to improve his position.
Santos keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Flair is taking a breather. Santos says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Let's hope that Flair has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Santos is defended easily by Flair.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ric Flair comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Flair has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 28:29
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ric Flair!
Juanito Santos spoke after the fight, saying 'To my fans, sorry for letting you down. To my next opponent, beware!'.