PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Michel Santos (ranked 4847 p4p, 4856 weight class) and Diego Garrido (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Santos
vs
Garrido

170 cm
22
140
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
25
144
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Self confident

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Michel 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, Diego Garrido!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, Peter Branson and Winston Alpacca.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Santos shoots in and drives through. Garrido sprawls well.
Santos shoots for a double leg takedown but Garrido sprawls well. He's pushed Santos's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
A telegraphed right hand from Santos misses the target.

Garrido takes the fight into the clinch.
Santos is trying to pull guard but Garrido turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Michel Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Garrido smiles and moves away.
Garrido shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Santos as he avoids it easily.

Santos dives in and scores a takedown into Garrido's guard.
Garrido looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Garrido looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Garrido keeping full guard, as Santos tries to pass.
Garrido is adopting a defensive guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos postures up and lands a big shot to Garrido's brow.
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.
Santos wants to pass the guard but Garrido is keeping the position.
Santos is fighting to break Garrido's control of his arms but Garrido is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Santos passes Garrido's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Garrido wants to get back to full guard.

Santos 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.
Garrido is looking to control Santos's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Garrido avoid being mounted?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garrido tries to get to full guard but Santos has control of the leg.

Santos wants to work for an arm triangle but Garrido is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.

Santos seems to be looking for submissions.

Santos is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Santos is working for a kimura but Garrido is defending it quite comfortably.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Santos is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Garrido defends it well.
Santos takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

Santos seems to be looking for submissions.
Garrido is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Santos's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Santos's back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Garrido has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.
Garrido is not going to allow Santos to sit and survive in this position.

Garrido is persistently looking for the submission but Santos is defending it well.
Santos is in bad spot here.
Garrido doesn't have the hooks in and Santos manages to turn into his guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Santos scoring with some ground and pound.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Santos drops back, looking for a kneebar! Garrido looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Garrido looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Garrido!

Santos is trying to get back to half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Michel Santos dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Garrido closes the distance and clinches.
Santos tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Garrido just stands there and leans against the cage.
Santos fails to pull guard.
Santos fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Michel Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Garrido misses with a knee strike.

Garrido pulls guard effortlessly.

Garrido pushes Santos off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Garrido pushes Santos up against the cage in a clinch.

Garrido ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Garrido no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.

Santos working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Garrido doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Garrido manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Diego Garrido has got the better of the ground game so far.
Santos manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Garrido manages to get himself to full guard.

Santos thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Garrido looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Santos with a nice head shot there.
Santos trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos scoring with some ground and pound.
Santos trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Garrido pulls Santos in close to prevent any damage.
Garrido trying to keep a closed guard but Santos is proving a slippery customer.
Santos sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Garrido keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.
Garrido looking to hit a scissor sweep but Santos is one step ahead there.
Santos throws a big right hand that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santos is working Garrido over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Santos cracks Garrido with a solid left hand.
Garrido trying to keep a closed guard but Santos is proving a slippery customer.
Santos sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Garrido's guard.

Santos is looking for a kimura here.
Santos content to control rather than advance.
Garrido wants to get back to full guard.
Garrido 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santos is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

Santos is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Garrido on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Santos is trying to control the action in half guard but Garrido is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Santos drops an elbow to the side of Garrido's head.
Santos is looking to take a break and control but Garrido is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

Santos is looking for a kimura here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Michel Santos will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Santos closes this distance looking for a takedown but Garrido circles away.
Santos slaps away a takedown attempt from Garrido, before circling back to the center of the mat.

Santos fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Garrido sprawls well initially but Santos persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Ground and pound from Santos.
Garrido punching from the bottom.
Santos trying to control from half guard but Garrido is working away.
Garrido wants to control but Santos is keeping busy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Santos blocks the strikes from Garrido.

Santos is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Santos is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Garrido defends it well.
Garrido wants to improve his position but Santos is controlling well.

Santos is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Garrido has managed to free his arm - good work.
Santos is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Garrido tries to kick Santos off but Santos keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Santos controlling the action here.
Garrido keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Santos is keen to just control but Garrido is a slippery customer.
Santos sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Garrido defending well though.
Santos is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Garrido can do to turn this around?

Santos is looking for a kimura here.
Santos tries to pass to full mount but Garrido defends it.
Santos seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Garrido does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Garrido is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Santos scores with a couple of nice shots.
Santos working to pass to mount. He's got his hand pressing down on Garrido's thigh. Garrido counters though and makes it back to full guard.
Garrido utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Garrido keeping moving, preventing Santos from controlling successfully.

Santos drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Garrido manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Santos has Garrido in his guard.

Santos has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Garrido looking to sit in guard and control but Santos gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Garrido manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.
The referee calls for Garrido to work.
Garrido digs a right hand underneath Santos's ribcage. Santos let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Santos fails to pull guard.
Diego Garrido has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Garrido has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Santos is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michel Santos showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Santos, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Sandra Marshall scores the fight 30:27
Judge Peter Branson scores the fight 30:27
Judge Winston Alpacca scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michel Santos!