PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Wegliton Paulista (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Emerson Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). 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.

Paulista
vs
Santos

177 cm
19
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
22
200 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

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Mundo Green - World Verde

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Wegliton Paulista!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Emerson Santos!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Alexandre Firmino and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Paulista lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Santos circles away quickly and effectively.
Paulista tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Santos swivels and escapes.
Santos fails with the takedown.

Paulista instigates a clinch.
Paulista is pressed up against the cage. Santos has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Paulista down to the mat. Paulista avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.

Paulista shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Santos napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Santos is looking to reverse the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
You can see the frustration on Santos's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Paulista wants to stand but Santos is controlling his arm.
Santos tries to contro but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Paulista content just to control the position here.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Paulista stands up from mount. Strange move.
Santos dodges the punch combination from Paulista.
Paulista tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Paulista throws a right hand that Santos ducks under and follows up with a left that Santos also avoids with ease.
Santos misses with a takedown
and Paulista counters with a three punch combo that has Santos backing up. Santos nods at Paulista to acknowledge the strikes.
Wegliton Paulista has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Emerson Santos.
Paulista is breathing heavily.

Santos gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Paulista to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Paulista would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santos bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Paulista's guard.
Santos trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Santos won't allow Paulista to get back to his feet.
Santos trying to control but Paulista is working from the bottom.
Paulista wants to stand up but Santos is controlling him.
Santos is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Santos trying to control but Paulista is working from the bottom.
Paulista wants to stand and escape but Santos is having none of it.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Paulista looks to throw the jab but Santos is out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paulista looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Wegliton Paulista seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Santos slips a jab and a cross from Paulista.
Paulista rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Santos moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Santos keeps the fight on the outside.
Paulista misses with a few strikes there.

Santos clinches.
Paulista is pressed up against the cage. Santos has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Paulista down to the mat. Paulista avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
A punch combination from Paulista misses.
Paulista waving his hands out infront of him, looking to distract Santos.
Paulista clinches but Santos breaks the clinch

and Santos counters by moving into the clinch.
A short left from Paulista.
Paulista is leaning against Santos and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Santos drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Paulista gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Paulista lands on the inside with an uppercut.

That's four 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.
Still in the clinch, Paulista scores with a nice short uppercut.
Stalling in the clinch from Paulista.

Paulista manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Santos stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Paulista throws a combination that misses
and Santos counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Santos fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Santos swats away the attempt to clinch by Paulista.
Paulista throws a combination that misses
and Santos counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Santos misses with a takedown
and Paulista counters with a one-two to the body.
Paulista swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Santos counters with a three punch combo that has Paulista backing up. Paulista nods at Santos to acknowledge the strikes.
Santos displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Paulista.
Paulista displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wegliton Paulista dominated that round.
That's time! Paulista's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Paulista misses with a combination
and Santos counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Paulista leaves Santos with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Paulista throws a combination that misses
and Santos counters with a nice uppercut.
Paulista works over Santos's head and body with a nice combination.

It looks like Emerson Santos has been cut.
Paulista throws a left and a right that both miss
and Santos counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Santos with a lazy takedown attempt
and Paulista counters with a left and a right that stings Santos.
Paulista keeps the fight on the outside.
Paulista falls off balance throwing a combination

and Santos counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Santos.

Paulista kicks Santos off and gets to his feet.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Paulista wants to clinch but Santos slips to the side

and Santos counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Paulista!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Paulista is trying to stand up.
Paulista knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Santos on the ground.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santos working the ground and pound effectively.
Paulista is trying to stand.
Santos is in the full mount, landing strikes.
You get the feeling that Paulista really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Santos trying to control but Paulista is having none of it.
You get the feeling that Paulista really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Santos looking to secure an arm triangle but Paulista defends it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Paulista is trying to stand up.
Paulista taking shots to the head.
You get the feeling that Paulista really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Santos is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Paulista can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Santos lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Paulista hang on?
Santos controlling the pace for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Paulista is trying to stand.
Santos trying to control but Paulista is having none of it.
Paulista is trying to stand.

Santos is working for a guillotine from mount but Paulista frees his head quite easily.
Paulista is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Santos lands with some strikes.

Paulista somehow manages to escape the mount and get back to his feet!
Paulista shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Santos as he avoids it easily.

That's four 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.
Paulista stuffs the takedown attempt from Santos. Santos gets slowly back to his feet.
Wegliton Paulista has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Emerson Santos.
Santos tries to clinch up but Paulista circles away and keeps his distance.
Paulista falls off balance throwing a combination
and Santos counters with a stiff right hand.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Paulista.
Paulista's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Paulista duly obliges.
Santos throws a combination. Paulista tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Santos takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Paulista is looking to land body kicks.
Santos shoots in looking for a takedown. Paulista tries to sprawl out of it but Santos keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Paulista manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Emerson Santos showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Emerson Santos's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're 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.

No luck for Paulista with that takedown attempt.
Paulista throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Paulista thows a leg kick but Santos checks it
and Santos counters with a two punch combo.
Paulista tries to close the distance and clinch up but Santos swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Santos fails in his attempt to clinch.
Santos tries to clinch there but Paulista circles away.
Santos walks into a straight right hand from Paulista.
Santos closes the distance looking to clinch
and Paulista counters with a two punch combo.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Santos tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Paulista paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Santos is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Paulista throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Santos counters with a nice body shot.
Santos shoots and misses

and Paulista counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Paulista throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Santos has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Paulista is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Paulista lands with a short head shot on the inside.

Paulista breaks the clinch.
Paulista connects with a jab.
Paulista tries to clinch there but Santos circles away.
Santos scores with a sloppy right hand. Paulista should have avoided that one.
Santos walks into a straight right hand from Paulista.
Paulista shoots in but no luck this time.
Paulista misses with a takedown attempt

and Santos counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Paulista!
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Wegliton Paulista. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Santos landing punches.
Paulista is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Santos working the ground and pound effectively.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Santos looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Santos trying to control but Paulista is having none of it.
Paulista is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Santos can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Paulista is looking to escape.
Paulista wants to try and get back to his feet.
Santos wants to control the pace but Paulista is squirming around nicely.
Paulista is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Santos jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Paulista is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Paulista and Santos has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Paulista is not content to let Santos control the position.

Santos is trying to get an arm triangle but Paulista is defending well.
Paulista tries to escape but Santos is in control.

That's four 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 tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Paulista is pushing Santos's head away, looking to escape. Santos manages to hold on to the position though.
Paulista is not content to let Santos control the position.
Paulista is trying to get back to his feet.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Paulista darts in trying to clinch
and Santos connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

And that's the end of the fight!
Emerson Santos comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Santos 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 Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 28:29
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 28:29

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