PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Marcelo Santanna (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tony Strot (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.

Santanna
vs
Strot

200 cm
18
263 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
264 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the 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, Marcelo Santanna!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Tony Strot!
The judges for this bout are Thiago Cunha, Paulo Santos and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Strot swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Strot moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

It looks like Marcelo Santanna has been cut.
Santanna shoots in but no luck this time.
Strot stalks Santanna and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Santanna's face. Santanna staggers backwards, shaken.
Strot should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Strot displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Santanna.
Strot fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.

Strot tries to sprawl but Santanna drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Santanna not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Santanna sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Strot defending well though.
Santanna throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Strot to regain full guard.
Strot is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Santanna is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santanna trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Strot wants to stand but Santanna is controlling the position.
Santanna working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Santanna makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Santanna trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Santanna trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Strot manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santanna wants to sweep here but Strot controlling him for the moment.
Santanna trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Santanna preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Santanna striking off his back but it's not causing Strot any problems.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Santanna tries to strike from the bottom.
Santanna lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Strot!
Santanna working some short elbows here. He postures up to throw some more ground and pound but Strot slips a leg through to get back to half guard. Nice work.
Strot looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Santanna throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Santanna throwing shots but Strot is blocking nicely.
Santanna thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Santanna connects with a nice short shot to Strot's temple.
Santanna is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Santanna connects with a nice short shot to Strot's temple.
Santanna slips a nice elbow through Strot's hands, connecting with Strot's forehead.
Strot looks gassed!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Santanna scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Strot kicks off Santanna and gets to his feet.
Santanna shoots in looking for a takedown. Strot tries to sprawl out of it but Santanna keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Strot manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcelo Santanna. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Strot misses with a two punch combination.
Strot dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Santanna is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Strot's half guard.
Santanna not landing any meaningful shots this time.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Santanna thows a huge punch but Strot dodges it nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcelo Santanna dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Marcelo Santanna's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Santanna shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Strot napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Santanna looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Strot is avoiding damage well.
Strot is trying to get back to his feet.
Santanna is trying to ground and pound but Strot uses the momentary lack of control by Santanna to regain half guard.
Strot keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Santanna sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Strot defending well though.
Santanna working over Strot with some ground and pound. Strot looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Strot is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santanna with the ground and pound but Strot uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Santanna is looking to work some ground and pound but Strot has wrist control.
Santanna has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Santanna accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Santanna landing with the ground and pound.
Santanna throws a big elbow that misses.
Santanna postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Santanna accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Santanna distracts Strot with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santanna in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Santanna throws an elbow that misses. Strot uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Santanna's guard. Nice move by Strot!
Santanna throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Strot won't allow Santanna to sweep him here.
Strot trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Santanna tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Santanna throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Santanna trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Santanna throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Santanna doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Santanna doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strot throwing strikes but missing.
Santanna will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Santanna will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Santanna throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Santanna lands a couple of shots from the bottom.
Santanna trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Santanna tries to strike from the bottom.
Santanna knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Strot on the ground.
Santanna will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Strot is looking to work some ground and pound but Santanna has wrist control.
Santanna wants to sweep here but Strot controlling him for the moment.
Santanna throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Santanna on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Santanna tries to get out of the position.
Strot working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Santanna's head.
Strot tries to stand but Santanna is controlling from the bottom.
Santanna looking for a sweep. Not yet Santanna, not yet.
Santanna lands a good elbow from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Santanna looking to hit a scissor sweep but Strot is one step ahead there.
Santanna utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Santanna preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Santanna throwing short punches from the bottom.
Strot is looking to work some ground and pound but Santanna has wrist control.
Santanna strikes from his own guard.
Santanna wants to sweep here but Strot controlling him for the moment.
Santanna tries to strike from the bottom.
Santanna will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Santanna looking to hit a scissor sweep but Strot is one step ahead there.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Strot postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Santanna throws a nice elbow from the bottom.
Santanna throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcelo Santanna dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Marcelo Santanna's cut.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Santanna changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Strot tries to avoid it but Santanna manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Strot to the ground. Strot escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Strot shoots in looking for a takedown but Santanna manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Strot's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Strot displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Santanna.
Santanna shoots in and drives through. Strot sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marcelo Santanna. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Strot lands with a shot to the body.
Strot stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Strot wants it to stay on the feet.
Strot goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Strot sizes up Santanna with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Tony Strot seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Strot lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Strot.
Santanna slips a jab and a cross from Strot.
Tony Strot is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Strot throws a right and a left that both miss.
Strot misses with a series of wild punches.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Santanna slips a jab and a cross from Strot.
Tony Strot seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Santanna shoots in for a double leg but Strot sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Santanna shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Strot as he jumps to the side.
Strot throws a combination. Santanna tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Santanna.
Strot throws a series of punches but Santanna moves out of range.
Strot scores with a hook to the body. Santanna takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Santanna shoots in but Strot avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Strot shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Santanna defends it nicely.
Sloppy strikes from Strot. Those never looked like landing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Santanna fails with a takedown attempt.
Strot lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Santanna at a distance.
Strot stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Strot wants it to stay on the feet.
Strot closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Strot misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Santanna shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Santanna was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Santanna throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Strot trying desperately to get to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Strot wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Santanna.
Santanna throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Santanna cracks Strot with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Tony Strot has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Santanna fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Santanna landing strikes, looking to finish!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Santanna raining down shots from the mount!
Marcelo Santanna overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Santanna raining down hammerfists from mount.
Santanna looking to finish Strot with some ground and pound. This is bad for Strot!
Santanna misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Santanna throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Santanna landing punches.
Marcelo Santanna is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Santanna lands a nice shot to the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marcelo Santanna showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Santanna, 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 Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:27
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marcelo Santanna!