UFC bantamweights Daniel Santos and Jeong Yeong Lee looked to impress at UFC 315 on Saturday night as one of the early bouts on the prelims.
Santos (11-2) has been bit hard by the injury bug that took him out of three consecutive bouts. Last time fans saw him was against Johnny Munoz Jr at in June 2023. Since the Santos has withdrawn from bouts against Daniel Marcos, Said Nurmagomedov and Davey Grant.
Lee (11-2) enjoyed a fantastic run to win Road To The UFC in 2022. Since then he’s gone 2-1 in the UFC with wins over Yizha and Blake Bilder.
Round 1 Santos came out on fire with combinations and going for the head. Lee was able to weather the early storm and land kicks to the body. A big right hand sent the Brazilian to the canvas, but he popped up quickly and forced Lee to the fence as he looked for the takedown.
He got him down then tried to jump the back, but Lee was quick to his feet and broke the grips getting back to throwing hands. Santos decided to put the pressure on Lee and rushed in with a flurry then shooting for a takedown.
Santos threw a lot of spinning techniques in the round ending it with a spinning wheel kick.
Round 2 both men came out fast with combinations and choosing to stay in the pocket to trade. Then Santos shot in for a takedown, kept Lee down, and took the back. Lee worked his way back up, and striking, but Santos used his pressure to force him to the fence. Santos landed some shots then got another takedown.
Santos let Lee back up, and the two went back to exchanging in some fun combos, but Lee wanted a knockout. An ill-advised right hand missed and Santos got an easy takedown. Santos scored some damage from top position then Lee got back up.
The end of the round came with Santos putting Lee on the fence.
Round 3 Santos wanted to solidify the win by taking this round. Santos got Lee down quickly, almost got caught in a triangle, but ended up in side control. Lee tried to use some elbows off his back as Santos kind of just laid on top of him.
Santos took the back a couple times but decided not to try to finish the fight there opting to get back to striking. Santos mixed it up pretty well then landed a clean right hand that would have dropped a normal human! Lee ate it and kept going.
Santos continued to shoot takedowns trying to get a position he wants, got one, put Lee on his butt by the fence. Santos mixed it up well all the way to the end of the fight.
Official Result: Daniel Santos def. Jeong Yeong Lee via Unanimous Decision (30-27×3)
