By: Constancio Martinez Jr
On August 2, Port Isabel’s very own (3-2-1) Robert “El Durinho” Maldonado took on (2-1-1) “El Santo” Samuel De Los Santos out of San Antonio, TX at Texas Fight League’s “TFL 5 Striker Series: War at the Border”.
The featherweight mixed martial art fighters met back in May of this year, where on the line was TFL’s EMC “El Mas Chingon” belt. Unfortunately, that 3-round fight was scored a split draw. With no winner decided, promoter Estilo Solis and the fighters agreed to a 5-round rematch. The fight breakdown was as follows:
Round 1: As the bell rang to begin the round, both fighters met at the center of the octagon and started throwing punches- an exchange welcomed by the hard-hitting Maldonado. A minute into the round, De Los Santos, known for his grappling, was able to take down Maldonado. After a couple of seconds of grappling, Maldonado managed to get back on his feet, but De Los Santos was still on Maldonado’s back. De Los Santos managed to take him down once again. Maldonado spent the final minute of the first round fighting off several rear-naked choke attempts by De Los Santos.
Round 2: As the second round got underway, Maldonado quickly took the center of the ring and continued his offensive attack, but implemented more leg kicks to his offense. Meanwhile, De Los Santos seemed more reserved in his offensive output as he waited for another takedown opportunity. Around the 2:15 mark, De Los Santos saw his opening and went in for the double-leg takedown of Maldonado. After a minute of defending from more rear-naked choke attempts, Maldonado managed to spin away from De Los Santos and jumped up to his feet. Maldonado then connected on several punches and kicks until De Los Santos got his third takedown of the fight with 15 seconds left in the round.
Round 3: The third round started like the previous two, with Maldonado going off on De Los Santos with a series of punches and kicks, with little in return from his opponent. Following his game plan, De Los Santos attempted another takedown, but this time Maldonado fought it off as the fight stayed on the feet. Maldonado continued to let his hands fly as De Los Santos stumbled backwards. Midway into the round, Maldonado then fought off another takedown attempt. As they grappled, Maldonado got top position and started to ‘ground-and-pound’ De Los Santos. The fighters eventually made their way to their feet. Maldonado continued his onslaught, forcing the referee to eventually stop the fight with about 25 seconds left in the round. Maldonado was awarded the Technical Knock Out (TKO) and finally secured the “Mas Chingon” title belt.
Post-fight, Maldonado stated he wanted to wait to “unload” in the fourth and fifth rounds, but prior to the third round, he was told he was possibly trailing in points due to the takedowns, so his coach told him, “You’ve got to end it. You’ve got to end it,” recalled Maldonado.
Regarding his opponent, Maldonado said, “Honestly, he looked a little bit more confident, and it gave me a little bit of shivers. But I knew I was going to have a night.” Said Maldonado. “He’s a juggernaut, a big tank to take down, and thank you to De Los Santos for the rematch.”
Maldonado plans to stay fighting at the amateur level for the foreseeable future, and will be taking “a little break” after “these past two camps took a toll on me”, said Maldonado.
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