PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Harold Kerzner (ranked 3288 p4p, 2362 weight class) and Helio Silva (ranked 436 p4p, 320 weight class). Harold Kerzner has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Kerzner
vs
Silva

187 cm
22
203
4 - 6 - 0

188 cm
25
200
3 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Harold Kerzner!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Helio Silva!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Paul Gruel and Jeff Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Kerzner.
Silva tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Kerzner just misses with a punch to the body.
Kerzner throws a looping overhand right but Silva ducks down to avoid it.
Silva changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Kerzner looks to score with a jab to the body but Silva is just out of range.
Silva feints the counter takedown.
Nice uppercut lands for Kerzner. That snapped Silva's head back.
Kerzner connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Silva's hands.

Kerzner closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Silva to the mat! Silva manages to get full guard.
Kerzner stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Silva swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kerzner trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.
Silva pulls Kerzner in close to his closed guard and prevents Kerzner from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kerzner preventing the sweep.
Silva lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Silva wants to control from the top but Kerzner keeps moving.
Kerzner is looking to sweep but instead, Silva has passed into half guard.
Silva perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Kerzner won't allow Silva to pass to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kerzner is looking to control Silva's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Kerzner avoid being mounted?
Kerzner wants to improve his position but Silva is controlling well.
Kerzner has a hand on Silva's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Silva takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Kerzner tries to reverse the position but Silva maintains control.
Silva tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Kerzner looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Kerzner.
Kerzner trying to control but not successfully.
What can Kerzner do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Kerzner looking very determined here, making life difficult for Silva.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

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.
Silva has the hooks in. Kerzner is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Kerzner is working hard here to advance position.
Silva really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Kerzner.
Kerzner tries to roll but Silva sticks to his back.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Silva controls the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Helio Silva will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Kerzner with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Kerzner is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Silva.
Kerzner lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Kerzner lands a jab to the head.
Kerzner misses with a straight left.
Kerzner looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Kerzner lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Silva circles away quickly and effectively.
Silva feints the counter takedown.
Silva uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Kerzner.
Silva feints the counter takedown.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Kerzner is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Silva.
Kerzner scores with a shot to the body.
Silva ducks under a wild hook from Kerzner.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kerzner misses with a wild combination.
Kerzner scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Kerzner throws a lazy right hand but Silva sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Harold Kerzner is winning the standup battle so far.
Kerzner throws a body punch but Silva moves out of range.
Kerzner throws a hook to the side of Silva's head but Silva sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Kerzner looks to land a left hand but Silva moved out of range nicely.
Silva is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Kerzner just misses with a punch to the body.
Silva takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Nice body punch from Kerzner.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Kerzner misses with a body shot.
Silva changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Kerzner lands a nice shot to the body.
Kerzner swings widly with a right hand

and Silva decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Kerzner's guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Silva sitting in guard here, content to control.
Silva forces his way into half guard.
Silva performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kerzner moves into full guard.
Silva not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

Kerzner is looking for a triangle here but Silva uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Kerzner is trying to escape the position but Silva is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Kerzner tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Silva wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Kerzner can't do much from the bottom here.
Silva is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Silva is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Kerzner knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Harold Kerzner dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Kerzner scores with a jab to the jaw.
Kerzner connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Silva momentarily.

Kerzner looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Silva wants to control but Kerzner is keeping busy and won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva tries to get to full guard but Kerzner has control of the leg.
Silva is positioning himself well to prevent Kerzner advancing to mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is trying to control but Kerzner manages to pass to mount!
Silva is squirming around, avoiding Kerzner's attempts to control the action.
Kerzner takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Silva has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.
Silva sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva manages to get to full guard.
Silva seems keen to control Kerzner's posture.
Silva is trying to control the position but Kerzner postures up.
Silva bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Kerzner's guard.

Kerzner wants to improve his position but instead Silva has moved into half guard.
Silva slows the pace down in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kerzner is looking for a sweep. Silva is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Silva not doing much here.
Silva has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Kerzner is trying to escape the mount.
Kerzner is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Silva can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Silva controlling the position easily from mount.
Silva is continuing to stall.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Let's hope that Silva has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Harold Kerzner.
I think Kerzner has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight 29:28
Judge Jeff Smith scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Harold Kerzner!