PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Joey Silverton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Elpidio Rafael (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silverton comes into the arena with Seven blaring out of the sound system. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Silverton
vs
Rafael

175 cm
21
148 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

163 cm
24
145 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Decent elbows
Very quick

Powerful takedowns
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Joey Silverton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Elpidio Rafael!
The judges for this bout are Matheus Silva, Paulo Santos and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rafael tries to clinch up.
Silverton is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Rafael fails with an attempt to clinch.
Rafael tries to clinch up.
Rafael dives in and grabs Silverton's left leg, looking for a takedown. Silverton pushes down on Rafael's head and hops out.
Silverton throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Silverton throws a body punch but Rafael moves out of range.
Silverton thows a body shot but no joy.
Silverton swats away the attempt to clinch by Rafael.
Silverton connects with a single shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rafael shoots in looking for a takedown. Silverton tries to sprawl out of it but Rafael keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Silverton manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Rafael pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rafael scores a takedown into full mount!
Silverton is trying desperately to improve position.
Rafael misses with some ground and pound and Silverton recovers position to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rafael working Silverton over with strikes.
Rafael trying to mount his opponent but Silverton defends it.

Rafael is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Silverton sees it coming and defends easily.
Silverton wants to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rafael thows a huge punch but Silverton dodges it nicely.
Rafael throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Silverton is not content to let Rafael control the position.
Rafael with the ground and pound but Silverton uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Silverton is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Silverton will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Rafael is trying to stand back up but Silverton is controlling him
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. Silverton connects with a nice short shot to Rafael's temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rafael tries to get to full guard but Silverton has control of the leg.
Silverton wants to pass the guard but Rafael is defending well.
Rafael taking some punishment here, with Silverton in his half guard.
Silverton wants to free his trapped foot but Rafael is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Silverton thows a huge punch but Rafael dodges it nicely.
Silverton sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Rafael defending well though.
Rafael wants to get back to full guard.

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.
Rafael has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Silverton is working away from the top position though.
Silverton working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Rafael avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Silverton.
Silverton is trying to control the action in half guard but Rafael is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Silverton uses his free foot to push down on Rafael's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Rafael.
Rafael is bucking up trying to escape but Silverton cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Silverton punishing his opponent with strikes.
Silverton working the ground and pound effectively.
Rafael taking shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joey Silverton dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Silverton misses the shot to the body.
Elpidio Rafael seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rafael fails in his attempt to clinch.
Rafael looks to score with a jab to the body but Silverton is just out of range.
Silverton misses the jab.
Rafael looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Rafael shoots in for a takedown but Silverton shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Rafael throws out a powerful jab.
Silverton lands with a shot to the body.
Silverton circles away from the clinch attempt.
Elpidio Rafael is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rafael closes the distance and clinches up with Silverton, looking for a takedown. Rafael pushes Silverton against the cage but Silverton circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Rafael throws out a loose jab but Silverton uses good head movement to avoid it.
Silverton's jab looks to have found its range, popping Rafael under the eye.
Rafael fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Joey Silverton has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Elpidio Rafael.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silverton shoots in and bounces Rafael off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Silverton is pushing down on Rafael's leg trying to pass to half guard. Rafael is fighting to maintain full guard but Silverton has managed to sneak the leg through.
Rafael is breathing heavily.
Rafael trying to control from the bottom.
Ground and pound from Silverton.
Silverton throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Rafael is in trouble now - Silverton has advanced to mount!
Silverton lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silverton lands a big shot there that rocks Rafael but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Silverton lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Silverton working the ground and pound effectively.
Silverton lands a nice shot to the head.
Silverton dominating with strikes here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rafael really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Silverton controlling his opponent.
Silverton lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Rafael hang on?

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silverton lands a big shot there that rocks Rafael but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Silverton looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Silverton sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Silverton punishing his opponent with strikes.
Silverton trying to control but Rafael is having none of it.
Rafael is trying desperately to improve position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silverton with good strikes from the mount here!
Silverton pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
A nice elbow there by Silverton.
Rafael is working to get back to half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rafael wants to hold on but Silverton pushes him away.
The referee warns Rafael that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joey Silverton dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Rafael pushes Silverton up against the cage in a clinch.

Silverton turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Silverton manages to end up in side control.
Silverton working the strikes but Rafael uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Silverton winds up and cracks Rafael with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Rafael is controlling Silverton's trapped leg to prevent Silverton from advancing to side control.
Rafael is trying to control but can't.
Silverton not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Silverton not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Silverton wants to take a breather but Rafael is having none of it.
Silverton thows a huge punch but Rafael dodges it nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silverton thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Rafael's head.

Silverton is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Rafael has managed to free his arm - good work.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Silverton is trying to control the action in half guard but Rafael is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Ground and pound from Silverton.
Silverton missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Silverton has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Silverton content to control rather than advance.
Rafael tries to kick Silverton off in order to stand up. Silverton Avoids the leg push though and dives into side control.

That's two 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.
Rafael can't do much from the bottom here.
Silverton in side control, throwing shots but Rafael defends.
Silverton trying to control the action but Rafael is working from the bottom.
Rafael is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Silverton staying calm.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rafael is not content to let Silverton control the position.
Rafael regains half guard.
Silverton landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Silverton throwing shots but Rafael is blocking nicely.
Rafael regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Silverton.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Silverton in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Silverton wants to control from the top but Rafael keeps moving.

Rafael is looking for a triangle but Silverton pushes his legs off easily.
Elpidio Rafael has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Silverton looking to sit in guard and control but Rafael gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Rafael working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joey Silverton showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Silverton, 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 Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:26
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 30:26
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joey Silverton!