PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Tiago Silvain (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Robert Zimmerman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silvain's entrance music is Edu Kehäkettunen & Petos - Moottoriturvat . A fine choice. Zimmerman has chosen Run This Town (Jay Z feat. Rhianna) as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. The key to victory for Tiago Silvain has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Silvain
vs
Zimmerman

188 cm
23
220 lbs
9 - 4 - 0

190 cm
29
215 lbs
17 - 7 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Tiago Silvain!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 7 - 1, fighting out of London, Robert Zimmerman!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, James Atkins and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silvain throws a head kick that misses.
Silvain throws a head kick but Zimmerman moves out of range.
Silvain looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Silvain fails with an attempt to clinch.
Zimmerman takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Zimmerman looks gassed!
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Silvain - that will leave a mark!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Silvain lands with a nice body kick.
Silvain tries to clinch up but Zimmerman circles away and keeps his distance.
Zimmerman avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Zimmerman on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Silvain. Silvain obviously looking to wear him down.
Silvain lands a head kick!

It looks like Robert Zimmerman has been cut.
Silvain lands a nice looking kick to the body. Zimmerman takes a step back to recover.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silvain thows a body kick. Zimmerman tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Silvain tries to clinch but Zimmerman is having none of it.
Silvain goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Tiago Silvain seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zimmerman blocks a head kick by Silvain.
Zimmerman uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Silvain.
A head kick misses from Silvain.
Zimmerman circles away from the clinch attempt

and Zimmerman counters with a nice double leg into side control. Silvain won't be happy with that.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zimmerman prevents Silvain from escaping the position.
Silvain wants to control but Zimmerman postures up.
Silvain is trying to get back to his feet.
Silvain prevents Zimmerman from improving position.
Silvain is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Silvain is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Zimmerman has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Zimmerman has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Silvain!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Zimmerman raining down shots from the mount!
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!
Silvain working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silvain is trying to stand up.
Zimmerman punishing his opponent with strikes.
Silvain is looking to improve his position but Zimmerman isn't that keen on the idea.
Zimmerman throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Silvain because Zimmerman loaded up on that one.
Silvain wants to hold on but Zimmerman pushes him away.
Zimmerman cracks Silvain with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Zimmerman raining down shots from the mount!
Silvain wants to control but Zimmerman is having none of it.
Zimmerman lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Silvain is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Zimmerman lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silvain gets back to half guard.

Silvain pushes Zimmerman off and gets back to his feet.
Silvain throws a sloppy head kick and Zimmerman moves out of range easily.
Silvain moves in looking to clinch but Zimmerman pushes him off.
Silvain pulls out of a head kick attempt.
A head kick misses from Silvain.
Silvain throws a low kick but Zimmerman avoids it.
Zimmerman checks the leg kick.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Zimmerman takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Silvain is looking to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tiago Silvain dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Robert Zimmerman's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Silvain moves in looking to clinch but Zimmerman pushes him off.
Silvain misses with a low kick.
Silvain scores with a head kick. Zimmerman tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
Zimmerman shoots in for a takedown but Silvain shows good takedown defense.

Silvain has taken the fight to the clinch.
Zimmerman avoiding damage as Silvain throws knees to the body.
Silvain tries to land a knee to the head but Zimmerman blocks with his arms.
Silvain putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Zimmerman in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Silvain using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Zimmerman has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Silvain landing knees to the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Silvain lands a left hand.
Zimmerman managing to block the knees to the body from Silvain.
Silvain working Zimmerman over with knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zimmerman is trying to break free.
Silvain looking to throw knees to the head but Zimmerman is blocking nicely.
Silvain connects with a nasty looking knee right to Zimmerman's face.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Silvain misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Zimmerman.
Silvain working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Silvain using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Silvain pressing his opponent against the cage.
Silvain landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Silvain misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Zimmerman.
Silvain lands a knee to the body.
Zimmerman blocks an elbow strike.
Knees to the body from Silvain.
Zimmerman wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

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.
Silvain lands a knee to the body.
Silvain lands a good knee to the midsection. Zimmerman won't want to take too many of those.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Silvain just misses with a elbow thrown towards Zimmerman's brow.
Silvain slows down the pace here.
Silvain lands a knee to the head.
Silvain throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Silvain tries to stall but Zimmerman uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Zimmerman is working for takedown but Silvain is calmly controlling the position for now.
Silvain missing with knees to the body.
Silvain is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Silvain lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Zimmerman working hard to break the clinch.
Silvain crunches a lovely knee into Zimmerman's ribcage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zimmerman takes a knee to the side of the body.
Zimmerman is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Tiago Silvain has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Robert Zimmerman.
Silvain lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Zimmerman taking a breather.
Silvain tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Zimmerman tries to circle away but Silvain has him pinned against the cage.
Silvain scores a nice knee to the body.
Silvain lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Silvain tries to land knees in the clinch but Zimmerman avoids the damage to the body.
Silvain lands an elbow inside.
Zimmerman has Silvain pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Silvain manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Silvain taking a breather.
Zimmerman managing to block the knees to the body from Silvain.

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.
Silvain manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Silvain using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Zimmerman has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Silvain connects with a knee to the head.
Zimmerman tries to pull guard but Silvain won't allow it.
Zimmerman blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Silvain missing with knees to the body.
Zimmerman tries to pull guard but Silvain holds him up against the cage and eventually Zimmerman drops back down to his feet.
Silvain throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Zimmerman wants to break the clinch but can't.
Silvain tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Zimmerman avoids it.
Silvain landing knees to the head.
Zimmerman has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Silvain is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tiago Silvain dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Robert Zimmerman's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Silvain misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Zimmerman checks a low kick from Silvain.
Silvain pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Zimmerman avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Silvain throws a leg kick but Zimmerman checks it.
Silvain tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Zimmerman cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silvain throws out a leg kick but Zimmerman moves out of range and Silvain only half commits.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silvain looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silvain attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Silvain tries to clinch up
and Zimmerman connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Silvain tries to clinch but Zimmerman moves out of range.
Tiago Silvain is winning the standup battle so far.
Zimmerman keeps the fight on the outside.
Silvain tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Zimmerman manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Zimmerman closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Silvain quickly recovers to half guard.
Robert Zimmerman has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Zimmerman is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Silvain doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Zimmerman.
Silvain is trying to stand up here but Zimmerman is controlling him well.
Silvain controlling the position well.
Silvain is looking to escape.

Zimmerman is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Silvain is just riding it out for now. Zimmerman eventually gives up the hold.

Silvain pushes Zimmerman off and gets back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zimmerman takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Silvain thumps Zimmerman with a low kick.
Tiago Silvain is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Silvain throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Silvain lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Silvain throws a quick inside leg kick.
Zimmerman avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Silvain pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Silvain tries to close the distance and clinch but Zimmerman swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Silvain moves to clinch but Zimmerman breaks away

and Zimmerman counters with a nice double leg into guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zimmerman won't allow Silvain to get back to his feet.

Zimmerman postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Silvain is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Zimmerman, into his guard.

Silvain gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Silvain connects with a leg kick. Zimmerman looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Silvain doesn't manage to clinch there - Zimmerman circles away.
Good leg kick by Silvain there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.

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 Tiago Silvain.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Silvain, 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 30:28
Judge James Atkins scores the fight 30:28
Judge James Glass scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tiago Silvain!