PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Pawel Zaremba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Anderson Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Anderson Silva is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Zaremba
vs
Silva

178 cm
22
180 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

189 cm
19
185 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Pawel Zaremba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Anderson Silva!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Matheus Silva and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Zaremba.

Zaremba closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Silva to the mat! Silva manages to get full guard.
Zaremba controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Zaremba pushing down on Silva's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Zaremba is looking to stand up but he'll have to free his leg first. Instead, Silva manages to get to full guard.
Zaremba wants to stand and escape but instead Silva has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Silva tries to stand but Zaremba is controlling from the bottom.
Silva looks gassed!
Zaremba keeping moving, preventing Silva from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Zaremba swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Silva preventing the sweep.
Zaremba manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Silva manages to get himself to full guard.
Silva trying to keep a closed guard but Zaremba is proving a slippery customer.
Silva keeping full guard, as Zaremba tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Zaremba accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

Silva manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Silva with a poor takedown

and Zaremba counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Zaremba controlling the action here.
Silva wants to sweep but Zaremba has passed to side control!
Silva sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Zaremba is working away from the top position though.
Zaremba is trying to control. Silva wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Zaremba tries to pass to full mount but Silva defends it.
Silva keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Zaremba tries to pass to full mount but Silva defends it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

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.
Silva keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Zaremba missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Silva is refusing to be controlled, as Zaremba sits in half guard.
Silva regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Zaremba.
Silva wants to sweep but no luck.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Zaremba trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pawel Zaremba dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Silva prevents a takedown attempt there.
Silva digs a right hand underneath Zaremba's ribcage. Zaremba let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Zaremba tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Zaremba gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Silva.
Silva lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Zaremba goes for a takedown attempt but Silva pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Pawel Zaremba. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Silva throws a right and a left that both miss.
Silva tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Zaremba paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Zaremba lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Zaremba misses with a head kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Zaremba.

Zaremba clinches with his opponent.
Silva jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Zaremba walks away with a smile on his face. Silva gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Silva throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Zaremba sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Silva shoots for a double leg takedown but Zaremba sprawls well. He's pushed Silva's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
No joy there for Zaremba, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Silva tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Zaremba is looking to clinch.
Silva tries to clinch

and Zaremba counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Silva successfully pulls guard.
Zaremba wants to stand and escape but instead Silva has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Silva wants to control from the top but Zaremba keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zaremba has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Silva lands a couple of elbows.
Silva trying to control the position from guard on top but Zaremba is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Silva prevents Zaremba from getting back to his feet.
Silva trying to stand up but can't free himself from Zaremba's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Zaremba is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Silva advances position into side control!
Zaremba is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Silva is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Zaremba is in all sorts of trouble here.
Silva lands with some strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Zaremba tries to reverse the position but Silva maintains control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Silva is standing up, even though he is in mount.
Zaremba keeps the fight on the outside.

Zaremba moves into the clinch.
Zaremba is pressed up against the cage. Silva has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Zaremba down to the mat. Zaremba avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Silva misses with a double jab

and Zaremba counters by clinching up.
Zaremba missing with knees to the body.
Zaremba looking to slow down the pace here.
Zaremba can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.
Zaremba looking for a takedown.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Anderson Silva will probably get the nod - 10:9.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Silva shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Zaremba as he jumps to the side.
Zaremba scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Zaremba is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Zaremba shoots for a takedown but Silva saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Zaremba throws a body kick that misses.
Zaremba throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Silva tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Zaremba swivels and escapes.
Zaremba misses with a takedown attempt - Silva sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Silva shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Zaremba as he avoids it easily.
Pawel Zaremba has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Anderson Silva.
Zaremba takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Silva throws a low kick but Zaremba moves out of range easily.
Silva shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Zaremba defends it nicely.
Zaremba fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zaremba avoids a punch combination nicely.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Silva looks for the body kick but Zaremba saw that one coming.
Zaremba wants to clinch.
Silva is looking to clinch but Zaremba is avoiding it.

Zaremba has closed the distance and engaged Silva in a clinch.
Zaremba keeps control of Silva as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Zaremba drops down looking for an ankle pick but Silva pulls his leg out and moves away.

Silva has managed to clinch.
Silva being controlled against the cage.
Silva wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's two 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.

Zaremba ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Zaremba no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Zaremba knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Silva on the ground.
Silva is fighting to break Zaremba's control of his arms but Zaremba is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Silva works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Silva is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Zaremba on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Zaremba tries to get out of the position.
Silva works his way into side control.
Pawel Zaremba overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Silva remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva tries to score with some ground and pound. Zaremba controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Zaremba wants to control but Silva postures up.
Silva trying to control the action but Zaremba is working from the bottom.
Silva might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Zaremba kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

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 sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Zaremba is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.

Silva decides to stand back up.
Zaremba throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Silva's waist but Silva gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Zaremba off to one side.
Zaremba will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Silva scores with a one two! Zaremba had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Silva looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Zaremba is fending him off so far but Silva persists. Nope, Zaremba circles away and we're back to standing.
Silva lands a two punch combo.
Silva avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Zaremba clinches up with Silva and pushes him back against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Anderson Silva.
I think Silva has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 29:29
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 28:29
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!