PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Ana Balestra (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jose Da Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Da Silva has chosen power as his entrance music. Jose Da Silva acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Balestra
vs
Da Silva

169 cm
26
130 lbs
5 - 3 - 1

180 cm
20
145 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Tends to cut

Mango Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ana Balestra!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jose Da Silva!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Daniel Cesar and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Da Silva misses with a takedown

and Balestra decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Da Silva's guard.
Da Silva is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Balestra gets to his feet - Da Silva follows without any prompting.

Balestra shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Da Silva trying to control but Balestra postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Da Silva is looking to escape.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Balestra is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Da Silva keeping control of the position.
Balestra not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Balestra tries to pass the half guard into mount. Da Silva knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Balestra performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ana Balestra wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Da Silva shoots in for a takedown but Balestra shows good takedown defense.
Da Silva with a poor takedown

and Balestra counters with a single leg into guard. Da Silva didn't expect that.
Ana Balestra has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jose Da Silva.
Balestra wants to stand but Da Silva has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balestra postures up in Da Silva's guard and throws a big left but Da Silva blocks it.
Balestra tries to free his leg and advance position but Da Silva is retaining full guard.
Da Silva is trying to hold Balestra in close to prevent damage but Balestra has managed to pass into half guard.
Balestra tries to pass the half guard into mount. Da Silva knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Balestra stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Balestra has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Ana Balestra just wasn't active enough.
Da Silva doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Balestra counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Da Silva is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Balestra tries for a takedown. No joy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ana Balestra dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Balestra looks to land a body kick but Da Silva moved away.
Da Silva shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Balestra shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Balestra showed some decent athleticism there.
Balestra seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Da Silva holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balestra controlling the pace.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Ana Balestra.

Balestra decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Balestra wants to stand up but Da Silva has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Balestra with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Balestra wants to free his trapped foot but Da Silva is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Da Silva wants to control but Balestra is keeping busy.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Ana Balestra wasn't doing enough on the ground.

Balestra closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Da Silva's guard.
Balestra pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Da Silva is keeping the position for now.
Da Silva keeping moving, preventing Balestra from controlling successfully.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Balestra seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Ana Balestra overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because Ana Balestra wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Balestra tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
No luck for Da Silva with that takedown attempt.

Balestra shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Balestra was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Balestra cracks Da Silva with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Balestra landing punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Balestra connects with a massive shot to the dome!
BOOM! Balestra connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Da Silva is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Balestra sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Balestra raining down hammerfists from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ana Balestra dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Da Silva doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Balestra counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Balestra has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Balestra slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Balestra postures up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Da Silva looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Balestra is fending him off so far but Da Silva persists. Nope, Balestra circles away and we're back to standing.
Da Silva blocks a head kick by Balestra.

Balestra fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Da Silva to the ground. Balestra is now in Da Silva's guard.

Da Silva is rocked!
Balestra is stalling in the full guard.
Da Silva is still in real trouble! Can Balestra finish him?
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Balestra makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Balestra postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Da Silva wants to control but Balestra passes easily into half guard.
Balestra works his way into side control.
Da Silva takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Balestra is working Da Silva over with some ground and pound from side control.
Balestra is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Da Silva can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balestra works to advance to full mount. Da Silva defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

Balestra with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
A nice elbow there by Balestra.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Balestra cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Balestra postures up and connects with a big shot that has rocked Da Silva badly. He's trying desperately to grab hold of Balestra around the waist but Balestra pushes him off and unloads with more strikes, forcing the referee to jump in and save him! Balestra is the winner by TKO! Balestra jumps onto the cage and shouts into the camera. "We did it momma!"

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:26 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ana Balestra!