PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Bennie Mullen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bryan Silver (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Bennie Mullen has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Mullen
vs
Silver

203 cm
18
278 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

200 cm
18
275 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Bennie Mullen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Bryan Silver!
The judges for this bout are Ryoma Takatsuka, Roger Salmon and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mullen tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Silver manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Silver gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

so Mullen counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Mullen working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Silver's head.
Silver working a defensive guard here.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mullen accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Silver is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Mullen trying to stand up but can't free himself from Silver's guard.
Silver is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Bryan Silver hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.

Mullen clinches up with Silver and pushes him back against the cage.

Mullen gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Mullen missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Silver trying to control from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Silver is trying to control but Mullen manages to pass to mount!
Mullen lands a big elbow.
Mullen postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Silver looks a forlorn figure.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Silver wants to control but Mullen is having none of it.
Mullen throwing strikes here but Silver is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Silver really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Mullen. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Silver takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Mullen pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Silver is looking to improve his position but Mullen isn't that keen on the idea.
Mullen punching from mount but Silver doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Mullen with a couple of short strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silver is looking to get to half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Mullen throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Mullen landing strikes, looking to finish!
Silver is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Mullen 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.
Silver working to try and regain half guard.
Mullen looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Mullen scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Silver?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silver wants to hold on but Mullen pushes him away.
Mullen landing strikes from the mount.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mullen putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Mullen lands a couple of good shots and Silver has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Silver avoids the strikes from Mullen.
Silver is taking damage to the body and head.
Silver trying to control the hands but Mullen breaks the grip.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Mullen looking to break Silver's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. Silver remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Mullen will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!
Mullen is breathing heavily.
Silver is in bad spot here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bennie Mullen dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Mullen closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Mullen lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Silver tries to get to full guard but Mullen has control of the leg.
Mullen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Silver avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Mullen.
Silver slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Mullen throws a big right hand that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silver throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Mullen escapes and throws Silver's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Mullen working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Silver tries to get back to half guard but can't.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Silver can do anything to dispel that myth.
Mullen working the ground and pound from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silver is trying to improve his position.
Who's going to make the next move?
Mullen throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Mullen throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Silver is looking to reverse the position.
Mullen landing a few strikes.
Silver tries to bench press Mullen off him but Mullen keeps the position.
Bennie Mullen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mullen grinds an elbow into Silver's temple.
Mullen in side control, throwing shots but Silver defends.
Silver wings away with a couple of strikes but they don't land.
Silver parries the strikes from Mullen easily there. Mullen is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Silver to escape.
Mullen lands a decent elbow from side control.
Silver is looking to regain half guard here but Mullen keeps moving and retains side control.
Silver taking punishment in the form of punches.
Silver tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Mullen wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silver is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Silver manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Silver not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Mullen regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Silver.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Silver lands a couple of decent looking shots.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Silver throws a big right hand that misses.
Silver landing with the ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mullen is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Silver is controlling him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Bennie Mullen will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Silver shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Silver showed some decent athleticism there.
Mullen blocking the ground and pound attempt from Silver.
Silver not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Mullen preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Silver is nestled in close to Mullen, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silver is stalling here. Mullen is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Silver seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Mullen has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Silver manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Silver seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Mullen does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Silver is looking to stall here but Mullen recovers full guard.
Silver throws a strike but Mullen rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Mullen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mullen postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Mullen prevents Silver from getting back to his feet.
Silver tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Mullen with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Mullen trying to stand up but can't free himself from Silver's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Silver looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Mullen puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Mullen is trying to get back to his feet now but his leg is trapped.
Silver has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Mullen is working away from the top position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silver manages to get to full guard.
Silver has momentary wrist control but Mullen slips an elbow through the middle.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Mullen accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Silver not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mullen distracts Silver with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Silver is trying to keep Mullen in close.
Silver wants to improve his position but instead Mullen has moved into half guard.
Mullen lands strikes from half guard.
Silver trying to control here.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Mullen thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Silver's head.
Bryan Silver has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bennie Mullen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Mullen thows a huge punch but Silver dodges it nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Bryan Silver comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Mullen has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight 29:28
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Saunders scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Bennie Mullen!