PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dave Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Karim Ladji Ballo
vs
Silva

225 cm
18
226 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

195 cm
25
255 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Can Moonwalk

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Dave Silva!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Yukihiro Shimada and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva shoots for a takedown but Ballo saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Silva looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Ballo shoots in for a takedown but Silva shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Silva wants to counter with a clinch but Ballo pushes him away.
Ballo shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Ballo pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Despite the aggression on Silva's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Ballo shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Silva defends it nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva is trying to push Ballo away but Ballo has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Ballo prevents a takedown attempt there.
Silva stalling against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballo trying to land knees to the body.
Silva prevents the takedown attempt.
Ballo effectively controlling the action here.

Ballo manages to pull guard.
Ballo throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Silva avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Ballo throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballo wants to stand up but Silva is controlling him.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Silva working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Ballo has his hands on Silva's head, controlling the position.
Silva must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Ballo continues to stall.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballo throws a right and a left that both miss.
Ballo really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Ballo takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Ballo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Silva keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Ballo's efforts to push away.

Ballo jumps guard.
Ballo is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Silva trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Ballo will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Ballo isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Silva stacks Ballo on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Silva!
Ballo can't do much from the bottom here.
Ballo is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ballo is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ballo paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Ballo is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Silva can do to turn this around?

Ballo closes the distance and pushes Silva back into the cage.
Silva tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Ballo just stands there and leans against the cage.
Ballo is trying to break the clinch but Silva is controlling him.

Silva manages to break the clinch.
Ballo avoids the head kick by Silva.
Ballo fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Silva avoids it really well and circles away.
Silva drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Ballo defends it well.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ballo shoots for a double leg takedown but Silva sprawls well. He's pushed Ballo's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Silva feints the counter takedown.
Silva is breathing heavily.
Silva displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Ballo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Ballo drives through and clinches with Silva against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva goes for a takedown in the clinch but Ballo prevents it.

Ballo manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

Ballo working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Silva doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Silva manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Silva engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Ballo wriggles free and stands up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballo is looking to score with low kicks.
Silva looks to land a body kick but Ballo moved away.
Ballo tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Silva looks for a takedown but Ballo sprawls well.
Ballo tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Silva paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ballo fails in his attempt to clinch.
Ballo shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Silva sprawls well. Silva wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Ballo gets slowly back to his feet.
Ballo tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Silva defends well and Ballo ends up having to push Silva into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Ballo has taken the fight to the clinch.
Silva jumps guard but Ballo turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
Ballo is working for takedown but Silva is calmly controlling the position for now.
Silva jumps guard but Ballo stands there with Silva around his waist. Silva gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Ballo takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Silva wants to get back to striking at distance but Ballo won't allow it.
Silva tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Ballo tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Silva smiles and moves away.
Ballo slaps away a takedown attempt from Silva, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Ballo throws a counter high kick but Silva was just alert enough to avoid it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva blocks a head kick by Ballo.

Ballo tries to keep at a distance but Silva has taken the fight into the clinch.
Ballo misses with a knee to the head.
Silva is trying to pull guard but Ballo has him pressed against the cage.
Ballo tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Ballo has had enough of the clinch but Silva keeps him there for the moment.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Ballo is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Silva pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Ballo wants to take the fight to the mat but Silva manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.

Silva breaks from the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo dominated that second round.
That's time! Ballo's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Silva circles away from the clinch attempt.
Ballo tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Silva paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Silva fails with a takedown attempt.
Dave Silva seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Ballo dives in for a single leg takedown but Silva sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Silva displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Ballo.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Silva takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ballo fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballo tries to clinch but Silva moves out of range.
Silva avoids the head kick by Ballo.
Ballo looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Ballo looks to land a combination but Silva avoids it well.
Ballo misses with a few strikes there.
Silva will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
As Silva tries to get set, Ballo tries to push him back and clinch up but Silva manages to avoid the attempt.
Ballo keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Silva misses with an attempted mid kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballo throws a body punch but Silva moves out of range.
Ballo is looking to clinch but Silva is avoiding it.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.
Ballo misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Silva.
Silva keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Ballo's efforts to push away.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Ballo with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Ballo pulls Silva into guard.
Ballo is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballo looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Ballo trying to control the action but Silva is working from the bottom.
Ballo moves into full mount! Silva won't be happy about that!

That's four 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.
Silva throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Silva avoids a series of strikes thrown by Ballo.
Silva manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Ballo stalling.
Silva blocking the ground and pound attempt from Ballo.

And that's the end of the fight!
Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ballo, 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Abdoul Karim Ladji Ballo!