PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Eduardo Silva Santos (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joseph Duffy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Silva Santos
vs
Duffy

188 cm
25
280 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
25
270 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 St Petersburg, Eduardo Silva Santos!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joseph Duffy!
The judges for this bout are Valeri Chadov, Fedor Mirinova and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Duffy throws a left and a right that both miss

and Silva Santos holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Silva Santos tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Duffy avoids it.
Duffy has Silva Santos pressed against the cage.

Duffy breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Duffy throws a jab but it's blocked by Silva Santos.
Duffy throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Silva Santos.
Duffy misses with a hook

and Silva Santos counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Duffy tries to kick Silva Santos off but Silva Santos keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Silva Santos is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Silva Santos wants to pass the guard but Duffy is defending well.
Silva Santos prevents Duffy from standing back up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Silva Santos 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.

Duffy kicks Silva Santos off and gets back to his feet.
Silva Santos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Duffy throws a right and a left that both miss.
Silva Santos half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Duffy lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Silva Santos has a takedown stuffed.
Joseph Duffy is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Duffy misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Silva Santos tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Duffy connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Silva Santos scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Duffy stops Silva Santos from passing to mount.
Silva Santos lands a nice forearm strike.
Duffy is pushing Silva Santos's head away, looking to escape. Silva Santos manages to hold on to the position though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Duffy explodes and escapes back to his feet! Nice escape there!
Duffy connects with a right hand. Silva Santos shakes it off.
Duffy throws a front kick that sends Silva Santos stumbling back into the cage.
Silva Santos looks for a takedown but Duffy sprawls well.
Silva Santos shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Duffy as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eduardo Silva Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Some wild striking there from Duffy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duffy throws a half hearted mid kick.
Duffy swinging wildly here.
Silva Santos went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
A punch combination from Duffy misses.
Duffy ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Silva Santos moves away.
Duffy throws a low kick but it's checked well by Silva Santos.
Duffy throws a hook but Silva Santos avoids it easily.
Duffy keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Duffy lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Duffy stuffs the takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva Santos has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Duffy finds it's way round the side to connect with Silva Santos's head.
Silva Santos fails with a takedown attempt.
Duffy misses with a looping right.
Duffy scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Silva Santos shoots for a double leg takedown but Duffy sprawls well. He's pushed Silva Santos's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Duffy scores with a sloppy right hand. Silva Santos should have avoided that one.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Duffy throws a right and a left that Silva Santos avoids nicely.
Silva Santos went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.
Silva Santos darts in looking for a takedown but Duffy gets double underhooks and turns Silva Santos into the cage.
Silva Santos is breathing heavily.
Silva Santos tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Duffy paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Silva Santos takes one to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Silva Santos takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Duffy throws a right and a left that both miss.
Duffy tries a head kick but it misses.
Silva Santos changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Duffy tries to avoid it but Silva Santos manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Duffy to the ground. Duffy escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Silva Santos looking to score a takedown here. Duffy is defending well but Silva Santos drives through and ends up in Duffy's guard.

Silva Santos drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Silva Santos jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Duffy wants to stand up but Silva Santos is controlling him.
Duffy wants to get back to his feet but he's too absorbed in his own little project and Silva Santos manages to pass to side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva Santos wants to pass to mount but Duffy is defending the position.
Duffy has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Duffy is trying to stand.

Duffy kicks Silva Santos off and gets back to his feet.
Duffy scores with a jab. Silva Santos acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Silva Santos looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Duffy tries to bum rush Silva Santos with a series of wild strikes but Silva Santos uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Silva Santos shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Duffy sprawls well. Duffy wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Silva Santos gets slowly back to his feet.
Duffy throws a series of punches but Silva Santos avoids them all with ease.
Silva Santos half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Duffy throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A punch combination from Duffy misses.
Silva Santos throwing a counter right hand but Duffy manages to avoid it.
Eduardo Silva Santos is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Silva Santos takes one to the chin there.
Silva Santos dives in for a single leg takedown but Duffy sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
As Silva Santos backs off Duffy throws a huge counter combo but Silva Santos manages to avoid it all.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eduardo Silva Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Duffy fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Duffy throws a series of punches but Silva Santos moves out of range.
Duffy is breathing heavily.
Duffy dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Silva Santos. That did some damage!
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva Santos looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Joseph Duffy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Silva Santos takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Silva Santos checks a leg kick.
Silva Santos is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duffy lands a jab to the nose.
Duffy swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Silva Santos counters with a three punch combo that has Duffy backing up. Duffy nods at Silva Santos to acknowledge the strikes.
Silva Santos dodges the punch combination from Duffy.
Silva Santos half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Silva Santos needs to keep his hands up - Duffy had a free shot at his head there.
Silva Santos tries for a takedown but Duffy sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Duffy misses with a double jab

and Silva Santos counters with a takedown into side control.
Silva Santos scoring with punches and elbows.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Duffy is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Silva Santos has just dragged him back down to the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Silva Santos working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Duffy is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Duffy prevents Silva Santos from moving into mount.

Silva Santos stands up and beckons Duffy to his feet.
A head kick misses from Duffy.
Duffy lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Silva Santos changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Duffy tries to avoid it but Silva Santos manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Duffy to the ground. Duffy escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Duffy showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Duffy swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Silva Santos counters with a shoot takedown. Duffy fights it but they end up in guard.
Silva Santos won't allow Duffy to get back to his feet.
Eduardo Silva Santos overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Silva Santos wants to control from the top but Duffy keeps moving.
Duffy is looking to stand back up but Silva Santos counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Duffy.

Silva Santos is trying to work for a kimura but Duffy is defending well.
Silva Santos is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Duffy looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Silva Santos lands with a punch from half guard.
Silva Santos throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Duffy has managed to escape just enough to sneak back to his feet but Silva Santos is on him like a limpet, forcing Duffy back against the cage.
Stalling in the clinch from Duffy.
Duffy takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Silva Santos has Duffy pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Duffy manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Duffy is trying to force a seperation but Silva Santos has the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.

Duffy breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Silva Santos.
Duffy misses with a lunging right hand

and Silva Santos counters with a takedown into side control.
Silva Santos is looking to take a break and control but Duffy is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Duffy is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Silva Santos is controlling him well.
Duffy is not content to let Silva Santos control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Silva Santos tries for a kimura but Duffy is defending well.
Duffy bucks up and tries to throw Silva Santos off but instead Silva Santos has got his back!

Silva Santos is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Duffy defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Duffy trying to get back to his feet but Silva Santos is in full control for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva Santos is looking to control Duffy but Duffy is wriggling around and keeping busy.

Duffy is trying to shake Silva Santos off. He's managed it and has hopped back to his feet! Silva Santos won't be happy about giving up the dominant position.
Eduardo Silva Santos has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Sloppy strikes from Duffy. Those never looked like landing.
Silva Santos shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Duffy as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Eduardo Silva Santos. That's going to take a lot out of him.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Silva Santos on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Duffy throws a nice looking combination but Silva Santos bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Silva Santos is looking to counter the offense by Duffy and move into the clinch.
Joseph Duffy is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
A bone on bone clash there as Silva Santos blocks the leg kick.
Silva Santos tries to counter with a takedown but Duffy is quick to defend against it.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Joseph Duffy.
I've got Duffy winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Valeri Chadov scores the fight 27:30
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 27:30
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joseph Duffy!