PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Junior Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Richard Longhands (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Silva might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to PRIDE FC. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Silva
vs
Longhands

200 cm
22
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight 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, Junior Silva!
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, Richard Longhands!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Vladimir Khabensky and Fedor Mirinova.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Silva darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
Silva throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Longhands pushes Silva off looking to stand but Silva dives back in and keeps control.
Silva is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Longhands is trying to stand.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Silva prevents Longhands from improving his position.
Silva knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Longhands on the ground.
Silva controlling the action here.

We're going to have a standup here because Junior Silva wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Longhands enables Silva to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Longhands manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Longhands is trying to control the position but Silva postures up.
Silva controls from within his opponent's guard.
Silva would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Silva will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Longhands is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Silva is controlling him.

Silva stands up and waves to Longhands to follow him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Silva feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Silva trying to stand up but can't free himself from Longhands's guard.
Silva pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Longhands is keeping the position for now.
Silva is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Silva wants to stand but Longhands has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva looking to pass the guard.
Silva 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.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Junior Silva just wasn't active enough.
Longhands takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Silva moves out of range as Longhands strikes.
Longhands keeps the fight on the outside.
Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Longhands circles away.
Longhands tries to clinch up

and Silva counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Longhands!
Longhands looks gassed!
Silva sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva lands a nice shot to the head.
Silva connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Silva sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Silva stands up from mount. Strange move.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Longhands misses with a shot to the body

and Silva counters with a shoot takedown. Longhands fights it but they end up in guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Silva controlling from the top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Sloppy strikes from Longhands. Those never looked like landing.
Longhands throws out a loose jab but Silva uses good head movement to avoid it.
Silva really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Silva scores with a takedown into Longhands's guard.
Silva is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Silva tries to free his leg and advance position but Longhands is retaining full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Silva is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Longhands is breathing heavily.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Junior Silva overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Junior Silva has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Longhands takes a swing at Silva's ribcage but misses.
Silva shoots in for a double leg but Longhands sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Longhands takes the fight into the clinch.
Longhands wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Silva has him pressed against the cage.
Silva stalls.
A frustrated look appears on Longhands's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Silva has clasped his hands together around Longhands's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.

Silva tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Silva has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Longhands regains half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Silva is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Longhands sees it coming and defends easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Longhands is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Silva frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Longhands manages to regain half guard. Good work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Silva prevents Longhands from standing back up.
Silva looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

Silva is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Longhands tries to kick Silva off but Silva keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

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 controlling the pace.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Silva stops Longhands from getting back to his feet.
Silva tries to pass to full mount but Longhands defends it.

Junior Silva has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Silva shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Silva was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Silva dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Silva looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Longhands is fending him off so far but Silva persists. Nope, Longhands circles away and we're back to standing.

Longhands gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Silva to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Silva stands up over Longhands, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Silva trying to control the position from guard on top but Longhands is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Silva sitting in guard here, content to control.
Silva loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Longhands takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Longhands is working an open guard so Silva takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Longhands tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Silva counters by moving into the clinch.

Longhands manages to break the clinch.
Longhands blocks a head kick by Silva.

Silva closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Longhands did well to prevent Silva getting side control.
Silva stalling.
Silva tries to pass the half guard into mount. Longhands knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Well, if Silva is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Longhands is looking to control Silva's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Longhands avoid being mounted?
Silva prevents Longhands from standing back up.
Silva is pressing down on Longhands's thigh, looking to free his foot. Longhands is holding on for now.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Junior Silva.
Silva throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Longhands.
Nice sprawl there from Longhands as Silva shoots in.
Silva looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Junior Silva. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Longhands throws a left and a right that both miss

and Silva counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Longhands is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Silva in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Silva lands a couple of digs.
Silva distracts Longhands with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Longhands is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Silva is controlling him.
Silva showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Silva lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

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.
Silva controls from within his opponent's guard.
Silva has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Silva stands up and waves to Longhands to follow him.
Some wild striking there from Longhands.

And that's the end of the fight!
Junior Silva showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Silva 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 Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 30:26
Judge Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 30:26
Judge Fedor Mirinova scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Junior Silva!