PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Craig Weller (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shogun 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.

Weller
vs
Silva

195 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

187 cm
22
206 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Prefers ground

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Craig Weller!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shogun Silva!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Yukihiro Yamamoto and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva swats away the attempt to clinch by Weller.
Weller tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Weller closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Silva is pressing down on Weller's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Silva holds on and takes a little breather.
Silva throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Silva is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silva working for a triangle but Weller defends it easily.
Weller has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Silva managing to control the position.

That's two 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.
Weller stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Silva swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Silva thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Silva lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Weller!
Silva controlling from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Weller wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Silva controlling from mount.
Weller knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Silva on the ground.
I looks like Silva might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.

That's four 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.

Despite being in the dominant position, Shogun Silva just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Silva moves into the clinch.

Silva tightens his grip and picks Weller up, before dumping him to the ground. Weller manages to land in guard.
Silva advances position into side control!
Weller is breathing heavily.
Silva is staying tight to Weller's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Silva creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Weller sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shogun Silva dominated that round.
That's time! Weller's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Weller closes the distance looking to clinch

and Silva counters by clinching up.
Silva lands with a short head shot on the inside.

Silva breaks from the clinch.

Silva scores a takedown into full mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Weller wants to control but Silva is having none of it.
Silva controlling from the full mount.
Weller is in a horrible position here. Silva smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Weller is in a horrible position here. Silva smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Silva looking to secure an arm triangle but Weller defends it well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Poor strikes thrown by Silva there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Silva throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Silva scoring with strikes but Weller is staying in there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva thowing shots but they're missing.
Silva landing punches.
Silva tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Silva has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Weller tries to hold on but Silva pushes him away.
Silva looking to finish Weller with some ground and pound. This is bad for Weller!
Silva putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Silva punishing his opponent with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva looking to control and managing it successfully.
Let's hope that Silva has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Weller really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

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 looking to control and managing it successfully.
Weller really wants to buck Silva off and get back to his feet.
Silva pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Silva controlling from mount.
Silva wants to control the pace but Weller is squirming around nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shogun Silva showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Weller with a lazy takedown attempt

and Silva counters by clinching up.
Weller creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Weller throws an elbow but it misses.
Weller is trying to maintain a safe position but Silva gets an underhook and turns Weller into the cage.

Silva manages to break the clinch.

Silva forces Weller back against the cage and clinches.

Silva breaks the clinch.
Silva stuffs the takedown.
Silva throws a nice outside leg kick.
Weller wants to clinch

and Silva counters with a nice double leg into side control. Weller won't be happy with that.
Weller tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Silva wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The referee asks Silva politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Silva prefers to stall for the moment though.

Silva has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

Weller gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Weller is trying to control the position but Silva postures up.

Silva drops back looking for a leg! Weller is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Weller manages to kick Silva off! Silva jumps back into Weller's guard.
Silva makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Silva passes into half guard.
Craig Weller has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Weller looking for submissions off his back.
Silva throwing shots but Weller is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Weller slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Silva stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Weller swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Silva wants to control from the top but Weller keeps moving.
Silva looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Weller throws his legs up looking for a submission but Silva uses it to pass to side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shogun Silva comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Silva has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 26:30
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 26:30
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 27:30

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