PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Anderson Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ryszard Duch (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Duch comes into a darkened arena with his song building. John Cage's 4'33" kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Silva
vs
Duch

188 cm
28
195 lbs
10 - 3 - 0

199 cm
30
191 lbs
10 - 7 - 0

Decent wrestler
Excellent boxer
KO power

Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 10 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Anderson Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ryszard Duch!
The judges for this bout are Marco Blurström, Arvi Lind and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Duch has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Duch there as he acknowledges the shot.

It looks like Ryszard Duch has been cut.
Duch looks for a takedown but Silva sprawls well.
Duch shoots in looking for a takedown. Silva tries to sprawl out of it but Duch keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Silva manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Silva cracks Duch with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Silva has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Duch to stand back up!

Duch is rocked!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Silva throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Silva swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Duch uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Silva.
Silva loads up on a big right hand but Duch slips the punch.
Silva thows a left - swing and a miss!
Duch ducks under a wild hook from Silva.
Duch throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Silva's waist but Silva gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Duch off to one side.
Anderson Silva has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ryszard Duch.
Silva misses with a lunging right hand
and Duch counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Silva misses with a hook.
Silva dips to his left and cracks Duch with an uppercut!
Duch shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Silva as he jumps to the side.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Silva misses with a wild body shot.
Silva misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Duch.
Duch blocks a jab.
Duch tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Silva swivels and escapes.
Silva throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Silva scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.

That has opened up Ryszard Duch's cut even more.
Duch slips a jab from Silva.
Duch fails with a takedown attempt.
Silva looks to land a left hand but Duch moved out of range nicely.

Silva drops Duch with a hook right on the temple. He thinks about going to the ground but Duch looks back up at him and smiles so Silva waves him back to his feet - he obviously thinks he can knock him out after that shot landed.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Duch moves away from the strike by Silva.

Silva feints and then winds up with a huge right hand that connects perfectly and sends Duch sprawling to the canvas! Duch rolls over backwards and springs off the cage and manages to regain his footing - how acrobatic! Oh, he's still wobbly - can Silva finish him?!
Duch is still on wobbly legs! Can Silva finish him?

The cut above Ryszard Duch's eye is starting to cause him problems now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva throws a lazy right hand but Duch sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Silva is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Silva throws a lazy uppercut

and Duch counters with a single leg into guard. Silva didn't expect that.
Silva is pulling down on Duch's head to control his posture.
Duch seems to have recovered his senses.

Duch drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Duch jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Duch drops back looking for a leg! Silva is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Silva manages to kick Duch off! Duch jumps back into Silva's guard.
Duch preventing the sweep.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Duch is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Duch thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Duch is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva controlling Duch's posture.

Duch thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Silva knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Duch on the ground.
Silva is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Silva wants to stand and escape but Duch is having none of it.

Duch is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Silva on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Silva tries to get out of the position.

Duch thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva looking to hit a scissor sweep but Duch is one step ahead there.
Silva is working hard here to advance position.
Silva is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Duch drops back for a leg here. A bit of a high risk move... He's looking for a kneebar by the looks of things. Now both of them are looking for submissions. Duch seems to have locked his on tight now - Silva screams in pain and taps out furiously! It certainly was a high risk move but it's paid off for Duch, as he picks up the win!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:50 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Ryszard Duch!
Ryszard Duch decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.