PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Khaba Dagestanskiy (ranked 159 p4p, 27 weight class) and Starling Silva (ranked 391 p4p, 59 weight class). Starling Silva will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Dagestanskiy
vs
Silva

175 cm
25
175 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

191 cm
39
183 lbs
26 - 14 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Kore Fight Nutrition

Ma Balls Is Hot Clothing
Altitude Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Khaba Dagestanskiy!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 14 - 1, fighting out of New York, Starling Silva!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Daniel Franklin and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Silva has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Dagestanskiy is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Dagestanskiy takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Good work by Dagestanskiy as he checks the leg kick.
Dagestanskiy seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Silva avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Silva scoring well with a low kick there.
A head kick misses from Silva.
Dagestanskiy clobbers Silva with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Some wild striking there from Silva.
Dagestanskiy throws a body punch but Silva moves out of range.
Dagestanskiy takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Dagestanskiy misses with a jab, cross combination.
Dagestanskiy throws the left hand but Silva avoids the punch easily.
Silva throws a nice outside leg kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Silva slips under a jab from Dagestanskiy.
Silva scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dagestanskiy throws a hook but Silva avoids it easily.
Silva throws out a counter right but Dagestanskiy avoids it with no problem.
Dagestanskiy takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Dagestanskiy lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Dagestanskiy.
Dagestanskiy swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Dagestanskiy is really struggling to find his range with his punches. Silva's reach advantage is clearly causing him problems.
Silva misses with a straight left.
Dagestanskiy throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Starling Silva is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Silva lands with a straight right. Dagestanskiy didn't see that one coming.
Dagestanskiy moves out of range of the body kick from Silva.
Silva takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Dagestanskiy dodges the punch combination from Silva.
Dagestanskiy attempts a counter takedown but Silva avoids it well and moves away.
Dagestanskiy throws a lazy right hand but Silva sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Starling Silva seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Dagestanskiy misses with a jab, cross combination.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Dagestanskiy looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Silva misses.
Silva connects with a jab.
Silva throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Good shot there by Silva.
Silva connects with an inside leg kick.
Silva takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Dagestanskiy avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Dagestanskiy drives through with a takedown into guard.
Dagestanskiy trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.
Dagestanskiy is looking to work some ground and pound but Silva has wrist control.
Dagestanskiy trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.
Dagestanskiy preventing the sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dagestanskiy might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Dagestanskiy trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Silva is on top in guard.

Silva passes Dagestanskiy's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva stalling.
Dagestanskiy holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Dagestanskiy continues to stall.
Dagestanskiy wants to control but Silva is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Dagestanskiy is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
Dagestanskiy desperately trying to maintain half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Starling Silva dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Dagestanskiy misses the jab.
It seemed like Silva was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Silva dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Dagestanskiy. That did some damage!
Dagestanskiy throws a shot from downtown. Silva moves away and avoids it.
Silva looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Dagestanskiy rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Silva moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
A slow jab from Silva misses its intended target.
Silva lands with a right hand.
Silva throws a big shot that misses.
Silva has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Dagestanskiy changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Dagestanskiy slips a jab from Silva.
Silva slips a jab from Dagestanskiy.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva tries to bum rush Dagestanskiy with a series of wild strikes but Dagestanskiy uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A slow jab from Silva misses its intended target.
Dagestanskiy tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Silva was well out of range. Poor timing from Dagestanskiy.
Dagestanskiy displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Silva throws out the jab.
Dagestanskiy is looking for a counter combo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dagestanskiy stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Silva.
Silva lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Starling Silva seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Silva rushes Dagestanskiy and presses him up against the cage.
Dagestanskiy blocks the elbow strike.
Dagestanskiy lands a nice uppercut.
Silva misses with a hook from the clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Silva throws an elbow but misses.
Dagestanskiy struggles to land a body shot inside as Silva controls his hands.
Silva throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Dagestanskiys head.
Silva goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Silva lands a left hand that snaps the head of Dagestanskiy backwards.
Silva has a couple of punches blocked by Dagestanskiy.
Silva throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Silva working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Silva lands with a left to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Silva pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Silva misses with an elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dagestanskiy lands a shoulder strike.
Dagestanskiy wants a takedown but no success here.
Silva lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Dagestanskiy's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Dagestanskiy doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Dagestanskiy avoids a wild elbow strike from Silva.
Dagestanskiy blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Silva throws an elbow but it's blocked.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Silva creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Silva prevents a body shot from Dagestanskiy.
Silva throws a punch but it's blocked by Dagestanskiy.
Silva has Dagestanskiy pressed against the cage, preventing Dagestanskiy from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Dagestanskiy breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Silva throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Silva lands a jab to the head.
Dagestanskiy scores with a jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dagestanskiy checks a leg kick.
Silva throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Dagestanskiy on the side of the head.

Dagestanskiy is rocked!
Silva scores with a shot to the body.

Dagestanskiy drops Silva with a left right combo! Dagestanskiy follows him down to the ground into side control.

Silva is rocked!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Silva struggling a bit here.
Silva is still in real trouble! Can Dagestanskiy finish him?
Dagestanskiy cracks Silva with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Dagestanskiy in side control here. He's dropped a big elbow there and Silva looks hurt! Oh, he is hurt! Dagestanskiy turns on the heat and pounds him out for a TKO victory! Good killer instinct there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:53 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Khaba Dagestanskiy!
Khaba Dagestanskiy is the new welterweight champion!
After the fight, Khaba Dagestanskiy was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.