PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Thiago Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frank Natschi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Natschi has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Frank Natschi acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Silva
vs
Natschi

174 cm
19
205 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Win Nutrit. - PROMO! - GET FREE REDUCE ENERGY LOSS

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 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Thiago Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Frank Natschi!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Seu Braga and Edson Gomes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Natschi misses with a wild body shot.
Natschi lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Silva circles away quickly and effectively.

Silva has managed to clinch.
Natschi is trying to break free.

Silva breaks the clinch.
Silva ducks under a wild hook from Natschi.

Silva clinches.
Silva keeps control of Natschi as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Silva manages to break the clinch.
Natschi fails to land with a series of punches.

Silva gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Natschi misses with a punch on the inside.
Silva slowing the pace effectively.

Silva breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Natschi closes the distance looking to clinch

and Silva counters by moving into the clinch.
Natschi is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Silva pulls guard effortlessly.
Natschi would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Natschi looks gassed!
Silva managing to control the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Silva is on top in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silva stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Silva rushes Natschi and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Silva breaks the clinch.
A low kick from Natschi is predictable there

and Silva counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Silva.
Silva tries to land a knee to the head but Natschi blocks with his arms.
Natschi wants to break the clinch but can't.
Silva is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Natschi pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Silva gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Natschi regains guard.

Silva 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 trying to control the position from guard on top but Natschi is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Silva drops back looking for a leg! Natschi is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Natschi manages to kick Silva off! Silva jumps back into Natschi's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Natschi pushes Silva off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Natschi avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Silva bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Natschi tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Silva counters with a big head kick but Natschi shrugs it off.
Silva throws a head kick that misses.
Natschi gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Silva holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Silva tries for a takedown. No joy.

Silva manages to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva moves in looking to clinch but Natschi pushes him off.

Silva gets a clinch.
Silva lands a nice knee to the body.
Silva stalling the fight.

Silva escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Natschi misses with a shot to the body

and Silva counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Silva turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Silva manages to end up in side control.
Silva prevents Natschi from escaping the position.
Silva controlling the position.
Natschi wants to get back to his feet but Silva drags him back down.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Silva wants to lay and pray for a moment but Natschi keeps working.

Silva thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Natschi is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Silva asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Silva is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Natschi pushes Silva away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Silva gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Silva could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.
Natschi is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Silva dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Silva clinches with his opponent.
Silva pressing his opponent against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Natschi fails to land.
Silva stalls.
Silva unloads a knee to the mid-section. Natschi lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Natschi misses with a short punch on the inside.
Silva unloads a knee to the mid-section. Natschi lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

Silva jumps guard and drags Natschi to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Silva wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Natschi tries to stand but Silva is controlling from the bottom.
Silva trying to control the position here.

Silva pushes Natschi off and gets back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silva closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Silva scores with a knee to the head.
Silva landing knees to the head.

Silva pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Natschi throws a sloppy head kick

and Silva counters by clinching up.
A bit of stalling here from Silva.
Silva lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Silva drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Natschi tries a body shot but Silva blocks it.

Silva escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Natschi throws a right hand that Silva ducks under and follows up with a left that Silva also avoids with ease.
Silva avoids the head kick by Natschi.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Natschi throws a body kick the misses
and Silva counters with a solid body kick.
Nice body kick there by Natschi.
Natschi throws a head kick that misses

and Silva counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Silva pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Natschi is keeping the position for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Natschi pushes Silva off and gets back to his feet.
The fighters circling - Natschi throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Natschi throws a lazy head kick

and Silva counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Silva lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Silva breaks from the clinch.
A nice combination there by Natschi.
Frank Natschi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Natschi looks to land a combination but Silva avoids it well.
Silva pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Natschi misses with a kick to the body

and Silva counters by moving into the clinch.

Silva escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Silva fails in his attempt to clinch.
Natschi throws a lazy head kick

and Silva counters into the clinch. Nicely done.

Silva gets a trip takedown into half guard.

Silva is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Natschi defends it well.
Natschi is trying to stand back up but Silva is controlling him

Silva stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Natschi to get to his feet.

Silva moves into the clinch successfully.

Silva pulls guard.

Natschi stands up and waves to Silva to follow him.
Thiago Silva is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva is looking to clinch but Natschi is avoiding it.
Natschi darts in trying to clinch

and Silva counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Natschi pushes Silva off and gets back to his feet.
Some wild striking there from Natschi.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Natschi fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Frank Natschi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A bone on bone clash there as Silva blocks the leg kick.

Silva clinches with his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thiago Silva dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Silva has Natschi up against the cage in a clinch.
Silva landing some nice looking knees to the body.

Silva lands a takedown into guard.

Silva gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Silva darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Silva stops Natschi from getting back to his feet.
Silva is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Natschi can do to turn this around?
Silva perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Natschi is trying to stand back up but Silva is controlling him

Natschi kicks off Silva and gets to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Natschi keeps the fight on the outside.

Silva fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Natschi, pushing him back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Natschi tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Silva keeps control of Natschi as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Silva lands a takedown into guard.
Silva seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Silva stops Natschi from standing up.
Silva seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Natschi wants to stand but Silva is controlling the position.
Silva might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Natschi avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Natschi wriggles free and stands up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Natschi doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Silva connects with a nasty looking knee right to Natschi's face.

Silva manages to break the clinch.
Natschi throws a right hand that Silva ducks under and follows up with a left that Silva also avoids with ease.
Natschi lands with a kick to the ribs.

Natschi rushes Silva and presses him up against the cage.
Silva misses with a knee strike.

Silva breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Natschi scores with a hook.
Silva takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Natschi throws a left and a right that both miss

and Silva counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Natschi scrambles, trying to get to his feet, but Silva manages to mount him!
Natschi has given up his back, trying to stand up. Not clever.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Natschi wants to get back to his feet.
Natschi looking very determined here, making life difficult for Silva.
Natschi is trying to stand back up.
Frank Natschi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

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 looking to break Natschi's wrist control so he can sink in the choke. Natschi remaining controlled and patient though - he really has to keep calm otherwise Silva will wrap this one up with the rear naked choke!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Natschi is trying to get back to his feet but Silva has full control of the position and if anything, Natschi has just worked his way into a worse spot.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Silva controlling the positon.
Thiago Silva is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27

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