PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Howards Rock (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Wanderlei Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silva has chosen Sandstorm as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Wanderlei Silva was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Rock
vs
Silva

177 cm
24
190 lbs
3 - 2 - 1

180 cm
25
195 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent knees
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 3 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Howards Rock!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Wanderlei Silva!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva tries to close the distance and clinch but Rock swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Silva fails with an attempt to clinch.
Silva tries a head kick but it misses.

Rock shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Silva napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Silva sneaks out the side door and pushes Rock away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Silva tries to clinch there but Rock circles away.
Rock showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Silva.

Rock looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Rock passes to side control.
Silva is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Silva really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Rock. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Silva wants to get back to his feet but Rock is dominant here and he's now got Silva's back!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is covering up but some of the strikes from Rock are getting through and doing damage.
Silva holding both Rock 's hands and preventing any damage.
Rock has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Rock is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Silva is defending well though. Rock let's go of the attempt for now.
Silva holding both Rock 's hands and preventing any damage.
Rock connects with a big shot to the side of Silva's head.
Rock lands punches and elbows.
Rock connects with a big shot to the side of Silva's head.
Silva has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Silva looks gassed!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rock cracks Silva with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Silva from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Rock is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Silva knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Silva for a finish.
Silva is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
The referee is taking a good look at Silva as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Rock!

Rock working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Rock is throwing strikes from the back here. Oh that last one was to the back of the head. Rock gets a warning from the referee. He throws another strike to the back of the head straight away though and the referee has seen enough. He breaks up the two fighters and stands them back up. Rock gets a real talking to here and is lucky not to get a point deducted. Rock apologises and we restart here on the feet.
Rock keeps the fight on the outside.
Silva lands with a right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rock avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Rock fails with a takedown attempt.
Silva tries to clinch up but Rock circles away and keeps his distance.
Rock swats away the attempt to clinch by Silva.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Silva tries to clinch but Rock moves out of range.

That's four 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.
Silva tries to clinch up.
Silva wants to clinch up but Rock keeps it at a distance.
Rock swats away the attempt to clinch by Silva.
Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Rock circles away.
Silva misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Rock tries to land a leg kick but Silva saw it coming and moves away.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Rock circles away from the clinch attempt.
Silva fails with an attempt to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Howards Rock 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.

Silva is looking to clinch but Rock is avoiding it.
Silva tries to clinch up.
Rock fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Silva lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rock circles away quickly and effectively.
Silva tries to clinch up.
Howards Rock is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rock swats away the attempt to clinch by Silva.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva misses with a few strikes there.
Rock avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Silva wants to clinch up but Rock keeps it at a distance.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Rock circles away.

Rock shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Silva manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

That's two 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.
Rock content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Silva wants to stand but Rock is controlling the position.
Rock landing with the ground and pound.
Silva utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Rock has gone for a leg lock! Silva slips out almost immediately though and dives into Rock's guard.
Silva would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rock looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Silva wanted to stand there but Rock had control of the position.

Rock is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Silva wants to stand but Rock is controlling his posture from full guard.
Silva preventing the sweep.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva is looking to stand up but Rock won't let him.
Rock controlling the position.
Silva won't allow Rock to sweep him here.
Silva wants to stand but Rock has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Rock keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rock swats away the attempt to clinch by Silva.
Rock does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Howards Rock dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Silva throws a low kick, looking for Rock's leg but Rock calmly moves out of range.
Silva tries to clinch up but Rock circles away and keeps his distance.
Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Rock circles away.
Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Rock circles away.
Silva moves in looking to clinch but Rock pushes him off.
Silva wants to clinch up but Rock keeps it at a distance.
Silva tries to clinch but Rock is having none of it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva moves in looking to clinch but Rock pushes him off.
Rock throws a leg kick
and Silva counters with a left and a right that stings Rock.
Rock showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Silva.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rock shoots for a double leg takedown but Silva sprawls well. He's pushed Rock's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Rock pivots, looking for a leg kick but Silva is out of range and Rock settles back down.
Silva wants to clinch up but Rock keeps it at a distance.
Rock throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.
Silva tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.

Rock shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Silva tries to kick Rock off but Rock keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rock thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Silva is trying to stand back up but Rock is controlling him
Rock controlling the action here.
Rock lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Silva is trying to stand up here but Rock is controlling him well.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Silva looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Silva leaves Rock with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva slaps away a takedown attempt from Rock, before circling back to the center of the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Howards Rock. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rock throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Rock circles away from the clinch attempt.
Silva tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Rock paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Silva is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Silva tries to clinch there but Rock circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Rock circles away from the clinch attempt.
Silva wants to clinch.
Wanderlei Silva is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Rock circles away.
Silva tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Silva fails with an attempt to clinch.
Wanderlei Silva has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Howards Rock is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Silva just misses with a punch to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Wanderlei Silva.
I think Rock has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Howards Rock!