PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between wanderlai silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Acelino Popo (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.

silva
vs
Popo

207 cm
21
185 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

185 cm
22
182 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Solid 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 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, wanderlai 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, Acelino Popo!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Emerson Jorge and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Popo tries to clinch up but silva circles away and keeps his distance.
Popo cracks silva with a good jab.

It looks like wanderlai silva has been cut.
Popo checks the leg kick nicely there.
Popo tries to close the distance and clinch but silva swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
silva looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
silva misses with a wild combination.
Popo moves in looking to clinch but silva pushes him off.
silva lands an overhand right.

Popo drives through and clinches with silva against the cage.

Popo turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Popo manages to end up in side control.
Popo is staying tight to silva's torso, preventing him from escaping.
silva is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Popo is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Popo lands a big shot there that rocks silva but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Popo lands a nice shot to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Popo avoids the attempt from silva to control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popo tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Popo has hold of silva's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and silva manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
silva sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Popo wants to control but silva is keeping him busy.
Popo is thwarting silva's attempts to control the position.
silva has his hands clasped together around Popo's back. He's all about the action.

Popo is working for a submission of some sort.

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.
Still in half guard, Popo seems content to control.
Popo thows a huge punch but silva dodges it nicely.
silva trying to control from the bottom.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Popo pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
silva lunges at Popo with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Popo's hand.
silva lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Popo circles away quickly and effectively.

Popo closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
silva manages to get to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Popo forces his way into half guard.
Popo looks gassed!
Popo tries to stand but his hand is stuck under silva.
Popo is looking to stall here but silva recovers full guard.
silva is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Popo throws a big right hand that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Popo throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as silva works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
silva looking for a sweep. Not yet silva, not yet.
Popo is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Popo pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. silva is keeping the position for now.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
No joy there for silva, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Popo tries for a takedown but silva sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
A shot to de liver by silva. Beautiful body shot.
silva misses with a few strikes there.
silva looks for the body kick but Popo saw that one coming.
silva fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Popo looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
silva misses with the combination.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Acelino Popo dominated that round.
The cut man is working on wanderlai silva's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

silva swats away the attempt to clinch by Popo.
silva throws a wild body kick that Popo sees coming a mile off.
silva looks to land a combination. Popo sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Popo closes the distance and pushes silva back into the cage.

Popo gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
silva wants to improve his position but Popo is controlling well.
silva is looking to control Popo's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can silva avoid being mounted?
Popo moves into full mount! silva won't be happy about that!
Popo is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Popo trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Popo lands a big shot there that rocks silva but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Popo with shots to the head and body - silva looks very uncomfortable down there.
Popo controlling from mount.
silva is working to get back to half guard.
Popo trying to control but silva is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
silva is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Popo goes for an armbar but silva turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from silva.

Popo looking for subs off his back but silva has passed one foot through into half guard.
silva is trying to control the action in half guard but Popo is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
silva is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!

silva has hold of Popo's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Popo manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
silva wants to control the pace but Popo is squirming around nicely.
Popo wants to control but silva is having none of it.
Popo is trying to escape the mount.

silva quickly switches position and commits to an armbar! It's a big risk for silva but it's paid off an Popo is forced to tap! Nice work by silva.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:02 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). wanderlai silva!