PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kazuri Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Svensson Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Svensson Silva will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Sakuraba
vs
Silva

183 cm
22
183 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

190 cm
22
190 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Prefers ground

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Kazuri Sakuraba!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Svensson Silva!
The judges for this bout are Luis Engracia, Emerson Jorge and Mauricio Rocha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Sakuraba.
Silva stuffs the takedown.
Sakuraba shoots in and drives through. Silva sprawls well.

Sakuraba scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Sakuraba prevents Silva from improving his position.
Sakuraba keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Sakuraba uses his free foot to push down on Silva's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Silva.
Sakuraba controlling from mount.
Silva tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sakuraba wants to control the pace but Silva is squirming around nicely.
Sakuraba breaks from Silva's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Silva working to try and regain half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

That's one minute gone in the round.
BOOM! Sakuraba connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Silva really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
The referee warns Silva that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Sakuraba controlling the pace for now.
Silva is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Sakuraba landing shots from mount.
Silva can't escape the position.
Sakuraba connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Sakuraba sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva really wants to buck Sakuraba off and get back to his feet.
Silva looks gassed!
Sakuraba scoring with strikes but Silva is staying in there.
Sakuraba takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Sakuraba lands a heavy elbow.
Sakuraba controlling his opponent.
Silva is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Silva regains half guard.
Sakuraba stalling.

Sakuraba looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
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.
Silva trying to control here.
Silva tries to get to full guard but Sakuraba has control of the leg.
Silva is not content to let Sakuraba control the position.
Silva is trying to stand up here but Sakuraba is controlling him well.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Sakuraba shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Silva as he avoids it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kazuri Sakuraba. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Silva stuffs the takedown.
Sakuraba closes this distance looking for a takedown but Silva circles away.
Silva misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Silva shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

so Sakuraba counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Sakuraba has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Silva being controlled here, momentarily.

Sakuraba 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 is looking to stand up but Sakuraba isn't so interested in that idea.
Silva bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Sakuraba's guard.
Silva is looking to stand up but Sakuraba won't let him.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sakuraba wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Sakuraba has a closed guard, preventing Silva from standing up.
Silva looking to pass the guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kazuri Sakuraba dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Silva's corner calls for a 1,2 combination and Silva duly obliges.
Silva with a hook.
Sakuraba has a takedown stuffed.
Sakuraba gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Silva counters with an inside leg kick.
Sakuraba with a poor takedown
and Silva counters with a nice uppercut.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kazuri Sakuraba. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sakuraba looks frusrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Silva scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Sakuraba avoids a punch combination nicely.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Silva throws a series of punches but Sakuraba avoids them all with ease.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Silva tries to bum rush Sakuraba with a series of wild strikes but Sakuraba uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Silva moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Sakuraba shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Silva counters with a two punch combo.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Silva!
Silva will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Silva shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Sakuraba pinned against the cage. Sakuraba gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Silva connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba shoots and misses

and Silva holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Sakuraba gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Silva.
Silva stops a takedown attempt from Sakuraba.
Silva can't break the clinch.
Silva tries to break the clinch but Sakuraba is controlling the position.
Sakuraba tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Silva just stands there and leans against the cage.
Silva wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Sakuraba has him pressed against the cage.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Silva just misses with a elbow thrown towards Sakuraba's brow.
Sakuraba is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Silva gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Silva wants to get back to striking at distance but Sakuraba won't allow it.

Silva breaks the clinch.
Silva throws a series of punches but Sakuraba moves out of range.
Sakuraba fails in his attempt to clinch.
Sakuraba fails with the takedown
and Silva counters with a good low kick that Sakuraba was not able to check.
Silva lands with a right hand.

Sakuraba drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Sakuraba looking to pass the guard.
Silva is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Sakuraba is controlling him.
Sakuraba is stalling in the full guard.
Sakuraba preventing the sweep.
Silva is looking to stand up but Sakuraba isn't so interested in that idea.
Silva keeping full guard, as Sakuraba tries to pass.
Sakuraba lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Sakuraba controls from within his opponent's guard.
Kazuri Sakuraba overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Sakuraba from controlling successfully.
Silva being controlled here, momentarily.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Kazuri Sakuraba just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Sakuraba misses with a takedown
and Silva counters with a stiff right hand.
Sakuraba fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Sakuraba has his takedown stuffed
and Silva counters with a left and a right that stings Sakuraba.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Svensson Silva showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. And we move into the final round!

Sakuraba misses the shot to the body.
Silva fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Sakuraba.
Silva misses with a wild combination.
Sakuraba shoots in looking for a takedown. Silva tries to sprawl out of it but Sakuraba 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.

Sakuraba closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Silva is looking to escape.
Silva takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Sakuraba is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Sakuraba scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Sakuraba controlling the action here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sakuraba wants to take a breather but Silva is having none of it.
Silva is trying to stand back up but Sakuraba is controlling him
Sakuraba controlling the pace.
Sakuraba stops Silva from getting back to his feet.
Sakuraba wants to pass to mount but Silva is defending the position.
Sakuraba thows a huge punch but Silva dodges it nicely.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Sakuraba shoots in for a takedown but Silva shows good takedown defense.
Sakuraba thows a leg kick but Silva checks it
and Silva counters with a two punch combo.
Sakuraba shoots in but no luck this time.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kazuri Sakuraba. That's going to take a lot out of him.

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.

Silva gets the takedown into side control.
Sakuraba is looking to regain half guard here but Silva keeps moving and retains side control.
You can see the frustration on Sakuraba's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Sakuraba is looking for a sweep.
Sakuraba manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Sakuraba makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Sakuraba.
Silva stopping the sweep attempt from Sakuraba.
Silva trying to control the position from guard on top but Sakuraba is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sakuraba looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Sakuraba holds on and takes a little breather.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Sakuraba is on top in guard.
Silva keeping full guard, as Sakuraba tries to pass.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Sakuraba postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Sakuraba pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Silva is keeping the position for now.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Sakuraba from controlling successfully.
Sakuraba is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Sakuraba from controlling successfully.
Silva wants to stand up but Sakuraba is controlling him.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Sakuraba fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Silva sprawls well initially but Sakuraba persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva is trying to stand back up but Sakuraba is controlling him
Sakuraba looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Sakuraba moves into full mount! Silva won't be happy about that!
Sakuraba tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Silva trying desperately to get to his feet.
Sakuraba trying to control but Silva is having none of it.
Silva is in a horrible position here. Sakuraba smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Sakuraba is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Silva has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Silva tries to lock up and control but Sakuraba gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Silva is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kazuri Sakuraba showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Sakuraba 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 Luis Engracia scores the fight 29:28
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 29:28
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kazuri Sakuraba!