PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Leonardo Marques (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Marques kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Ain't no sunshine. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Marques
vs
Silva

190 cm
20
207 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

186 cm
20
205 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 Amsterdam, Leonardo Marques!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Thiago Silva!
The judges for this bout are Saam Ante, Wagner Zegers and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Marques drives through with a takedown into guard.
Marques's corner is telling him to maintain position.

Silva has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Marques off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Silva tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Marques was well out of range. Poor timing from Silva.
Marques misses with a few strikes there.
Silva throws a right and a left that Marques avoids nicely.
Silva scores with a body shot.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Silva misses with an uppercut. Marques saw that one coming.
Thiago Silva seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Silva fails in his attempt to clinch.
Silva misses with a wild body shot.
Marques misses with a series of wild punches.

Marques moves into the clinch successfully.
Marques lands an elbow inside.
Silva using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Marques has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Marques creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Silva's defenses.
Silva changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Marques fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Marques blocks a jab.
Silva looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.

Marques pushes Silva up against the cage in a clinch.
Marques content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Silva wants a takedown but no success here.
Silva trying to land knees to the body.

Marques pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Marques bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

Marques shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Marques is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Silva can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Marques working Silva over with strikes here.
Marques landing punches.

Marques 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.
Marques takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva trying desperately to get to his feet.
Marques with a couple of short strikes.
Marques lands a big shot there that rocks Silva but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Marques controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
BOOM! Marques connects with a massive shot to the dome!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Marques landing punches.
Marques content just to control the position here.
Silva takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

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.
Marques takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Marques lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Marques in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Marques cracks Silva with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leonardo Marques dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Marques clinches with his opponent.

Marques's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Marques has taken the fight to the clinch.
Marques taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Silva throws an elbow but it misses.

Marques breaks from the clinch.
A left and a right from Marques both land. Nice combination.

Marques fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Silva sprawls well initially but Marques persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Marques is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Marques wants to lay and pray for a moment but Silva keeps working.
Still in half guard, Marques seems content to control.
Marques working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Marques decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Silva changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Silva will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Silva keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Silva showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Marques.
Silva tries to close the distance and clinch up but Marques swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Marques throws a nice looking combination but Silva bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Silva is looking to land body kicks.
Marques works over Silva's head and body with a nice combination.
Marques throws a combination. Silva tries to block but a couple of punches get through.

Marques moves into the clinch successfully.
Silva misses with an elbow over the top.
Silva scores a nice knee to the body.
Marques avoiding damage as Silva throws knees to the body.
Marques is trying to stall.
Marques wants to get back to striking at distance but Silva won't allow it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva lands a nice elbow.
Silva keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Marques's efforts to push away.
Marques managing to block the knees to the body from Silva.
Silva lands a nice elbow.

Marques manages to pull guard.
Marques not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Silva is working Marques over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Silva avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Marques is looking to stand up but Silva isn't so interested in that idea.
Silva postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva trying to control but Marques is working from the bottom.
Marques is trying to control the position but Silva postures up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Silva keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Silva looks to land a body kick but Marques moved away.
Marques avoids the body shot from Silva.

Marques shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Marques has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Marques loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Marques not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marques wants to stand and escape but instead Silva has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Silva accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Silva postures up in Marques's guard and throws a big left but Marques blocks it.
Silva slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Marques looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Silva prevents Marques from getting back to his feet.
Silva stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Marques swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Marques keeping moving, preventing Silva from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leonardo Marques dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Marques scores with a hook.
Marques tries to close the distance and clinch up but Silva swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Silva looks to land a body kick but Marques moved away.
Marques goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Silva clinches but Marques breaks the clinch

and Marques counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Marques is trying to control. Silva wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Silva tries to kick Marques off but Marques keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Marques seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Marques's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Marques missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Still in half guard, Marques seems content to control.

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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Leonardo Marques just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Silva.
A leg kick checked by Marques.
Marques keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Marques tries to bum rush Silva with a series of wild strikes but Silva uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
A combination from Marques does no damage.
Marques looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Silva misses with an attempted mid kick.
Silva misses with a looping left.
Leonardo Marques is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Silva is looking to chop away at Marques's legs.
Silva fails with a takedown attempt.
Marques swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Silva throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Marques sees it coming and avoids it easily.

Marques gets a clinch.

Marques manages to break the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice defenses there by Marques.
Silva with a lazy takedown attempt

and Marques moves into the clinch.
Silva with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Silva throws a knee to the head but misses.
Marques tries to pull guard but Silva won't allow it.
Marques digs a right hand underneath Silva's ribcage. Silva let out a lung full of air as it connected.

Marques breaks the clinch.
Marques misses with a two punch combination.
Silva misses with a looping right.
Marques tries to clinch but Silva is having none of it.
Silva throws a leg kick

so Marques counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Marques is looking to work some ground and pound but Silva has wrist control.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Marques from controlling successfully.
Marques prevents Silva from getting back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Marques 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 wants to get back to his feet but Marques is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Silva working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Marques.
Leonardo Marques is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Silva can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Marques controls the pace.
Thiago Silva has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

And that's the end of the fight!
Leonardo Marques showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Marques 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 Saam Ante scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wagner Zegers scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Leonardo Marques!