PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Lauro Henrique (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Silvio Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silvio Rua has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Henrique
vs
Rua

179 cm
24
170 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

181 cm
23
170 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Lauro Henrique!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Silvio Rua!
The judges for this bout are Edson Gomes, Emerson Jorge and Luis Engracia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rua closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Henrique did well to prevent Rua getting side control.

Henrique looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Rua seems to be working for a kimura but Henrique defends the submission attempt.
Rua lands strikes from half guard.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Rua seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Henrique on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Rua scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Henrique wants to get back to full guard but Rua has mounted him!
Henrique regains half guard.
Rua winds up and cracks Henrique with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Henrique taking some punishment here, with Rua in his half guard.
Rua thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Henrique's head.
Rua wants to lay and pray for a moment but Henrique keeps working.
Rua slips a nice elbow through Henrique's hands, connecting with Henrique's forehead.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Rua sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Henrique defending well though.
Rua lands strikes from half guard.
Henrique tries to roll over but Rua keeps him under control.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Rua lands a nice short elbow.

Henrique looking for submissions off his back.
Henrique is trying to get back to full guard.
Henrique is breathing heavily.
Henrique is working hard here to advance position.
Rua slips a nice elbow through Henrique's hands, connecting with Henrique's forehead.
Rua seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Rua trying to control from half guard but Henrique is working away.
Rua looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Henrique with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Rua landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Rua really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Henrique. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Rua seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Rua takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Rua 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.
Henrique wants to improve his position but Rua is controlling well.
Ground and pound from Rua.
Rua takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Henrique is looking to control Rua's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Henrique avoid being mounted?
Rua winds up and cracks Henrique with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Rua throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Nice strikes from Rua there.
Henrique wants to get back to full guard.
Rua lands with a punch from half guard.
Rua is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua working Henrique over with strikes.
Henrique tries to get to full guard but Rua has control of the leg.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Rua connects with a nice short shot to Henrique's temple.
Rua lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Henrique taking some punishment here, with Rua in his half guard.
Rua working the head and body with strikes.
Rua slips a nice elbow through Henrique's hands, connecting with Henrique's forehead.
Henrique is trying to get back to full guard.
Rua is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Rua winds up and cracks Henrique with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Rua connects with a nice short shot to Henrique's temple.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Rua working the head and body with strikes.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Rua drops an elbow to the side of Henrique's head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Henrique moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Rua scoring with punches to the head and body.

Henrique is looking for a triangle but Rua pushes his legs off easily.
Rua slips nicely into half guard.
Rua is looking to take a break and control but Henrique is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rua landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Rua working Henrique over with strikes.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rua lands strikes from half guard.
Rua looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Henrique with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Henrique looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Rua scoring with strikes to the body and head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Rua fails with a takedown attempt.

Henrique shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Rua napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Silvio Rua has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rua defending against the ground and pound.
Rua manages to work his way to half guard, despite Henrique's best efforts.

Rua looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Rua is trying to control but can't.

Henrique is working for a submission of some sort.
Rua avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Henrique.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Rua trying to control from the bottom.

Rua looking for submissions off his back.

Rua actively working from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henrique 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.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Rua has closed the distance and engaged Henrique in a clinch.
Rua is working for a takedown up against the ropes. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Henrique is looking to break free of the clinch but Rua has double underhooks.
Henrique prevents a takedown attempt there.
Lauro Henrique has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Silvio Rua.
Rua is working for a takedown up against the ropes. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Henrique has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Rua is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Rua lands a hook to the side of the head.
Henrique drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Rua gets the underhooks and prevents it.

Rua gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.

Henrique has his foot on Rua's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Rua works his way back into a safe position though.
Henrique controls Rua momentarily but Rua frees himself.
Rua is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua connects with a couple of short punches.
Henrique tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Rua postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Henrique throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Rua's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Rua lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Henrique looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Henrique trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Rua looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Rua stopping the sweep attempt from Henrique.
Rua landing with the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua chips away with some ground and pound.
Rua cracks Henrique with a solid left hand.
Rua scoring with punches to the head and body.
Rua postures up and lands a big shot to Henrique's brow.

Rua got a little sloppy there for a moment and Henrique has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Rua has managed to get both his arms back between Henrique's legs - danger averted.
Rua cracks Henrique with a solid left hand.
Rua lands a couple of elbows.
Rua must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Henrique had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Rua defends it easily.
Rua is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

Henrique working for a triangle but Rua defends it easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua is in close to Henrique's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Rua lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rua works over Henrique with some ground and pound from guard.
Henrique trying to keep a closed guard but Rua is proving a slippery customer.
Rua is working Henrique over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Rua pushes down on Henrique's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Rua tries to pass to full mount but Henrique defends it.
Rua lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Henrique looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Silvio Rua showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Rua looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Henrique!
Rua has his opponent pinned against the ropes, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Henrique's face.
Rua scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Henrique?
Henrique keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Rua raining down shots from the mount!
Henrique is in a horrible position here. Rua smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Rua cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Rua connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
BOOM! Rua connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Rua dominating with strikes here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henrique can't escape the position.
Rua lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Henrique hang on?
Rua working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Rua is landing with some decent strikes but Henrique is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Henrique is in all sorts of trouble here.
Rua scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Rua landing punches.
Rua breaks from Henrique's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Rua scoring with strikes but Henrique is staying in there.
Rua working the ground and pound effectively.
Rua trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Rua cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Henrique taking shots to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Rua is working for a guillotine from mount but Henrique frees his head quite easily.
Henrique bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

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

Henrique avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Henrique lands a couple of elbows.

Rua has his foot on Henrique's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Henrique works his way back into a safe position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henrique lands a couple of decent looking shots.

Rua working for submissions but it's allowed Henrique to get to half guard.
Henrique seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

Rua looking for submissions off his back.
Henrique scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Rua is trying to get back to full guard.
Henrique lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Henrique looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Rua has hold of Henrique's hands but Henrique slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Henrique prevents Rua from improving his position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Henrique misses with a takedown

and Rua counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Henrique's guard now.

Henrique has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Rua is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Henrique.
Rua grinds an elbow into Henrique's temple.
Lauro Henrique has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Henrique is looking to regain half guard here but Rua keeps moving and retains side control.
Rua lands some shots froms side control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Henrique is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Silvio Rua comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Rua winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Edson Gomes scores the fight 27:30
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 27:30
Judge Luis Engracia scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Silvio Rua!