PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Chad Benavidez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and matt silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). matt silva will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Benavidez
vs
silva

167 cm
26
143 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

225 cm
25
130 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Brown Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Chad Benavidez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, matt silva!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Steve Erwin and Winston Howard.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benavidez just misses with a punch to the body.
silva scores with a spinning back kick!
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Benavidez circles away.
silva lands a head kick. Benavidez smiles back at him and beckons him forward.

Benavidez feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
silva is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Benavidez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. silva is keeping the position for now.
Benavidez 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.
Benavidez stops silva from standing up.
Benavidez looking to pass the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benavidez not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
silva working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Benavidez.
silva is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
silva throws a head kick that half lands.
silva misses with a takedown attempt

and Benavidez counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in silva's guard now.
Benavidez looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Benavidez throws a big right hand that misses.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
silva is trying to control the position but Benavidez postures up.
Benavidez stops silva from standing up.
Benavidez wants to pass the guard but silva is keeping the position.
Benavidez is working hard here to advance position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benavidez trying to control but silva is working from the bottom.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
silva tries to clinch up but Benavidez circles away and keeps his distance.
A solid leg kick lands there for silva.
silva bobs and weaves and then throws a good body kick.
silva goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
silva plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Nice sprawl there from Benavidez as silva shoots in.
silva shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Benavidez counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for silva!
Chad Benavidez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of matt silva.
Benavidez wants to take silva's back here but silva is holding on to an arm, himself looking to escape.
Benavidez throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
silva is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.

Benavidez goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now silva is on top in guard.
Benavidez seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Benavidez is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
silva pushing down on Benavidez's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chad Benavidez dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Benavidez swinging wildly here.
Benavidez throws a right hand that silva ducks under and follows up with a left that silva also avoids with ease.
silva lands with a thumping leg kick.

Benavidez closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming silva to the mat! silva manages to get full guard.
silva controls Benavidez momentarily but Benavidez frees himself.
Benavidez controlling from the top position.
Benavidez is standing up over silva. silva looks to escape but Benavidez dives into side control.
silva is trying to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
silva tries to bench press Benavidez off him but Benavidez keeps the position.

Benavidez thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Benavidez grinds an elbow into silva's temple.
silva tries to get back to half guard but can't.

Benavidez tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

That's two 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.
Benavidez is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down silva's shoulder. That is not cool.
Benavidez trying to control the action but silva is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
silva gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Benavidez fails to advance to silva's back.
Benavidez trying to control but silva is having none of it.

That's four 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.
Chad Benavidez overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Benavidez takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Benavidez stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chad Benavidez dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

A kick lands to the mid section there for silva.
Benavidez showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from silva.
A head kick from silva lands but Benavidez takes it in his stride.
silva throws a right high kick that is partially blocked by Benavidez.
Benavidez keeps the fight on the outside.

Benavidez scores with a takedown into silva's guard.
Benavidez trying to control the position from guard on top but silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Chad Benavidez.
Benavidez has a nice red mark on his side after a thudding body kick by silva.
Benavidez swats away the attempt to clinch by silva.
Benavidez tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but silva swivels and escapes.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Benavidez crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from silva - the referee stops the clock and Benavidez gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says silva. Benavidez manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
silva tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
silva tries to close the distance and clinch up but Benavidez swats him away and circles back towards the center.
silva lands with a kick to the temple. Benavidez shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Benavidez stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from silva.

That's one minute gone in the round.
silva tries to clinch up but Benavidez circles away and keeps his distance.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by silva.

Benavidez decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
silva is trying to stand back up but Benavidez is controlling him
Benavidez is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Benavidez sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. silva defending well though.
silva moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Benavidez trying to control but silva is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benavidez looking to sit in guard and control but silva gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
silva trying to control but Benavidez is working from the bottom.
silva preventing the sweep.
silva working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benavidez wants to sweep but no luck.
silva is looking to stand up but Benavidez won't let him.
Benavidez might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Benavidez is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Benavidez takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Benavidez shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has silva pinned against the cage. silva gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
silva throws a head kick that half lands.
Benavidez lands a two punch combo.
silva dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Benavidez. That did some damage!
matt silva seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
silva is looking to clinch but Benavidez is avoiding it.
silva dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Benavidez. That did some damage!
silva throws a nice outside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
silva tries to clinch up.
silva wants to clinch

and Benavidez counters with a takedown into side control.
silva is not content to let Benavidez control the position.
Chad Benavidez is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
silva is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Benavidez is controlling him well.
matt silva has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
silva is not content to let Benavidez control the position.
Benavidez happy to just control the position for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chad Benavidez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Benavidez, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Winston Howard scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chad Benavidez!