PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Vitor Belfort (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Castiel Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Belfort
vs
Silva

180 cm
25
217 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

196 cm
25
214 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

SNC Suplementos

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Vitor Belfort!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Castiel Silva!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Daniel Cesar and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Silva looking to score a takedown here. Belfort is defending well but Silva drives through and ends up in Belfort's guard.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Silva stands up from guard. Let's bang!

Belfort tries to sprawl but Silva drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Belfort is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Silva pulls his head out easily.

Belfort looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Silva takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Silva wants to stand but Belfort has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

Silva postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Belfort to stand up.
Silva throws a series of punches but Belfort avoids them all with ease.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Belfort jumps guard but Silva turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silva pulls guard successfully.
Silva is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Belfort might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Belfort preventing the sweep.
Silva is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Castiel Silva hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Silva throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Silva closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Belfort's guard.
Silva looks gassed!

Belfort has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Silva can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Belfort looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Silva stands and steps away. Belfort gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Silva throws a right hand that Belfort ducks under and follows up with a left that Belfort also avoids with ease.
Belfort avoids a punch combination nicely.
Silva throws a series of punches but Belfort avoids them all with ease.

Silva fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Belfort to the ground. Silva is now in Belfort's guard.

Belfort is looking for a triangle but Silva pushes his legs off easily.
Silva engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

Silva decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Belfort, up you get!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Belfort.

Silva clinches up with Belfort and pushes him back against the cage.

Silva breaks from the clinch.

Silva shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Belfort napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Silva has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.

Silva instigates a clinch.

Silva ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Silva no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Belfort postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Silva is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Belfort, into his guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Belfort has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Silva can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Belfort working for submissions but it's allowed Silva to get to half guard.

Belfort actively working from the bottom here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Belfort looking for submissions off his back.

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

Castiel Silva dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Silva moves into the clinch.

Silva breaks the clinch.
Silva swinging wildly here.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Silva.
Belfort is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Silva has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.

Belfort tries to sprawl but Silva drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Belfort is trying to get back to full guard.

Silva decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Silva gets a clinch.

Silva turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Silva decides to stand up, so the ref orders Belfort to his feet.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Belfort avoids it.

Silva breaks from the clinch.
Castiel Silva seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Silva swinging wildly here.

Silva dives in and scores a takedown into Belfort's guard.

Silva stands and steps away. Belfort gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Silva steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Belfort.

Silva shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

Silva stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Silva has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Silva is trying to trip Belfort. He has hold of a leg but Belfort is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Silva persists though and gets the takedown into guard.

Silva avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Belfort looking for subs off his back but Silva has passed one foot through into half guard.

Silva moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Belfort.
Belfort tries to improve position but can't.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Silva decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Silva throws a right and a left that both miss.
Silva paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Silva throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Silva swinging wildly here.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Silva moves into range and clinches up with Belfort.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Silva breaks from the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Castiel Silva showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Belfort avoids a punch combination nicely.

Silva closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Belfort is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Silva pulls his head out easily.

Belfort actively working from the bottom here.

Silva decides to stand up.
Silva throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Silva rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Belfort moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva throws a series of punches but Belfort moves out of range.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.

Silva pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Silva throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Silva tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Belfort paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Silva 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 must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Belfort working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Silva doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Silva manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Belfort had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Silva defends it easily.
Vitor Belfort has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Belfort working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Silva has passed into half guard!

Belfort actively working from the bottom here.

Silva decides to return to a standing position.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Some wild striking there from Silva.

Silva shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Silva was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Belfort keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Belfort can't escape the position.
Silva content just to control the position here.
Belfort really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Silva controlling the position easily from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Belfort tries to reverse the position but Silva maintains control.
Belfort is working hard here to advance position.
Silva controlling the position easily from mount.
You get the feeling that Belfort really doesn't like being in this position too much.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Silva looking to control and managing it successfully.

And that's the end of the fight!
Castiel Silva comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Silva has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Castiel Silva!