PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Santhiago Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Josh Richmond (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Richmond has chosen Put Ur Balls On It as his entrance music. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Silva
vs
Richmond

179 cm
18
139 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

172 cm
25
144 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Santhiago Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Josh Richmond!
The judges for this bout are Don Winkell, Timothy Bukovac and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Richmond tries to bum rush Silva with a series of wild strikes but Silva uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Silva really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Silva is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Richmond.

It looks like Santhiago Silva has been cut.
Josh Richmond seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Richmond cracks Silva with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Silva shoots for a double leg takedown but Richmond sprawls well. He's pushed Silva's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Silva shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Richmond sprawls well. Richmond wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Silva gets slowly back to his feet.
Richmond leaves Silva with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Santhiago Silva. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Silva avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Richmond lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Richmond tries to clinch up but Silva circles away and keeps his distance.
Richmond ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Silva pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.

Richmond pushes Silva up against the cage in a clinch.
Richmond keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Silva's efforts to push away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Richmond works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.

Richmond pulls guard successfully.
Richmond utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Silva throws a big right hand that misses.
Silva throws a big right hand that misses.
Richmond bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Silva's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Richmond trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Silva is breathing heavily.
Richmond is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Richmond throws a big right hand that misses.
Silva can't keep his opponent in guard - Richmond advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Richmond is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Silva!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Richmond can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Silva is looking to escape.
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!
Richmond sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Richmond working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Richmond controlling the position easily from mount.
Richmond trying to control but Silva is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Richmond controlling from the full mount.
Silva avoids a series of strikes thrown by Richmond.
Richmond throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Silva because Richmond loaded up on that one.
Richmond throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Silva because Richmond loaded up on that one.
Richmond throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Silva is trying to stand.
Silva holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Richmond tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Richmond controlling his opponent.
Richmond throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Silva because Richmond loaded up on that one.
Richmond controlling the position easily from mount.

Richmond is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Silva has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Richmond looking to control and managing it successfully.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Richmond dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Santhiago Silva's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Silva fails with a takedown attempt.

Richmond closes the distance and pushes Silva back into the cage.
Richmond tries to circle away but Silva has him pinned against the cage.
Richmond wants to break free but Silva has control.
Silva misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Richmond.
Silva tries to break free but Richmond pushes him back against the cage.
Richmond lands a hook to the side of the head.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Richmond creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Silva creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Silva working hard to break the clinch.
Richmond lands with a short shot to the head.
Richmond lands with a left to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva tries to pull guard but Richmond holds him up against the cage and eventually Silva drops back down to his feet.
Silva is trying to push Richmond away but Richmond has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Silva is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Richmond can't break the clinch.
Silva trying to land knees to the body.
Silva has Richmond pressed against the cage, preventing Richmond from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Richmond blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Richmond lands a shoulder strike.
Richmond can't break the clinch.

Richmond jumps into guard, dragging Silva to the mat.
Josh Richmond has got the better of the ground game so far.
Richmond manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Silva manages to get himself to full guard.
Silva doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Silva looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Silva is working an open guard so Richmond takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Richmond pushes Silva up against the cage in a clinch.
Richmond on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Silva misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Richmond.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Silva is trying to drag Richmond to the mat but Richmond just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Santhiago Silva. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Richmond throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Richmond pressing his opponent against the cage.
Silva looking for a takedown.
Silva misses with a punch to the body.

Richmond breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Richmond is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Richmond has managed to clinch.
Silva throws an elbow but it misses.
Richmond tries to circle away but Silva has him pinned against the cage.
Silva is trying to force a seperation but Richmond has the dominant position.
A bit of stalling here from Richmond.
Richmond is trying to push Silva away but Silva has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Silva is trying to break free.
Silva creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Richmond's defenses.
Richmond is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.

Richmond pulls guard.

Richmond uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Richmond throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Silva's waist but Silva gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Richmond off to one side.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Richmond closes the distance and pushes Silva back into the cage.
Richmond gets through Silva's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Silva prevents a takedown attempt there.
Richmond tries for a takedown. No joy.

Richmond gets control of Silva's arms and successfully pulls guard. Richmond will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Richmond pushes Silva off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
Richmond has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Silva wants to clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Richmond tries to score a power double leg takedown but Silva sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Richmond somewhat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Richmond showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Santhiago Silva's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Silva misses with a wild combination.

Richmond forces Silva back against the cage and clinches.
A nice left hand lands by Richmond.
Silva has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Richmond after a bit of a struggle.
Richmond prevents a takedown attempt there.
Richmond controlling the action here for a moment.
Richmond is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Silva pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva throws a front kick aimed at Richmond's knee but Richmond avoids it well.
Santhiago Silva is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Richmond instigates a clinch.
Richmond missing with knees to the body.

Richmond manages to pull guard.

Richmond pushes Silva off and gets back to his feet.
Richmond circles away from the clinch attempt.
Silva tries to close the distance and clinch but Richmond swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Silva swats away the attempt to clinch by Richmond.
Silva shoots in and drives through. Richmond sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Santhiago Silva. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Silva fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva misses with a takedown attempt - Richmond sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Richmond tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Silva manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Richmond feints and as Silva raises his hands in defense, Richmond changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Richmond advances to half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Richmond stops Silva from getting back to his feet.
Richmond controlling the action here.
Silva avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Richmond.
Richmond prevents Silva from standing back up.
Richmond 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.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva working to try and regain half guard.
Richmond throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Silva because Richmond loaded up on that one.
Richmond misses with a head shot.
Richmond misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Richmond tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Richmond sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Richmond content just to control the position here.
Richmond lands a big elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Richmond is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Silva has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Silva wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Richmond.
Silva knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Richmond on the ground.
Richmond punching from mount but Silva doing a good job of avoiding damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Richmond takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Silva avoids a series of strikes thrown by Richmond.
Santhiago Silva has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Josh Richmond is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Richmond content just to control the position here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Josh Richmond comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Richmond 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 Don Winkell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 27:30
Judge Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Josh Richmond!
In his post fight interview, Josh Richmond gave a big smile as he said 'Where's my trust fund N bombs?'.