PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Takeru Kyle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Wanderlei Silva Jr (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kyle comes into the arena with I Like to Move It blaring out of the sound system. Silva Jr has chosen Pendulum - Blood Sugar as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Kyle
vs
Silva Jr

184 cm
25
200 lbs
12 - 2 - 1

186 cm
24
190 lbs
13 - 1 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

[CBK] The Smashwear Corporation
[CBK] Legal Highs $90 ↑ 160Q RECOVERY ↑

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Takeru Kyle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 13 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Wanderlei Silva Jr!
The judges for this bout are Anni Minnemäki, Marco Blurström and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva Jr looks to land a right hand but Kyle moved out of range.
Kyle scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Kyle lands with a nice body kick.
Kyle feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Silva Jr's calf.
Kyle takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Silva Jr looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Kyle tests Silva Jr's chin there with a solid looking shot.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Kyle looks to throw the jab but Silva Jr is out of range.
Silva Jr moves out of range as Kyle strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva Jr looks to land a left hand but Kyle moved out of range nicely.
Kyle connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Silva Jr swings for the body but Kyle moves out of range.
Silva Jr scores with a leg kick.
Silva Jr swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Silva Jr throws a solid leg kick but Kyle takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Silva Jr.
Silva Jr looks to land a right hand but Kyle moved out of range.

Kyle is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Silva Jr's half guard.

Kyle is looking for a kimura here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kyle not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Kyle is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Silva Jr defends it well.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Silva Jr trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Kyle manages to pass to mount!
Kyle is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kyle working for a submission but Silva Jr is keeping him at bay.
Silva Jr really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Kyle. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Silva Jr takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Silva Jr really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Silva Jr is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.

Kyle moves into side control, trying to work for a kimura. That looks painful! Will he finish!!?? No, Silva Jr has worked his arm free - good work by Silva Jr!

Kyle is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Silva Jr is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Kyle in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva Jr is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Kyle is trying to get an arm triangle but Silva Jr is defending well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Kyle is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Silva Jr knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Kyle tries to move to mount but Silva Jr blocks the move with his legs.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Kyle comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Silva Jr lands a nice shot to the body.
Silva Jr rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Kyle counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Kyle uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Silva Jr.
Silva Jr lands with an uppercut that bounces Kyle off the cage and back into range.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Silva Jr takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Kyle misses with a hook. Silva Jr ducked under it nicely.
Kyle tries a head kick but it misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kyle uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Silva Jr.
Silva Jr misses with a body shot.
Silva Jr fails to land with a series of punches.
A looping hook to the body misses from Silva Jr. Kyle does a little dance to reset his feet.

Kyle shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Silva Jr's guard.
Silva Jr utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Kyle is pushing down on Silva Jr's leg trying to pass to half guard. Silva Jr is fighting to maintain full guard but Kyle has managed to sneak the leg through.

Kyle wants to work for an arm triangle but Silva Jr is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Kyle seems to be working for a kimura but Silva Jr defends the submission attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva Jr is trying to get back to full guard.
Silva Jr moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Silva Jr looking to hit a scissor sweep but Kyle is one step ahead there.
Kyle content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kyle stopping the sweep attempt from Silva Jr.
Silva Jr is adopting a defensive guard.
Kyle is looking to work some ground and pound but Silva Jr has wrist control.
Kyle looking to pass the guard.
Kyle has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Silva Jr is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kyle trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kyle works over Silva Jr with some ground and pound from guard.

Kyle is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Silva Jr manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Silva Jr prevents Kyle from getting the reversal.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Takeru Kyle will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Silva Jr misses with a straight right.
Silva Jr connects with a jab.
Kyle throws out a loose jab but Silva Jr uses good head movement to avoid it.
Kyle misses the shot to the body.

Silva Jr gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Kyle drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Silva Jr manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Kyle has Silva Jr in his guard.
Silva Jr trying to control but Kyle is working from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kyle looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Silva Jr trying to control the position from guard on top but Kyle is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Kyle looking for a guillotine here but Silva Jr defends easily.
Silva Jr wants to control from the top but Kyle keeps moving.
Wanderlei Silva Jr has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Wanderlei Silva Jr has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Silva Jr moves out of range of the strikes.
Kyle connects with the punch.
Silva Jr with a nice cross.
Silva Jr misses with a leg kick
and Kyle connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Kyle swings widly with a right hand
and Silva Jr counters with a lovely straight right hand!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kyle digs a good body shot into Silva Jr's ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice leg kick lands there from Kyle.
Silva Jr throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Silva Jr throws a big shot that misses.
Kyle throws a head kick that misses
letting Silva Jr counter with a right hand.
Silva Jr thows a body shot but no joy.
Kyle catches Silva Jr with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Silva Jr checks a leg kick.
Silva Jr scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Kyle doesn't seem bothered though.
Takeru Kyle is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva Jr fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Jab by Silva Jr.
Kyle takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Silva Jr does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Both fighters are looking to counter, which isn't making for the most exciting fight in the world.
Silva Jr throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Kyle shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Silva Jr defends it nicely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Silva Jr looks to land a right hand but Kyle moved out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
Wanderlei Silva Jr comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Kyle has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:28
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Takeru Kyle!
After the fight, Takeru Kyle was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.