PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Barney Sumner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Antonio Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Sumner
vs
Silva

172 cm
19
152 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

184 cm
19
148 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Big right hand

Decent wrestler
Counter striker
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Barney Sumner!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Antonio Silva!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Matheus Silva and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Sumner avoids it really well and circles away.
Sumner leaves Silva with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Sumner works the jab nicely.
Sumner connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Silva's hands.
Silva fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Barney Sumner has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Antonio Silva.
A shot to the liver by Sumner. Beautiful body shot.
Silva is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Silva swats away the attempt to clinch by Sumner.
Sumner throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Silva.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sumner fails with an attempt to clinch.
Silva looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Sumner is fending him off so far but Silva persists. Nope, Sumner circles away and we're back to standing.
Silva avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Sumner takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Sumner lands a nice shot to the body.
Silva gets cracked there but stands up to it.

Silva changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Sumner looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Sumner is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but Silva has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Silva content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Sumner manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sumner is just content to waste time from the top position. Silva takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Sumner trying to control the position from guard on top but Silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Sumner pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Silva is keeping the position for now.
Sumner postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sumner looking to pass the guard.
Sumner throws a strike but Silva rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Silva pushing down on Sumner's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Sumner on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Sumner tries to get out of the position.
Still in half guard, Silva seems content to control.
Sumner tries to roll over but Silva keeps him under control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sumner trying to hold on to Silva's head to control him but Silva postures up.
Silva passes to full mount!
Silva controlling from mount.
Sumner's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Silva lands a nice shot to the head.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Silva lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Silva controlling the pace for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Barney Sumner will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Sumner 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.
Sumner scores with a nice head shot.
Good standup being displayed there by Sumner as he connects with a hook.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Silva.
Sumner looks to move to half guard but instead Silva has passed into mount! Damn!
Sumner might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Silva fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Silva takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva lands with some strikes.
Sumner is trying to escape the mount.
Silva lands a big elbow.
Sumner is looking to improve his position but Silva isn't that keen on the idea.
Silva controlling the pace for now.
Silva avoids the attempt from Sumner to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva scoring with strikes but Sumner is staying in there.
Silva looking to control and managing it successfully.
Antonio Silva has got the better of the ground game so far.
Silva lands a heavy elbow.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Silva content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sumner is in all sorts of trouble here.
Silva avoids the attempt from Sumner to control.
Sumner is working to get back to half guard.
Silva looking to control and managing it successfully.
Sumner is in all sorts of trouble here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva controlling from the full mount.
Sumner tries to buck Silva off but he can't manage it.
Silva controlling from the full mount.
Silva is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Sumner can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sumner is looking to get to half guard.
Sumner tries to hold on but Silva postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Antonio 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.

The fight stays on the outside here - Sumner looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A jab from Sumner does it's job there.
Sumner fails in his attempt to clinch.

Sumner gets a clinch.
Sumner taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Sumner cracks Silva with a nice body shot.
Sumner scores with a hook to the body.
Sumner working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Sumner stalling the fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sumner lands with a short head shot on the inside.

Silva is rocked!
Sumner creates a bit of space for himself and rocks Silva with a big uppercut! Silva tries to clinch up but Sumner pushes him back against the cage and lands another monster strike that crumples Silva to the mat! Silva covers up and Sumner unloads with more strikes until the referee steps in to end the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:15 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Barney Sumner!
Barney Sumner retains his featherweight title!
An out of breath Barney Sumner thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.