PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Cristian Rodriguez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Spider Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cristian Rodriguez had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 146.3lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. On his way into the ring it seems that Cristian Rodriguez has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Cristian Rodriguez seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Rodriguez
vs
Silva

172 cm
19
155 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

175 cm
29
145 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Cristian Rodriguez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Spider Silva!
The judges for this bout are Paul Gruel, Ryoma Takatsuka and Josh West.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Silva drives through and clinches with Rodriguez against the ropes.

Silva manages to pull guard.
Rodriguez trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.

Silva has his feet on Rodriguez's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

Silva drives through and clinches with Rodriguez against the ropes.

Silva jumps guard and drags Rodriguez to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Rodriguez from controlling successfully.
Rodriguez in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Rodriguez wants to control from the top but Silva keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Silva uses the ropes to get back to his feet.
Silva circles away from the clinch attempt

and Silva moves into the clinch.
Rodriguez tries to pull guard but Silva holds him up against the ropes and eventually Rodriguez drops back down to his feet.
Rodriguez fails to pull the fight into his guard.

Silva has Rodriguez pressed up against the ropes. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Silva pulls back from the ropes and twists to the side, sending Rodriguez tumbling to the mat - Silva dives into Rodriguez's guard.
Silva must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Rodriguez has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Silva is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Rodriguez.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez tries to improve position but can't.
Silva working away.
Rodriguez is trying to improve his 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 decides to stand back up. Silva steps back and let's Rodriguez get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez tries to clinch up against the ropes, rushing in the close the distance. Silva manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Rodriguez throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.

Silva has closed the distance and engaged Rodriguez in a clinch.

Rodriguez is fighting off a takedown attempt but Silva is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Rodriguez to the mat. Rodriguez regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

Silva gets to his feet - Rodriguez follows without any prompting.

Silva gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Silva has Rodriguez pressed up against the ropes. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Silva pulls back from the ropes and twists to the side, sending Rodriguez tumbling to the mat - Silva dives into Rodriguez's guard.
Silva tries to stand but Rodriguez is controlling from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Silva stands and steps away. Rodriguez gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rodriguez fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.

Rodriguez throws his legs up looking for a submission but Silva uses it to pass to side control.

Silva stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's five minutes gone in the round.

Silva drives through and clinches with Rodriguez against the ropes.
Silva connects with a knee to the head.

It looks like Cristian Rodriguez has been cut.

Silva pulls Rodriguez into guard.
Silva is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rodriguez is controlling him.

Silva pushes Rodriguez off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Silva has closed the distance and engaged Rodriguez in a clinch.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cristian Rodriguez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Silva obliges.

Silva has picked Rodriguez up - he's going for a ride! Silva dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Silva decides to return to a standing position.

Silva closes the distance and pushes Rodriguez back into the ropes.

Silva jumps into guard, dragging Rodriguez to the mat.

Silva has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Rodriguez off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Rodriguez tries to keep at a distance but Silva has taken the fight into the clinch.
Rodriguez takes an elbow to the temple.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.

Silva decides to pull guard.

Silva pushes Rodriguez off and scrambles back to his feet.

Silva clinches with his opponent.

Silva pulls guard.

Silva manages to escape and get back to his feet.

Silva has closed the distance and engaged Rodriguez in a clinch.
Silva unloads a knee to the mid-section.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Silva lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

Silva gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Rodriguez regains guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Silva stands up and waves to Rodriguez to follow him.

Silva gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Silva scores a nice knee to the body.
Silva comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.

Cristian Rodriguez's cut is getting worse.

Silva pulls guard successfully.
Silva is looking to stand up but Rodriguez isn't so interested in that idea.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Silva wriggles free and stands up.

Silva moves into the clinch.

Silva manages to pull guard.

Silva has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Rodriguez off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Silva takes the fight into the clinch.

Silva lands a takedown into guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Spider Silva dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Cristian Rodriguez's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Silva gets in close and instigates a clinch.

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

Silva uses the ropes to get back to his feet.

Silva moves into range and clinches up with Rodriguez.
Silva lands a knee to the body.

Silva gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Rodriguez regains guard.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Silva gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

Silva closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the ropes.
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 jumps guard and drags Rodriguez to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez throws a strike but Silva rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Silva stands up and waves to Rodriguez to follow him.

Silva gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Silva pulls guard effortlessly.
Rodriguez throwing strikes from guard but Silva blocks nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Silva wriggles free and stands up.

Silva clinches.
Rodriguez takes an elbow to the forehead.
Silva landing knees to the head.
Silva is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Silva scores with a knee to the head.

Rodriguez is rocked!
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 works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Oh Rodriguez is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

Silva stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Rodriguez seems to have got his legs back now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.
Silva landing knees to the head.

Silva is working on a single leg takedown against the ropes. Rodriguez can't fight it off and eventually Silva manages to take the fight to the floor. Rodriguez looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Rodriguez is looking for a triangle here but Silva uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Rodriguez tries to buck Silva off but Silva is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Silva stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Spider Silva is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Silva moves into the clinch successfully.

Silva jumps guard and drags Rodriguez to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

Silva wriggles free and stands up.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Silva has taken the fight to the clinch.
Silva crunches a lovely knee into Rodriguez's ribcage.

Silva gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Silva has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's five minutes gone in the round.

Rodriguez looking to force a kimura from the bottom here. He's concentrating on that move too much though and Silva pushes past his half guard into mount!

Silva is standing up, even though he is in mount.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.
Silva landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Silva lands a knee to the body.

Silva pulls guard effortlessly.
Rodriguez wants to pass the guard but Silva is keeping the position.
Silva is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Rodriguez is controlling him.

That's six minutes gone in the round.

Silva kicks Rodriguez off and gets to his feet.

Silva rushes Rodriguez and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.

Silva successfully pulls guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Rodriguez trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Silva manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

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

That's seven minutes gone in the round.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Silva lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

Cristian Rodriguez's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.

Silva has clasped his hands together around Rodriguez's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Rodriguez struggling a bit here.

Silva decides to stand back up. Silva steps back and let's Rodriguez get back to his feet.
Cristian Rodriguez has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Silva moves into range and clinches up with Rodriguez.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.

Rodriguez looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Silva passes into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Silva stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Silva drives through and clinches with Rodriguez against the ropes.
Rodriguez tries to pull guard but Silva won't allow it.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez takes a knee right on the jaw!
Silva lands a good knee to the midsection. Rodriguez won't want to take too many of those.

Silva pulls guard.
Rodriguez 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 gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Spider Silva is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Silva landing some nice looking knees to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Spider 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 2 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.

Judge Paul Gruel scores the fight for Spider Silva!
Judge Ryoma Takatsuka scores the fight for Spider Silva!
Judge Josh West scores the fight for Spider Silva!

Spider Silva wins by unanimous decision!