PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kenshiro Yamamoto (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Wanderson Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silva has chosen Darude - Sandstorm as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Kenshiro Yamamoto looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Yamamoto
vs
Silva

183 cm
22
190 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

183 cm
23
185 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

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 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kenshiro Yamamoto!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Wanderson Silva!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Yukihiro Shimada and Sosuke Kotani.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Silva throws a right hand that Yamamoto ducks under and follows up with a left that Yamamoto also avoids with ease.
Silva throws a right hand that Yamamoto ducks under and follows up with a left that Yamamoto also avoids with ease.
Wanderson Silva seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Silva closes the distance and clinches.

Silva breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Silva throws a head kick that lands with a deafening thwack! The crowd roars as Yamamoto stumbles backwards and falls to the mat. Silva follows into mount!
Yamamoto is in a horrible position here. Silva smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Silva misses with a head shot.
Yamamoto is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Silva unloading with bombs!
Silva landing strikes from the mount.
Silva with good strikes from the mount here!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Yamamoto is in a horrible position here. Silva smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Yamamoto is rocked!
Silva putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Oh Yamamoto is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Yamamoto wants to control but Silva is having none of it.
Yamamoto seems to have got his legs back now.
Yamamoto is breathing heavily.
Yamamoto tries to reverse the position but Silva maintains control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva dominating with strikes here.
Silva cracks Yamamoto with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Silva landing punches.
Silva fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Silva postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Yamamoto looks a forlorn figure.
Silva pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Yamamoto takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Silva connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Silva breaks from Yamamoto's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Silva cracks Yamamoto with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
The referee warns Yamamoto that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Silva looking to finish Yamamoto with some ground and pound. This is bad for Yamamoto!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Yamamoto can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Silva dominating with strikes here.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Yamamoto is wriggling around trying to escape.
Yamamoto in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Yamamoto wants to hold on but Silva pushes him away.
Silva lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Yamamoto hang on?
Silva scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Yamamoto?
Silva with good strikes from the mount here!
Silva scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Yamamoto?
Silva working the ground and pound effectively.
Yamamoto is bucking up trying to escape but Silva cracks him with another couple of good strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Yamamoto looks a forlorn figure.
Yamamoto blocking the ground and pound.
BOOM! Silva connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Yamamoto gets back to half guard.
Silva thows a big elbow that misses, also allowing Yamamoto to regain full guard.
Yamamoto throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

Silva stands up and waves to Yamamoto to follow him.
Yamamoto throws a sloppy head kick

and Silva moves into the clinch.

Silva manages to break the clinch.
Yamamoto wants to clinch.
Silva throws a series of punches but Yamamoto avoids them all with ease.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yamamoto pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Wanderson Silva is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
No joy there for Silva, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Yamamoto shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Silva's guard.
Silva wants to stand but Yamamoto is controlling the position.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Yamamoto from controlling successfully.
Silva wants to stand and escape but Yamamoto is having none of it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Yamamoto pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Silva is keeping the position for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Wanderson Silva dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Yamamoto with a poor takedown

and Silva moves into the clinch.

Silva breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Silva scores with a body shot.
Silva tries to bum rush Yamamoto with a series of wild strikes but Yamamoto uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

Silva fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Yamamoto, pushing him back against the cage.

Silva escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Silva throws a head kick that misses
and Yamamoto counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
A head kick misses from Silva.
Silva rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Yamamoto moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Silva circles away from the clinch attempt.
Silva fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Yamamoto moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Yamamoto is looking to clinch but Silva is avoiding it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Silva tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Yamamoto counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Yamamoto 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.
Silva regains half guard.

Silva kicks off Yamamoto and gets to his feet.
Yamamoto wants to clinch.
Some wild striking there from Silva.
Yamamoto lands a nice looking body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva lands a high kick!
Yamamoto misses with a kick to the body.
Silva fails with an attempt to clinch.
No joy there for Silva, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
A nice inside leg kick there by Yamamoto. That's going to slow Silva down.
Silva throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Yamamoto counters with a nice low kick that buckles Silva's knee momentarily.
Yamamoto connects with a single shot there.
Yamamoto showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Silva.
Silva throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Yamamoto counters with a nice double leg into side control. Silva won't be happy with that.
Silva wants to get back to his feet but Yamamoto is dominant here and he's now got Silva's back!
Silva squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Silva working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.

Yamamoto jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Silva manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Yamamoto avoids the strikes from the bottom by Silva.
Silva wants to get back to his feet but Yamamoto is dominant here and he's now got Silva's back!
Silva tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Yamamoto lands a nice shot to the head.
Silva is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Silva is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Yamamoto controlling his opponent.
Silva keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Silva is squirming around, avoiding Yamamoto's attempts to control the action.
Yamamoto with good strikes from the mount here!
Silva throwing hammer fists to the chest of Yamamoto. What's that going to do exactly?
Silva bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kenshiro Yamamoto dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Yamamoto swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Yamamoto fails with the takedown.

Silva rushes Yamamoto and presses him up against the cage.
Silva tries a knee to the head but Yamamoto blocks it.

Silva breaks from the clinch.
Silva will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Silva breaks the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Yamamoto tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Silva misses with a double jab

and Yamamoto counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Yamamoto.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Silva will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Yamamoto stands up out of Silva's guard for a moment - Silva manages to land a nice upkick.
Silva has a closed guard, preventing Yamamoto from standing up.
Silva throwing rabbit punches from the bottom - showing the judges that he's keeping busy.

Silva pushes Yamamoto off and scrambles back to his feet.
Silva tries a head kick but it misses.
Yamamoto tries to clinch but Silva is having none of it.
Silva looks to land a combination but Yamamoto avoids it well.

Yamamoto moves into range and clinches up with Silva.
Yamamoto tries for a takedown but Silva manages to get underhooks.

Silva escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Silva lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

Yamamoto closes the distance and clinches.

Silva escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Yamamoto throws the kick towards the body but Silva avoids it.
Yamamoto lands with a nice combination. Silva backs away looking to recover.
Silva throws a left and a right that both miss
and Yamamoto counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Silva is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Silva throws a left and a right that both miss

and Yamamoto counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Silva!
Silva wants to try and get back to his feet.

Yamamoto is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Silva is surviving well by controlling Yamamoto's body position as best he can.
Silva in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Yamamoto moves to the back position.
You can see the frustration on Silva's face… He knows he is in trouble unless he improves his position sooner rather than later.
Yamamoto trying to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Silva defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

Silva manages to escape to his feet.
Yamamoto shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Silva but Silva pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Kenshiro Yamamoto. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Yamamoto has managed to clinch.

Silva breaks the clinch.
Silva misses with a combination

and Yamamoto counters with a takedown into side control.
A lull in the action here as Yamamoto stalls from top position.

Yamamoto stands up and beckons Silva to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Yamamoto shoots in but Silva avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Yamamoto will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Silva misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Yamamoto takes the fight into the clinch.
Silva with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.

Silva breaks the clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Yamamoto closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Silva to the mat! Silva manages to get full guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Silva wants to get back to his feet but Yamamoto is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Yamamoto wants to pass the guard but Silva is keeping the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Kenshiro Yamamoto showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Yamamoto 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 29:28
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kenshiro Yamamoto!