PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Dan Hardy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rafael Silverio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silverio has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Rafael Silverio is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Hardy
vs
Silverio

197 cm
21
195 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

178 cm
20
185 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Self confident

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Very confident

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Dan Hardy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rafael Silverio!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Kenichi Hosakawa and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hardy scores with a nice strike.
Silverio looks gassed!

Hardy closes the distance and clinches.
Silverio looking to throw knees to the head but Hardy is blocking nicely.
Hardy creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Silverio's defenses.

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

Silverio fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Hardy sprawls well initially but Silverio persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Hardy preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Hardy trying to control here.

Hardy kicks off Silverio and gets to his feet.

Hardy moves into the clinch.

Hardy gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Hardy is controlling the pace.
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!
Hardy uses his free foot to push down on Silverio's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Silverio.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hardy with good strikes from the mount here!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hardy raining down shots from the mount!
Hardy trying to control but he's not successful this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hardy tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hardy will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Hardy connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Hardy controlling his opponent.
Hardy wants to control the pace but Silverio is squirming around nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy controlling from mount.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Dan Hardy just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Hardy gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Silverio counters with a single leg into guard. Hardy didn't expect that.
Hardy is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Hardy scrambles and gets back to his feet.
Hardy fails to land the takedown.
Silverio looks to clinch

and Hardy counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Silverio is looking to stand up but Hardy isn't so interested in that idea.

Silverio throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Silverio not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Hardy accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hardy wants to control from the top but Silverio keeps moving.

Hardy 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.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Hardy dominated that round.
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.

Silverio gets the takedown into side control.
Hardy wants to control but Silverio postures up.
Silverio wants to take a breather but Hardy manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Silverio.
Hardy is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Hardy trying to control the position.
Silverio slips nicely into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silverio is thwarting Hardy's attempts to control the position.
Hardy manages to get to full guard.

Hardy throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Silverio is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Silverio is looking to stand up but Hardy won't let him.
Hardy is controlling Silverio's posture.
Hardy is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

Hardy looking for a guillotine here but Silverio defends easily.
Hardy wants to sweep but no luck.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hardy wants to hit a switch here but Silverio passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Hardy there!
Hardy is trying desperately to improve position.
Hardy wants to hold on but Silverio pushes him away.
Hardy wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Hardy is in bad spot here.
Silverio tries to get the hooks in deep but Hardy pushed the leg off.
Silverio is not going to allow Hardy to sit and survive in this position.

Hardy showing good submission defense here.
Silverio controlling well, preventing Hardy from escaping the position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Silverio gets his hands free as Hardy looks to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Rafael Silverio will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Hardy misses with a takedown
and Silverio counters with a head kick. That will keep Hardy thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Hardy throws a leg kick which misses Silverio's front leg but catches the back leg as Silverio tries to avoid it.

Hardy clinches with his opponent.

Hardy pulls guard.
Hardy looking for a sweep. Not yet Hardy, not yet.
Hardy controlling Silverio's posture.
Silverio tries to stand but Hardy is controlling from the bottom.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silverio working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Silverio preventing the sweep.
Hardy manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Silverio manages to get himself to full guard.
Hardy trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Silverio has his foot on Hardy's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Hardy works his way back into a safe position though.
Silverio is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Silverio looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Silverio trying to control the position.
Hardy stops Silverio from standing up.
Hardy works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Silverio is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Hardy's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Hardy's back!
Silverio trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
Silverio is not going to allow Hardy to sit and survive in this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silverio is trying to stick to Hardy's back but Hardy is turning into Silverio. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Silverio's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Hardy.
Hardy showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Silverio lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Hardy!
Hardy keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Hardy slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Silverio trying to control from Hardy's half guard. Hardy has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Hardy is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Hardy wants to control but Silverio is keeping him busy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hardy passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Silverio!
Silverio is squirming around, avoiding Hardy's attempts to control the action.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dan Hardy showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hardy has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dan Hardy!