PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Leonardo Da Silva (ranked 44 p4p, 6 weight class) and Pako Laine (ranked 38 p4p, 4 weight class). Da Silva comes to the cage accompanied by Kendrick Lamar - Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe. The crowd seem to be enjoying Laine's choice of entrance music: Nikke Ankara - Värifilmi. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Da Silva
vs
Laine

167 cm
25
135 lbs
15 - 1 - 0

174 cm
35
146 lbs
26 - 10 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Urban Fighter

Top Nutrition 160Q\250$ 140Q\150$ 100Q\50$

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Leonardo Da Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Pako Laine!
The judges for this bout are , Frank Antenori and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Laine lands with a good body shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from Laine. Da Silva does a little dance to reset his feet.
Laine lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.

Laine darts in and clinches Da Silva up against the cage.
Laine misses with a knee strike.
Da Silva working aggressively here.
Laine tries to score a body lock takedown but Da Silva shows good agility there to stay on his feet.
Laine tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Da Silva's elbow.
Laine lands a hook that snaps the head of Da Silva backwards.
Laine tries to land knees in the clinch but Da Silva avoids the damage to the body.
I was talking to Da Silva's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
A head punch on the inside from Da Silva fails to land.

Laine works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.

Da Silva working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Laine doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Laine manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Laine chips away with some ground and pound.
Laine postures up in Da Silva's guard and throws a big left but Da Silva blocks it.
Laine looking to pass the guard.
Da Silva is trying to keep Laine in close.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laine trying to control the position from guard on top but Da Silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Laine advances position into side control!
Laine throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Laine working away.
Sloppy strikes there by Laine.

Laine tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Laine has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Laine thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Da Silva tries to buck Laine off but Laine is having none of it.

Laine is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Da Silva knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
The strikes coming from Laine are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Da Silva tries to improve position but can't.
Laine trying to control the action but Da Silva is working from the bottom.
Laine in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Da Silva can't do much from the bottom here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Da Silva manages to get back to half guard.
Laine prevents Da Silva from improving his position.
Laine controlling the action here.
Laine trying to pass the guard but Da Silva defending well.

Da Silva looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Da Silva desperately trying to maintain half guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Da Silva avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Laine.
Laine prevents Da Silva from improving his position.
Laine throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Laine thows a huge punch but Da Silva dodges it nicely.

Laine is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Da Silva doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Laine.

Laine is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Pako Laine dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A big right from Laine misses.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
A head punch on the inside from Laine fails to land.
Laine with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
A short body shot lands from Laine as the two fighters clinch.
Laine misses with a short punch on the inside.
Laine tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Da Silva is leaning against Laine and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Laine misses with a short punch on the inside.
Da Silva misses with a short punch on the inside.
Laine tries a body shot but Da Silva blocks it.
Da Silva misses with a body punch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Da Silva.
Laine tries to land knees in the clinch but Da Silva avoids the damage to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Da Silva avoiding damage as Laine throws knees to the body.
Da Silva working aggressively here.
Da Silva throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Laine blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A short left from Da Silva.
Laine wants a takedown.
Da Silva managing to block the knees to the body from Laine.
Laine fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laine blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Laine with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Da Silva on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Pako Laine seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Da Silva on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Laine misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Da Silva.
Da Silva blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Laine blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Laine prevents a body shot from Da Silva.
Laine lands with a short shot to the head.
Da Silva lands a nice uppercut.
Da Silva lands a right hand that snaps the head of Laine backwards.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Da Silva.
Laine can't find room to land a body shot as Da Silva controls the action.
Da Silva working aggressively here.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Da Silva.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Da Silva.
Da Silva scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Laine tries to land knees in the clinch but Da Silva avoids the damage to the body.
Laine blocking some punches.
Da Silva working aggressively here.
Da Silva lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Da Silva blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Laine misses with a hook from the clinch.
Da Silva throws a head punch that misses.
Da Silva fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Da Silva tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Laine swings wildly with an uppercut but Da Silva uses good head movement to avoid it.
Da Silva swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A short uppercut from Da Silva.
Da Silva struggles to land a body shot inside as Laine controls his hands.
Laine using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Laine lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Da Silva backwards.
Nice body punch from Da Silva - that landed with a thud.
Laine has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Laine lands a shot to the body.
Da Silva prevents a takedown attempt there.
Da Silva lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.

Laine gets control of Da Silva's arms and successfully pulls guard. Laine will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Laine keeping full guard, as Da Silva tries to pass.
Pako Laine has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Laine had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Da Silva defends it easily.
Da Silva passes Laine's left leg - he's now in half guard.

Laine looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Da Silva wants to pass to mount but Laine is defending the position.
Da Silva seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Laine does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Laine is trying to control but Da Silva manages to pass to mount!
Da Silva wants to take Laine's back here but Laine is holding on to an arm, himself looking to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Laine is working to get back to half guard.
Da Silva wants to control the pace but Laine is squirming around nicely.
Laine manages to regain half guard. Good work.
Da Silva wants to pass the guard but Laine is defending well.
Laine trying to control here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Leonardo Da Silva dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Laine misses with a few strikes there.
Laine blocks the body kick.
Laine takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Da Silva doesn't manage to clinch there - Laine circles away.
Laine cracks Da Silva with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Laine misses with a leg kick
and Da Silva cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Laine tries to work over Da Silva's front leg with a kick but Da Silva checks it.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
The fighters circling - Laine throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Laine misses with a hook.
Laine just misses with a punch to the body.
Laine tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Da Silva tries to close the distance and clinch but Laine swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Laine takes a swing at Da Silva's ribcage but misses.
Laine on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Da Silva. Da Silva obviously looking to wear him down.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Laine is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Da Silva takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Da Silva tries to clinch there but Laine circles away.

Da Silva has closed the distance and engaged Laine in a clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Da Silva lands a left hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laine with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Laine blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Da Silva tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Da Silva lands a nice uppercut.
Laine missing with knees to the body.
Da Silva managing to block the knees to the body from Laine.
Da Silva lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Laine's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Laine swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Da Silva scores with a nice hook to the head.
Laine tries a knee to the head but Da Silva blocks it.
Da Silva tries to throw a body punch but Laine avoids it by throwing Da Silva back against the cage.
Laine takes a shot to the head.
Da Silva can't find room to land a body shot as Laine controls the action.
Da Silva working aggressively here.
Laine trying to land knees to the body.
Laine missing with knees to the body.
Laine tries a knee to the head but Da Silva blocks it.
A short right from Da Silva.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Laine throws a punch but it's blocked by Da Silva.
A shot in the inside from Da Silva.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Da Silva swings wildly with an uppercut but Laine uses good head movement to avoid it.
Laine misses with the head strike.
Laine lands a hook to the side of the head.
Laine working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Da Silva is leaning against Laine and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Laine.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Da Silva.
Da Silva scores with a shot to the side of Laine's head.
Da Silva pushes Laine back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.

Laine lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Laine takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Da Silva slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Da Silva tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Da Silva working for a triangle but Laine defends it easily.
Laine trying to control the position from guard on top but Da Silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Da Silva is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Laine is looking for a sweep. Da Silva is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Da Silva trying to mount his opponent but Laine defends it.
Laine trying to control but Da Silva postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Laine is refusing to be controlled, as Da Silva sits in half guard.
Laine trying to hold on to Da Silva's head to control him but Da Silva postures up.

Da Silva seems to be looking for submissions.
Laine wants to improve his position but Da Silva is controlling well.

Da Silva is looking for a kimura but Laine is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Da Silva to get the leverage.
Laine trying to control from the bottom.
Da Silva seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Laine does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Leonardo Da Silva.
I think Da Silva 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 Percy O'Donnell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Frank Antenori scores the fight 29:28
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Leonardo Da Silva!
Leonardo Da Silva was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.