PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rickson Silva (ranked 1584 p4p, 2155 weight class) and Goran Jovanic (ranked 212 p4p, 277 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Silva
vs
Jovanic

190 cm
26
215
3 - 2 - 0

194 cm
26
209
4 - 3 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Rickson Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Goran Jovanic!
The judges for this bout are Winston Alpacca, David Hoff and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Silva looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Jovanic!
Silva in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Jovanic tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Jovanic sneaks back into half guard.
Jovanic flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.

Silva is working for a kimura but Jovanic is defending it quite comfortably.
We've been hearing good reports from Silva's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

Silva seems to be looking for submissions.
Silva is looking to advance position but Jovanic won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva blocks the strikes from Jovanic.
Silva has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Silva tries to pass the half guard into mount. Jovanic knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Jovanic slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Jovanic is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Jovanic is on top in guard.

Jovanic 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 throws a big elbow that misses.
Jovanic tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Jovanic keeps trying to improve his position.
Silva throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Jovanic looking to hit a scissor sweep but Silva is one step ahead there.
Silva chips away with some ground and pound.
Silva wants to control from the top but Jovanic keeps moving.
Silva stopping the sweep attempt from Jovanic.
Silva is looking to work some ground and pound but Jovanic has wrist control.
Silva being controlled here momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva cracks Jovanic with a solid left hand.
Jovanic looking to hit a scissor sweep but Silva is one step ahead there.
Jovanic looking to control.
Jovanic looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Jovanic looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Silva lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Jovanic wants to sweep here but Silva controlling him for the moment.
Silva connects with a couple of short punches.

Silva 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.
Silva working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jovanic wants to sweep but no luck.
Jovanic keeping moving, preventing Silva from controlling successfully.
Silva is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Jovanic is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Silva throws a big right hand that misses.
Jovanic looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Jovanic keeping moving, preventing Silva from controlling successfully.
Jovanic looking to control.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Jovanic manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Silva manages to get himself to full guard.

Jovanic landing some decent shots from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jovanic trying to control the position from guard on top but Silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Silva controls Jovanic momentarily but Jovanic frees himself.
Silva controlling the position.
Silva looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Silva working a defensive guard here.
Jovanic stopping the sweep attempt from Silva.
Silva will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Silva striking off his back but it's not causing Jovanic any problems.

Silva is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Jovanic is aware though and is defending well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Jovanic looking to pass the guard.
Jovanic working some strikes from top position.
Jovanic cracks Silva with a solid left hand.
Silva bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Jovanic's guard.

And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Rickson Silva dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Jovanic has a takedown stuffed.

Jovanic shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Silva manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Silva can't keep his opponent in guard - Jovanic advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Jovanic is keen to just control but Silva is a slippery customer.
Silva trying to control but Jovanic postures up.
Silva is looking to improve his position.
Silva moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silva has Jovanic pulled in close to control his posture.
Jovanic working some strikes from top position.
Jovanic is working Silva over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Jovanic trying to control the position from guard on top but Silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Jovanic keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Silva's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Silva throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Jovanic preventing the sweep.
Jovanic trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.
Jovanic is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Silva is trying to keep Jovanic in close.
Jovanic postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Jovanic is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Jovanic trying to control but Silva is working from the bottom.
Jovanic might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Silva haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Jovanic content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Silva bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Jovanic's guard.

Silva wants to pass the guard but Jovanic is keeping the position.
Jovanic looking to control.
Silva wants to control from the top but Jovanic keeps moving.
Jovanic is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Silva in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Jovanic has Silva pulled in close to control his posture.
Silva trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Silva trying to control but Jovanic is working from the bottom.
Silva won't allow Jovanic to sweep him here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jovanic bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Silva's guard.

Jovanic looking to pass the guard.
Jovanic scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Jovanic throwing strikes but missing.
Jovanic postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Silva trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Jovanic lands a couple of digs.
Silva is trying to control the position but Jovanic postures up.
Silva is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Jovanic controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Jovanic lands a couple of elbows.
Jovanic being controlled here momentarily.
Jovanic landing some decent shots from guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jovanic wants to control from the top but Silva keeps moving.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Silva holds on and takes a little breather.
Jovanic is working Silva over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Jovanic keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Silva's head.
Jovanic working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Silva's head.

Silva looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Jovanic showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Jovanic stands up over Silva, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Jovanic must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Silva is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Silva is looking to cinch up a triangle. Jovanic throws the leg off to one side though and gets in tight to Silva's body to avoid the submission. Silva has instead reached around Jovanic's neck and now has a guillotine! Oh, this is biiiig trouble! Silva arches his back and squeezes and forces the tap from his hapless opponent.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Rickson Silva!