PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Hiro Iwasaki (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Silverman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Iwasaki
vs
Silverman

181 cm
19
174 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

175 cm
22
165 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Likes ground

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hiro Iwasaki!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Chris Silverman!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Shimada, Sosuke Kotani and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Iwasaki rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Silverman moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Iwasaki will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Iwasaki misses with the combination.
Hiro Iwasaki seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Silverman closes the distance and clinches.
Silverman tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Silverman tries to land knees in the clinch but Iwasaki avoids the damage to the body.
Silverman's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Iwasaki wants to get back to striking at distance but Silverman won't allow it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Iwasaki wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Iwasaki wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Silverman lands a nice knee to the body.
Iwasaki wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Iwasaki has had enough of the clinch but Silverman keeps him there for the moment.
Iwasaki has had enough of the clinch but Silverman keeps him there for the moment.
Silverman scores a nice knee to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Iwasaki wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Silverman has him pressed against the cage.
Iwasaki tries to break the clinch but Silverman is controlling the position.
Silverman missing with knees to the body.
Silverman connects with a knee to the head.

It looks like Hiro Iwasaki has been cut.
Silverman missing with knees to the body.
Iwasaki has had enough of the clinch but Silverman keeps him there for the moment.
Silverman looking to throw knees to the head but Iwasaki is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Iwasaki wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Silverman landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Silverman crunches a lovely knee into Iwasaki's ribcage.

Silverman manages to break the clinch.
Iwasaki closes the distance but Silverman moves to the side
and Silverman counters with a low kick, right behind Iwasaki 's knee.
Iwasaki tries to clinch but Silverman moves away

and Silverman counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Silverman lands a nice knee to the body.
Iwasaki tries to break the clinch but Silverman is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silverman taking a breather.
Silverman lands an elbow that stopped Iwasaki in his tracks for a moment.
Silverman prevents Iwasaki from breaking the clinch.
Silverman using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Silverman misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Iwasaki.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Silverman lands a nice knee to the body.
Silverman tries to land knees in the clinch but Iwasaki avoids the damage to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chris Silverman dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Hiro Iwasaki's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Iwasaki looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Iwasaki swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Silverman counters with a nice kick to the body.
Iwasaki fails with the takedown
and Silverman makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Iwasaki really felt that one!
Iwasaki throws a right and a left that Silverman avoids nicely.

Silverman clinches with his opponent.
Silverman lands a knee to the body.
Iwasaki avoiding damage as Silverman throws knees to the body.
Iwasaki wants to break the clinch but can't.
Iwasaki managing to block the knees to the body from Silverman.
Silverman tries to land knees in the clinch but Iwasaki avoids the damage to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silverman crunches a lovely knee into Iwasaki's ribcage.
Iwasaki on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Silverman using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Iwasaki on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Iwasaki on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Silverman missing with knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Silverman.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Silverman tries to land knees in the clinch but Iwasaki avoids the damage to the body.
Silverman with a knee to the head.
Silverman landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Iwasaki can't break the clinch.
Iwasaki wants to break the clinch but can't.
Iwasaki wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Silverman keeps control of Iwasaki as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Iwasaki wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silverman has Iwasaki pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Iwasaki manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Silverman throws a knee to the head but misses.
Silverman scores a nice knee to the body.
Silverman lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Iwasaki or not.
Silverman tries to land a knee to the head but Iwasaki blocks with his arms.
Silverman prevents Iwasaki from breaking the clinch.
Iwasaki wants to break free but Silverman has control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Silverman scores with a knee to the head.
Iwasaki wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Silverman has him pressed against the cage.
Silverman lands a knee to the body.
Iwasaki managing to block the knees to the body from Silverman.
Iwasaki avoiding damage as Silverman throws knees to the body.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Iwasaki wants to break the clinch but can't.
Silverman prevents Iwasaki from breaking the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Chris Silverman showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Hiro Iwasaki's cut.
That's time! Iwasaki's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Iwasaki avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Silverman connects with a crisp jab.

Silverman moves into range and clinches up with Iwasaki.
Knees in the clinch landing for Silverman.
Silverman landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Iwasaki wants to break the clinch but can't.
Knees to the body from Silverman.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Iwasaki wants to break free but Silverman has control.
Iwasaki wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Silverman has him pressed against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Iwasaki tries to break the clinch but Silverman is controlling the position.
Iwasaki avoiding damage as Silverman throws knees to the body.
Iwasaki can't break the clinch.
Iwasaki tries to break the clinch but Silverman is controlling the position.
Iwasaki wants to break free but Silverman has control.
Silverman looking to throw knees to the head but Iwasaki is blocking nicely.
Silverman tries to land knees in the clinch but Iwasaki avoids the damage to the body.
Iwasaki wants to break free but Silverman has control.

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.
Silverman trying to land knees to the body.
Knees in the clinch landing for Silverman.
Silverman crunches a lovely knee into Iwasaki's ribcage.
Silverman tries a knee to the head but Iwasaki blocks it.
Silverman tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Silverman keeps control of Iwasaki as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Silverman using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Iwasaki wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Silverman has him pressed against the cage.
Silverman misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Iwasaki.
Iwasaki wants to get back to striking at distance but Silverman won't allow it.
Silverman misses with a knee strike.
Iwasaki wants to break free but Silverman has control.
Silverman lands a knee to the body.
Silverman keeps control of Iwasaki as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Hiro Iwasaki has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

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.
Silverman trying to land knees to the body.
Iwasaki can't break the clinch.
Silverman is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Iwasaki pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Silverman with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Silverman prevents a body shot from Iwasaki.
Iwasaki working aggressively here.
Iwasaki misses with a short punch on the inside.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Silverman misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Iwasaki.

Iwasaki breaks from the clinch.
Silverman avoids a punch combination nicely.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chris Silverman comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Silverman 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 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Chris Silverman!