PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Carlos Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paulo Cardozo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Silva might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Bounce. The crowd seem to be enjoying Cardozo's choice of entrance music: Psy. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Silva
vs
Cardozo

186 cm
18
207 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
18
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Carlos Silva!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Paulo Cardozo!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Edson Gomes and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No joy there for Silva, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Cardozo closes the distance and clinches.
Cardozo is looking to break free of the clinch but Silva has double underhooks.
Silva misses with a hook from the clinch.
Silva keeps control of Cardozo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Silva lands a nice uppercut.
Cardozo tries to break free but Silva pushes him back against the cage.
Cardozo has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Silva is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Cardozo can't break the clinch.
Silva avoiding damage as Cardozo throws knees to the body.
Silva throws an elbow but it's blocked.

Cardozo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Silva scores with a nice body kick.
Cardozo looks gassed!
Silva fails with the takedown.
Silva throws a series of punches but Cardozo moves out of range.
Silva darts in trying to clinch
and Cardozo counters with a body kick.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cardozo slips a jab and a cross from Silva.
Cardozo is trying hard to land a takedown here. Silva sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Silva misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Cardozo's waist but Cardozo gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Silva off to one side.

Cardozo darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Silva makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Silva.
Silva seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Cardozo really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Silva. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Cardozo is looking to stand up but Silva won't let him.
Silva throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Silva trying to keep a closed guard but Cardozo is proving a slippery customer.
Silva keeping full guard, as Cardozo tries to pass.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Silva bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Cardozo's guard.
Cardozo trying to keep a closed guard but Silva is proving a slippery customer.
Silva landing some decent shots from guard.
Silva landing with the ground and pound.

Silva drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Silva jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cardozo is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Silva trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Silva with a flurry of punches that miss.
Cardozo wants to sweep but no luck.
Silva scoring with punches to the head and body.
Cardozo looking to control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cardozo shoots for a takedown but Silva saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Carlos Silva has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Paulo Cardozo.
Silva will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

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.

Cardozo clinches up with Silva and pushes him back against the cage.
Silva prevents a takedown attempt there.
Silva lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Silva.
Silva gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Cardozo.
Silva misses with some punches.
Silva lands a damaging elbow.
A short left from Cardozo.
Silva misses with a hook from the clinch.
Cardozo blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A nice left hand lands by Silva.
Cardozo blocks an elbow strike.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carlos Silva 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.

Cardozo lands a two punch combo.
Horrible takedown by Cardozo or perhaps it was just good defense by Silva which made him look bad.
Silva misses with a double jab

and Cardozo counters by clinching up.
Cardozo tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Silva just stands there and leans against the cage.
Cardozo is pressed up against the cage. Silva has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Cardozo down to the mat. Cardozo avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Silva misses with a combination
and Cardozo counters with a leg kick.
Cardozo lands with an uppercut that bounces Silva off the cage and back into rage.

Cardozo fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Silva, pushing him back against the cage.
Silva taking a breather.

Cardozo turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Cardozo manages to end up in side control.
Silva is trying to buck Cardozo off.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Cardozo works to advance to full mount. Silva defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

Cardozo working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is squirming around, avoiding Cardozo's attempts to control the action.
Silva tries to hold on but Cardozo pushes him away.
Silva is working to get back to half guard.
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.
Cardozo controlling from the full mount.
Cardozo with some aggressive grappling here, looking for the finish.
Silva throwing hammer fists to the chest of Cardozo. What's that going to do exactly?

That's two 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.
Silva is looking to get to half guard.
Cardozo looking to finish Silva with some ground and pound. This is bad for Silva!
Cardozo controlling from mount.
Cardozo can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Silva is looking to escape.

Cardozo is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Silva to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Silva shrugs it off.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva wants to control but Cardozo is having none of it.
Silva is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Cardozo is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Silva can't escape the position.
Cardozo working Silva over with strikes here.
Cardozo controlling from mount.
Silva sneaks a leg under to get 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.
Cardozo blocks the strikes from Silva.
Silva wants to get back to full guard.
Silva throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Silva wants to control but Cardozo is keeping busy and won't allow it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Silva tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Silva throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Silva is looking to improve his position.
Silva is refusing to be controlled, as Cardozo sits in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paulo Cardozo showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Cardozo shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Silva manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Silva looking for a guillotine here but Cardozo defends easily.
Cardozo trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Silva is trying to hold Cardozo in close to prevent damage but Cardozo has managed to pass into half guard.
Silva trying to hold on to Cardozo's head to control him but Cardozo postures up.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Cardozo is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is refusing to be controlled, as Cardozo sits in half guard.
Silva is trying to control but can't.
Silva flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
A left and a right from Silva both land. Nice combination.
Silva misses with a double jab

and Cardozo counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Cardozo.
Cardozo connects with a couple of short punches.
Silva controlling Cardozo's posture.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Cardozo from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silva looking to hit a scissor sweep but Cardozo is one step ahead there.
Cardozo not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Cardozo from controlling successfully.
Silva scores with a nice shot.
Silva looking to control.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Silva throws a series of punches but Cardozo moves out of range.
Cardozo lands a two punch combo.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva throws a left and a right that both miss

and Cardozo counters with a shoot takedown. Silva fights it but they end up in guard.
Silva is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Silva trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Silva trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Cardozo showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Silva will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.
Cardozo stands up over Silva, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Cardozo wants to control from the top but Silva keeps moving.
Silva is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Silva throws a left and a right that both miss

and Cardozo counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Silva's guard now.
Silva is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Silva doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

Silva is working an open guard so Cardozo takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Silva throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Silva looks for the body kick but Cardozo saw that one coming.
Cardozo has a takedown stuffed.
Silva misses with a takedown attempt

and Cardozo counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Cardozo works his foot free and advances to mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Silva sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.

And that's the end of the fight!
Paulo Cardozo comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Cardozo has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 28:29
Judge Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Paulo Cardozo!