PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Laursen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricardo Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Silva has chosen Swedish House Mafia - One (Your Name) as his entrance music. Ricardo Silva has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with James Laursen's chin.

Laursen
vs
Silva

175 cm
23
193 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

188 cm
24
184 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Heavy handed

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 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, James Laursen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ricardo Silva!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Jack Bonds and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Laursen is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Silva's half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Laursen tries to pass the half guard into mount. Silva knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Laursen knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Silva on the ground.
Silva moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Silva punching from the bottom - just letting Laursen know he's still in a fight.
Silva controls Laursen momentarily but Laursen frees himself.
Laursen lands a couple of elbows.
Laursen tries to free his leg and advance position but Silva is retaining full guard.
Silva has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Laursen from controlling successfully.
Laursen seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Laursen could do with loosing a few pounds - he looks very soft around the mid section, to put it politely.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of James Laursen.
Silva throws a poor cross that misses

and Laursen counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Laursen won't allow Silva to sweep him here.
Laursen wants to pass the guard but Silva is keeping the position.
Laursen makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Silva looks gassed!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Laursen wants to control from the top but Silva keeps moving.
Laursen is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

We're going to have a standup here because James Laursen wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Laursen drives through with a takedown into guard.
Silva manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Laursen tries to hold on but Silva postures up.
Laursen is squirming around, avoiding Silva's attempts to control the action.
Laursen tries to hold on but Silva postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Laursen is in a bad position, trying to hold on for dear life but he is really struggling to maintain any sort of control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Silva tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.
Laursen can't escape the position.
Silva trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Silva is looking to stand but Silva has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.
Laursen is wriggling around trying to escape.
Laursen might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Silva trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva avoids the attempt from Laursen to control.
Laursen is squirming around, avoiding Silva's attempts to control the action.
Laursen wants to hold on but Silva pushes him away.
Silva is looking to stand but Silva has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.
Laursen is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Silva wants to control the pace but Laursen is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Laursen is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Laursen keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Silva looking to control but Laursen is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Laursen is in all sorts of trouble here.

Silva stands up from the dominant position, so we're back on the feet.

Laursen bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Silva tries to improve position but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Laursen dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Laursen gets a takedown into half guard.
Laursen with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Laursen slips a nice elbow through Silva's hands, connecting with Silva's forehead.
Laursen lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Silva wants to control but Laursen is keeping busy.
Silva is not content to let Laursen control the position.
Laursen looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Silva is breathing heavily.
Laursen working over Silva with some ground and pound. Silva looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Laursen lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Silva is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Laursen scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva gets back to full guard.
Laursen keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Silva's head.
Laursen trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Laursen stopping the sweep attempt from Silva.
Silva doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Silva tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Laursen stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Silva swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Laursen wants to stand but Silva is controlling his posture from full guard.
Laursen has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Laursen trying to control the position from guard on top but Silva is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Laursen not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.

James Laursen has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
The fighters circle momentarily. Laursen darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
Silva throws an ugly left hook that misses

and Laursen counters with a single leg into guard. Silva didn't expect that.
Silva trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Laursen from controlling successfully.
Silva being controlled here, momentarily.
Laursen looking to pass the guard.
Laursen wants to control from the top but Silva keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because James Laursen wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Laursen throws a right and a left that Silva avoids nicely.

Laursen bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Laursen wants to control but Silva is keeping him busy.
Laursen tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Silva tries to buck Laursen off but Laursen is having none of it.

Laursen working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Silva gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Silva won't allow Laursen to pass to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Laursen prevents Silva from improving his position.
Laursen lands strikes from half guard.
Laursen keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Silva is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Silva wants to control but Laursen is keeping busy.
Silva is staying active underneath Laursen, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Silva tries to get to full guard but Laursen has control of the leg.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Laursen is keen to just control but Silva is a slippery customer.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Laursen dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Laursen feints and as Silva raises his hands in defense, Laursen changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Laursen sitting in guard here, content to control.
Silva keeping moving, preventing Laursen from controlling successfully.
Silva looking to hit a scissor sweep but Laursen is one step ahead there.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of James Laursen.

Laursen gets a takedown into half guard.
Still in half guard, Laursen seems content to control.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva wants to get back to full guard.
Laursen tries to pass the half guard into mount. Silva knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Laursen controlling the action here.

Silva looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Laursen wants to stand up but Silva has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Silva punching from the bottom.
Laursen working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Laursen is nestled in close to Silva, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Laursen trying to mount his opponent but Silva defends it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Silva is looking for a sweep. Laursen is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Laursen tries to pass to full mount but Silva defends it.
Laursen takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Laursen looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Silva with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Silva throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Laursen prevents Silva from improving his position.
Silva missing with punches from the bottom.
Laursen is looking to advance position but Silva won't allow it.
Silva wants to improve his position but Laursen is controlling well.
James Laursen overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Silva trying to hold on to Laursen's head to control him but Laursen postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silva tries to get to full guard but Laursen has control of the leg.
Laursen content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Laursen wants to control but Silva is keeping him busy.

James Laursen has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Laursen connects with a body shot.

Laursen scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Silva prevents Laursen from improving position.
Silva gets back to half guard.
Laursen working the head and body with strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Silva missing with punches from the bottom.
Silva gets full guard.
Laursen wants to get up but he can't break Silva's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Silva working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Laursen doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Laursen manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Laursen stopping the sweep attempt from Silva.
Laursen engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
James Laursen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Laursen looking to pass the guard.
Ricardo Silva has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Laursen controlling from the top position.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Laursen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Laursen 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Jack Bonds scores the fight 30:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Laursen!