PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rafael Joao (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thiago Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Joao
vs
Silva

213 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

187 cm
19
194 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Rafael Joao!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Thiago Silva!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Josh West and Roger Salmon.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Joao connects with a high kick.
Silva ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Joao moves away.
Silva shoots in for a takedown but Joao shows good takedown defense.

Joao darts in and clinches Silva up against the cage.
Silva blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Joao pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Silva throws a series of punches but Joao avoids them all with ease.

Joao rushes Silva and presses him up against the cage.
Joao looking to throw knees to the head but Silva is blocking nicely.

Joao breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Silva has managed to clinch.

Joao manages to break the clinch.
Joao takes a body punch but keeps moving.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Joao drives through with a takedown into guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Joao is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Silva seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Joao stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is trying hard to land a takedown here. Joao sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Joao has a takedown stuffed.
Joao throws a head kick that looked like it stung.

Silva fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Joao to the ground. Silva is now in Joao's guard.
Silva controlling from the top position.
Silva trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Joao wants to sweep here but Silva controlling him for the moment.
Joao is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Joao pushes Silva off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Joao is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Silva's half guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Joao is keen to just control but Silva is a slippery customer.

Silva pushes Joao off and gets back to his feet.
Joao is trying hard to land a takedown here. Silva sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Silva lands the left hand.

It looks like Rafael Joao has been cut.

Silva gets a double leg takedown into Joao's guard.
Joao is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Silva is controlling him.
Joao will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joao lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Silva!
Silva working to try and regain half guard.
Joao looking to control and managing it successfully.

Joao working for a guillotine from mount but Silva is in no mood to give up.
Silva tries to lock up and control but Joao gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The referee warns Silva that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Joao controlling from the full mount.
Silva is looking to improve his position but Joao isn't that keen on the idea.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Joao wants to control the pace but Silva is squirming around nicely.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Joao dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Rafael Joao's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Joao connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.

Joao shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Joao throwing shots but Silva is blocking nicely.

Joao escapes and gets back to his feet.

Joao closes the distance and clinches.
Joao is trying to break the clinch but Silva is controlling him.
Joao tries to break the clinch but Silva is controlling the position.
Joao is looking to take this one to the mat.
Silva pushes Joao back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Silva manages to pull guard.
Silva striking off his back but it's not causing Joao any problems.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Joao wants to control from the top but Silva keeps moving.
Silva controls Joao momentarily but Joao frees himself.
Silva wants to get back to his feet but Joao is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Silva not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Thiago Silva.
Silva throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Silva tries for a takedown but Joao sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Joao tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Silva manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Silva tries to keep at a distance but Joao has taken the fight into the clinch.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Joao obliges.

Silva pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Joao shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Silva is trying to defend but Joao finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Silva is trying to stand back up but Joao is controlling him
Joao is controlling the pace.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Joao is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Joao not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Joao takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Joao is working hard to pass the guard. He's done it - he's now in full mount! Trouble for Silva!
Rafael Joao overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Joao wants to control the pace but Silva is squirming around nicely.
Silva is wriggling around trying to escape.
Joao controlling from mount.
Silva wants to control but Joao is having none of it.
Silva is looking to get to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Joao lands a big shot there that rocks Silva but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Joao looking to control and managing it successfully.
Joao's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Joao really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Joao seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Silva for as long as he can get away with.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rafael Joao dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Rafael Joao's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Joao gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Silva must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Joao uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Joao shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Silva tries a head kick but it misses.

Silva clinches up with Joao and pushes him back against the cage.

Joao breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rafael Joao is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Silva leaves Joao with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Joao here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Joao looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Silva is fending him off so far but Joao persists. Nope, Silva circles away and we're back to standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Rafael Joao. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Silva dives in and scores a takedown into Joao's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Joao keeping moving, preventing Silva from controlling successfully.
Silva tries to free his leg and advance position but Joao is retaining full guard.

Thiago Silva has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Joao stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Joao wants it to stay on the feet.
Joao shoots in for a takedown but Silva shows good takedown defense.

Silva shoots in and bounces Joao off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Joao trying to control the position here.
Joao keeping full guard, as Silva tries to pass.
Silva wants to stand and escape but instead Joao has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Joao is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Joao preventing the sweep.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Rafael Joao wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Silva with a hook.
Joao throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Silva's waist but Silva gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Joao off to one side.
Joao throws a combination that misses

and Silva counters by clinching up.
Joao looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

Silva breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Silva looks for a takedown but Joao sprawls well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Joao scores with a head kick. Silva tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.

Silva tries to sprawl but Joao drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Joao controlling the pace.
Silva wants to control but Joao is keeping busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Silva is looking to improve his position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Joao stands up out of the half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Thiago Silva comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Joao 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 Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight for Rafael Joao!
Judge Josh West scores the fight for Rafael Joao!
Judge Roger Salmon scores the fight for Rafael Joao!

Rafael Joao wins by unanimous decision!