PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Emanuel Thornton (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joao Silva (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Thornton
vs
Silva

201 cm
20
177 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

183 cm
21
170 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Enjoys gardening

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Emanuel Thornton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Joao Silva!
The judges for this bout are Timothy Bukovac, Frank Antenori and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Thornton tries to keep at a distance but Silva has taken the fight into the clinch.

Silva works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Thornton has a closed guard, preventing Silva from standing up.
Silva slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Silva drops back looking for a leg! Thornton is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Thornton manages to kick Silva off! Silva jumps back into Thornton's guard.
Silva 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.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thornton is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silva wants to pass the guard but Thornton is keeping the position.
Thornton knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Silva on the ground.
Silva throwing strikes from guard but Thornton blocks nicely.
Thornton is trying to keep Silva in close.
Silva slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Silva wants to pass the guard but Thornton is keeping the position.
Thornton is trying to control the position from the bottom.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Thornton fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

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.
Silva throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Thornton counters with a series of strikes. Silva will be more careful next time no doubt.

Silva shoots in and gets a takedown into Thornton's guard.

Thornton has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Silva off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

Silva closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Silva lands in his opponent's guard.
Silva postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thornton is trying to control the position but Silva postures up.
Silva is stalling in the full guard.
Silva lands a couple of elbows.
Silva slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Thornton controls Silva momentarily but Silva frees himself.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Silva accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Silva has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Silva would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed 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.
Silva passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Silva wants to stand but Thornton is controlling his arm.
Thornton really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Thornton wants to improve his position, back to half guard but Silva has ideas of his own. He's got hold of Thornton's far side arm and it looks like he's got an Americana. Ohh! Ohhhh! OOOOOOOOOH! A human being's arm is not meant to bend like that! Thornton is tapping like a morse code operator on the Titanic! SOS SOS! He's out of here! Great win for Silva!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Joao Silva!