PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Gaia Ky Jr (ranked 457 p4p, 60 weight class) and Damen Mayer (ranked 1008 p4p, 130 weight class). Gaia Ky Jr has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Ky Jr
vs
Mayer

180 cm
37
145 lbs
15 - 3 - 0

170 cm
35
150 lbs
22 - 16 - 1

Great wrestler
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Vegan Gains

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gaia Ky Jr!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 22 - 16 - 1, fighting out of New York, Damen Mayer!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Yukihiro Shimada and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mayer takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.

Mayer fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Ky Jr sprawls well initially but Mayer persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Ky Jr is looking to improve his position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Ky Jr trying to control from the bottom.
Mayer wants to pass to mount but Ky Jr is defending the position.
Ky Jr gets full guard.
Mayer won't allow Ky Jr to sweep him here.
Ky Jr pulls Mayer in close to prevent any damage.
Ky Jr keeping full guard, as Mayer tries to pass.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Mayer keeps trying to improve his position.

Ky Jr is looking for a triangle but Mayer pushes his legs off easily.
Mayer is stalling in the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ky Jr trying to keep a closed guard but Mayer is proving a slippery customer.

Ky Jr had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Mayer defends it easily.
Ky Jr looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Mayer postures up.
Mayer pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Ky Jr is keeping the position for now.
Ky Jr trying to control the position.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Ky Jr bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Mayer's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Mayer is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Ky Jr is aware though and is defending well.

Mayer has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Ky Jr can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Mayer had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Ky Jr defends it easily.
Ky Jr trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Mayer has momentary wrist control but Ky Jr slips an elbow through the middle.
Ky Jr passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Check out the look on Ky Jr's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Ky Jr working the head with strikes.
Mayer is looking for a sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ky Jr lands a decent elbow from side control.
Mayer on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

It looks like Damen Mayer has been cut.
Mayer tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Mayer struggling a bit here.
Mayer tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Ky Jr wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Ky Jr really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Ky Jr cracks Mayer with a big right hand but Mayer just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Ky Jr trying to control the position but Mayer is working away.
Mayer taking punishment in the form of punches.
Ky Jr cracks Mayer with a big elbow.
Ky Jr in side control lands a nice looking series of punches and elbows.
Mayer stops Ky Jr from passing to mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mayer is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Ky Jr tries to pass the half guard into mount. Mayer knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Mayer looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ky Jr is looking to take a break and control but Mayer is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Mayer wants to improve his position but Ky Jr is controlling well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ky Jr looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Mayer with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Ky Jr is thwarting Mayer's attempts to control the position.
Ky Jr trying to control the action but Mayer is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gaia Ky Jr dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Damen Mayer's cut.
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.

Mayer scores with a jab. Ky Jr acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Ky Jr looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Ky Jr looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Mayer is fending him off so far but Ky Jr persists. Nope, Mayer circles away and we're back to standing.
Mayer tries to close the distance and clinch up but Ky Jr swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Ky Jr changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Ky Jr stuffs the takedown.
Ky Jr changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Mayer swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Mayer misses with an uppercut. Ky Jr saw that one coming.
Ky Jr drops down looking for a counter takedown but Mayer sprawls and moves away.
Mayer swats away the attempt to clinch by Ky Jr.
And Mayer tries to counter it with a takedown but Ky Jr pushes his down on his head and steps out.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Ky Jr enables Mayer to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Ky Jr manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Ky Jr working for a triangle but Mayer defends it easily.
Mayer won't allow Ky Jr to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mayer trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Mayer pushing down on Ky Jr's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

Mayer is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Ky Jr is looking to improve his position.

Ky Jr looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Ky Jr wants to improve his position but Mayer is controlling well.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ky Jr is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Mayer's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Mayer's back!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ky Jr doesn't have the hooks in and Mayer manages to turn into his guard.
Ky Jr keeping full guard, as Mayer tries to pass.

Mayer is posturing up here but Ky Jr has hold of an arm and he's gone for an armbar! Mayer tries to roll out but it's too tight and Mayer has to tap! Slick submission there by Ky Jr!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Gaia Ky Jr!
Gaia Ky Jr retains his featherweight title!
After the fight, Gaia Ky Jr was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.