PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between T Challa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Daniel Maia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Challa
vs
Maia

184 cm
25
200 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

182 cm
21
188 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the middleweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, T Challa!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Daniel Maia!
The judges for this bout are , and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Challa throws a body punch but Maia moves out of range.
Challa fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Maia looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.

Maia shoots in and bounces Challa off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Challa keeping moving, preventing Maia from controlling successfully.
Maia stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Challa swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Maia wants to control from the top but Challa keeps moving.
Challa is trying to control the position but Maia postures up.
Maia wants to control from the top but Challa keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Challa is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Challa on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Challa tries to get out of the position.
Challa is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

Challa manages to escape and get back to his feet.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Maia.
Challa slips under a jab from Maia.
Maia misses with a hook to the body
and Challa counters with a left and a right that stings Maia.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
letting Challa counter with a right hand.
Challa loads up on a big right hand but Maia slips the punch.
Maia doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Challa counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
T Challa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Daniel Maia.
Maia shoots and misses
and Challa counters with a right hand to the body.
Challa throws a right and a left that both miss.
Maia shoots and misses
and Challa counters with a left and a right that stings Maia.
Maia tries for a takedown but Challa circles away easily
and Challa counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Challa missing with a left hand there. Maia was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Challa looks to score with a jab to the body but Maia is just out of range.
Challa thows a left - swing and a miss!

Maia shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Challa is not content to let Maia control the position.
Challa is trying to maintain the position but Maia is very close to passing his half guard.
Challa is looking to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Challa is not content to let Maia control the position.
Challa gets full guard.
Maia sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Maia trying to control but Challa is working from the bottom.
Challa keeping full guard, as Maia tries to pass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

T Challa dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Maia moves out of range as Challa strikes.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Maia ducks under a wild hook from Challa.
Challa swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Maia misses with a takedown
and Challa counters with a left and a right that stings Maia.
The fighters circling - Challa throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Maia looks to score with a jab to the body but Challa is just out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maia ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Challa misses with the combination.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a straight right hand.
T Challa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Daniel Maia.
A telegraphed right hand from Challa misses the target.
Maia keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Challa.
Maia gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Challa makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a stiff right hand.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Maia defending well as Challa loads up on a big left hand.
Maia misses with a takedown attempt
and Challa counters with a right hand to the body.
Maia scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Maia with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Challa to score with a decent uppercut.
Challa lands the left hand.
Challa thows a left - swing and a miss!
Maia keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Challa.
Challa scores with a shot to the body.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
letting Challa counter with a right hand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a straight right hand.
Maia fails with the takedown
and Challa counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Maia takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Challa throws a shot from downtown. Maia moves away and avoids it.
Maia slips a jab from Challa.
Maia shoots and misses
and Challa counters with a nice uppercut.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maia misses with a takedown
and Challa counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
A big left from Challa misses.
Maia fails with the takedown
and Challa counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Challa looks to throw the jab but Maia is out of range.
Challa ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Maia fails with the takedown
and Challa counters with a left and a right that stings Maia.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

T Challa dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Challa throws a big shot that misses.
Challa ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Maia defending well as Challa loads up on a big left hand.
Challa just misses with a punch to the body.
Maia doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Challa counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Maia misses the jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Challa throws a hook but Maia blocks it.
A combination from Challa does no damage.
Challa misses with a looping right.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maia gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Maia takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Maia shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Challa counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
T Challa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Daniel Maia.
Challa throws out a loose jab but Maia uses good head movement to avoid it.
Maia showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Challa.
Challa scores with a jab to the jaw.

Maia gets the takedown into side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maia trying to control the action but Challa is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
You can see the frustration on Challa's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

Maia tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Maia has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Maia postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Maia is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Challa has escaped the position, nice work there.
Challa tries to improve position but can't.
Challa is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Maia asserts his dominance and retains side control.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a lovely straight right hand!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Maia doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Maia takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Maia takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Maia misses with a takedown attempt
and Challa counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Challa lands with a hook. Maia tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Maia misses with a takedown
letting Challa counter with a right hand.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Maia shoots and misses
and Challa connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Challa misses with a body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

T Challa clearly takes that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Challa misses with a straight right.
Challa lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Maia displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Challa throws out the jab.
A slow jab from Challa misses its intended target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Challa counters with a series of strikes. Maia will be more careful next time no doubt.
Maia tries for a takedown but Challa circles away easily
letting Challa counter with a right hand.
T Challa has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Daniel Maia.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Challa looks to land a right hand but Maia moved out of range.
Challa will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Maia fails with the takedown
and Challa counters with a straight right hand.
Challa uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Maia fails with the takedown
and Challa counters with a straight right hand.
Challa misses with a looping left.
T Challa is winning the standup battle so far.

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.
Maia shoots and misses
letting Challa counter with a right hand.
Challa throws out a loose jab but Maia uses good head movement to avoid it.
Maia tries for a takedown but Challa circles away easily
and Challa counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Maia has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Maia is absolutely dripping with sweat - he looks exhausted.
Challa throws a hook but Maia blocks it.
Maia misses with a takedown
and Challa counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Nice shot lands for Challa.
Maia gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Challa counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Challa missing with a left hand there. Maia was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Maia fails with the takedown
and Challa cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Challa throws a predictable looking body shot

and Maia counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Maia.
Challa is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maia stops Challa from standing up.
Maia looking to pass the guard.
Challa is looking to stand up but Maia isn't so interested in that idea.
Maia trying to control but Challa is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

T Challa had his way with Daniel Maia in that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Maia moves out of range as Challa strikes.

Challa gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Challa is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Maia is controlling him.
Challa is pulling down on Maia's head. It's preventing any offense from Maia, at least for the moment.

Maia drops back looking for a submission - "I'm sorry sir, but I'm gunna break your leg" says Maia as he cranks on the unfortunate limb! Challa screams and taps out before any major damage is done! Don't mess with Maia! Nice submission victory there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:05 of round 5, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kneebar). Daniel Maia!
Daniel Maia is the new middleweight champion!