PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Masakazu Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Toby Smoulder (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Maeda comes to the cage accompanied by Wandering Star. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Maeda
vs
Smoulder

180 cm
26
165 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

179 cm
24
160 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
Good chin

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Masakazu Maeda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Toby Smoulder!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Taro Takaoka and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Maeda has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.

Maeda clinches up against the cage.

Smoulder is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Maeda can't fight it off and eventually Smoulder manages to take the fight to the floor. Maeda looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Smoulder looking to pass the guard.
Maeda looking for a sweep. Not yet Maeda, not yet.

Smoulder gets to his feet. Maeda looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Maeda on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Smoulder. Smoulder obviously looking to wear him down.
Maeda shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Smoulder pinned against the cage. Smoulder gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Maeda shoots in looking for a takedown. Smoulder tries to sprawl out of it but Maeda keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Smoulder manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Maeda fails with the takedown

and Smoulder counters with a shoot takedown. Maeda fights it but they end up in guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Masakazu Maeda. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Maeda looking for a guillotine here but Smoulder defends easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smoulder trying to control but Maeda is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Smoulder trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Maeda wants to sweep but no luck.
Maeda keeping moving, preventing Smoulder from controlling successfully.
Maeda is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Maeda has a closed guard, preventing Smoulder from standing up.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Toby Smoulder was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Smoulder misses with a low kick as Maeda jumps back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Smoulder tries to avoid it but Maeda manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Smoulder to the ground. Smoulder escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Smoulder throws a series of punches but Maeda avoids them all with ease.
Maeda slips a jab and a cross from Smoulder.

Smoulder gets the takedown into side control.

Smoulder stands up.
Smoulder looks gassed!
Smoulder stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Smoulder wants it to stay on the feet.

Smoulder closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Maeda's guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Maeda has his hands on Smoulder's head, controlling the position.
Maeda is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Maeda is taking a breather. Smoulder says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda is trying to control. Smoulder wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Smoulder has a hand on Maeda's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Maeda takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Smoulder is desperately trying to get back to half guard.

Maeda is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Smoulder to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Smoulder shrugs it off.
Maeda takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maeda'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.
Smoulder tries to hold on but Maeda postures up.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Smoulder misses with a wild body shot.
Maeda misses with a wild body shot.
Maeda tries to clinch but Smoulder is having none of it.
Maeda looks to land a body kick but Smoulder moved away.
Maeda shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Smoulder, right into the meat.

Smoulder shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Smoulder really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Maeda. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Maeda works his way to full guard. Good work.
Maeda controls Smoulder momentarily but Smoulder frees himself.
Smoulder trying to control the position from guard on top but Maeda is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Maeda has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda is trying to keep Smoulder in close.
Maeda pulls Smoulder in close to his closed guard and prevents Smoulder from doing any damage or advancing position.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

We're going to have a standup here because Masakazu Maeda wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Smoulder's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Smoulder duly obliges.
Maeda takes one on the chin but keeps coming.

Maeda clinches with his opponent.
Maeda is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Smoulder wants to break free but Maeda has control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda looking for a takedown.
Smoulder wants to break the clinch but can't.
Smoulder is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Smoulder has had enough of the clinch but Maeda keeps him there for the moment.
Maeda tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Smoulder just stands there and leans against the cage.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Masakazu Maeda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Smoulder has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Maeda goes for a takedown attempt but Smoulder pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Smoulder swats away the attempt to clinch by Maeda.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Smoulder misses with a double jab.
Smoulder moves out of range of the body kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smoulder throws out a loose jab but Maeda uses good head movement to avoid it.
A punch combination from Smoulder misses.
Maeda looks to score with a jab to the body but Smoulder is just out of range.
Maeda tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Smoulder lands with a shot to the body.
Masakazu Maeda seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Smoulder misses with a few strikes there.
Maeda throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Maeda blocks a low kick nicely.
Maeda gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Smoulder makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Maeda really felt that one!

Smoulder feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Maeda is adopting a defensive guard.
Smoulder trying to control but Maeda is working from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maeda looking to hit a scissor sweep but Smoulder is one step ahead there.

Maeda is looking for a triangle but Smoulder pushes his legs off easily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Maeda not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Smoulder passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Smoulder looking to control but instead Maeda has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Smoulder is looking to take a break and control but Maeda is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Toby Smoulder showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Smoulder shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Smoulder was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Maeda tries to lock up and control but Smoulder gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Smoulder looking to control but Maeda is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Smoulder controlling from mount.
Smoulder throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Toby Smoulder has got the better of the ground game so far.
Maeda bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Maeda content to stall in guard here.
Maeda pushing down on Smoulder's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda controlling the action here.
Smoulder is looking for a sweep. Maeda is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Smoulder takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Maeda not doing much here.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Smoulder can do anything to dispel that myth.
Maeda wants to control but Smoulder is keeping him busy.

Maeda is working for a kimura but Smoulder is defending it quite comfortably.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda controlling the action here.
Maeda is keen to just control but Smoulder is a slippery customer.
Maeda slows the pace down in half guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Masakazu Maeda just wasn't active enough.
Smoulder misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Smoulder misses with a low kick as Maeda jumps back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda throws a half hearted mid kick.
Smoulder scores with a punch to the head.
Smoulder takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Smoulder throws a body kick that misses.
Maeda swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Maeda throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Maeda enables Smoulder to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Maeda manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Maeda is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Smoulder is sitting in close to Maeda's body. Maeda has gone for a guillotine from the bottom. Oh damn, that looks pretty tight! Smoulder is panicking - it looks like this one could be all over! Yes, Smoulder is tapping! That was a very nice submission by Maeda.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:04 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Guillotine). Masakazu Maeda!