PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Akira Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Josh Hara (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hara has chosen Armin van Buuren - Sail as his entrance music. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Maeda
vs
Hara

192 cm
19
215 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
205 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Cuts easily

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Akira Maeda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Josh Hara!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Yukihiro Shimada and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hara staying out of range there.

Hara drives through with a takedown into guard.
Hara with a flurry of punches that miss.
Hara throwing strikes from guard but Maeda blocks nicely.
Hara loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Maeda not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Hara tries to free his leg and advance position but Maeda is retaining full guard.
Hara working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Hara in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Hara throws a big elbow that misses.
Hara in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Maeda preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Maeda bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Hara's guard.
Hara keeping moving, preventing Maeda from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hara looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Maeda passes into side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hara is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Maeda's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Hara has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Hara is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Maeda pulls his head out easily.
Hara is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hara is positioning himself well to prevent Maeda advancing to mount.
Hara wants to get back to full guard.
Hara is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Maeda jumps into side control!
Maeda knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Hara on the ground.
Hara is looking to regain half guard here but Maeda keeps moving and retains side control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hara looks to move to half guard but instead Maeda has passed into mount! Damn!
Maeda content just to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hara tries to get back to half guard but can't.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Maeda trying to control but Hara is having none of it.
Hara slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Hara looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Hara controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
Hara tries to get to full guard but Maeda has control of the leg.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hara is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Hara dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Maeda thows a body kick. Hara tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Maeda misses with a looping right.
Hara closes this distance looking for a takedown but Maeda circles away.
Maeda throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Hara with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Maeda to score with a decent uppercut.
Hara shoots in for a double leg but Maeda sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Hara fails to land the takedown.
Akira Maeda has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Josh Hara.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Maeda misses with a body kick.
Maeda throws a series of punches but Hara moves out of range.
Hara shoots for a double leg takedown but Maeda sprawls well. He's pushed Hara's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
A thudding body kick lands there by Maeda!
Maeda bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Hara's head backwards.
Maeda scores with a kick to the body.
Hara is breathing heavily.
Maeda fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Maeda scores with a jab to the jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda scoring well with a low kick there.

Maeda lands a big head kick that sends Hara tumbling to the mat! Maeda takes a step backwards and waves Hara back to his feet - he wants the finish!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maeda lands with a cross.

Hara is rocked!
Josh Hara is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A slapping leg kick lands for Maeda.
Maeda pounces like a tiger and cracks Hara with a vicious hook! Hara is down but not out! Maeda follows up with more strikes forcing the ref to jump in and stop it!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punches). Akira Maeda!
Akira Maeda really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that Sharon Needles Nutrition (Donation givebacks PROMO logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.