PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Brian Nielsen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mitsuyo Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Nielsen's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, Bulls On Parade by Rage Against The Machine. The key to victory for Brian Nielsen has got to be keeping the fight on the feet.

Nielsen
vs
Maeda

188 cm
25
200 lbs
9 - 2 - 0

177 cm
27
192 lbs
6 - 2 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Happy Pills

Mango Nutrition (90% Laundry)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brian Nielsen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mitsuyo Maeda!
The judges for this bout are Aleksei Zolotukhin, Sergei Dronov and Viktor Lagutenko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nielsen ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Maeda moves away.
Maeda fails to land the takedown.
A jab lands there for Nielsen.

Nielsen clinches with his opponent.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Maeda.
Nielsen is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Maeda is defending well for now.
Nielsen scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Nielsen leaning against his opponent.
Maeda is trying to pull guard but Nielsen has him pressed against the cage.
Nielsen lands a knee to the body.

Maeda breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Nielsen gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
A clash of legs there as Nielsen blocks the low kick.
Maeda looks to score with a jab to the body but Nielsen is just out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nielsen stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Maeda.
Maeda throws a right and a left that both miss.
Nielsen avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Nice defenses there by Maeda.
Nielsen throws a series of punches but Maeda moves out of range.
Maeda looks to score with a jab to the body but Nielsen is just out of range.
Maeda takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Maeda shoots in for a double leg but Nielsen sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Brian Nielsen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mitsuyo Maeda.
Maeda darts in trying to clinch
and Maeda takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Maeda misses with a few strikes there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda shoots in looking for a takedown. Nielsen tries to sprawl out of it but Maeda keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Nielsen manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nice shot lands for Nielsen.
Nice defenses there by Maeda.
Nielsen throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Maeda makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Maeda takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Maeda moves out of range of the strikes.
A swing and a miss from Nielsen.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Nielsen misses with a double jab.
Maeda fails to land with a series of punches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brian Nielsen dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Maeda throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Nielsen lands a jab to the head.
Maeda misses the shot to the body.
Maeda slips under a jab.
Brian Nielsen is winning the standup battle so far.
Nielsen fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Nielsen is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
A bone on bone clash there as Nielsen blocks the leg kick.
Maeda closes this distance looking for a takedown but Nielsen circles away.

Nielsen closes the distance and clinches.
Nielsen lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Nielsen lands a shoulder strike.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Nielsen trying to land knees to the body.
Nielsen looking to slow down the pace here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Maeda has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Nielsen uses from the top position.

Maeda is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Nielsen defends well.
Nielsen wants to control from the top but Maeda keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Nielsen 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.
Nielsen will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Brian Nielsen.
Nielsen misses with a looping right.
Brian Nielsen is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Nielsen swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Nielsen fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Maeda manages to avoid it.
Maeda shoots in and drives through. Nielsen sprawls well.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nielsen lands a body shot.
Maeda looks to land a body kick but Nielsen moved away.
Maeda misses with a kick to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brian Nielsen dominated that second 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.

Nielsen's corner calls for a 1-2. Nielsen obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Nielsen connects with a looping right hand.
Nielsen throws a right and a left that both miss.
Nielsen with a nice cross.
Nielsen scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Maeda throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Maeda swings for the body but Nielsen moves out of range.
Maeda misses with a jab to the body
and Nielsen counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Nielsen is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Nielsen cracks Maeda with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Maeda throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Maeda throws a left and a right that both miss
and Nielsen counters with a nice uppercut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Nielsen takes a swing at Maeda's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Nielsen manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Nielsen jabbing away but nothing is landing.

Maeda shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Nielsen is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Maeda stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Nielsen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Maeda slips nicely into half guard.
Nielsen is trying to get back to full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Nielsen wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Maeda.

Maeda has hold of Nielsen's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Nielsen manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nielsen is controlling an arm, preventing Maeda from taking his back. Although keeping him in mount is no better to be honest.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but Brian Nielsen did the better work so I'd imagine he'll take it.
That's time! Back to the action!

Nielsen stuffs the takedown attempt from Maeda. Maeda gets slowly back to his feet.
Mitsuyo Maeda is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Maeda takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Sloppy strikes from Nielsen. Those never looked like landing.
Maeda tries to close the distance and clinch up but Nielsen swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Nielsen stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Nielsen wants it to stay on the feet.
A slow jab from Nielsen misses its intended target.
Maeda is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Nielsen rather than just go for the knockout.
A clash of legs there as Nielsen blocks the low kick.
Maeda steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Nielsen.
Maeda tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Nielsen was well out of range. Poor timing from Maeda.
Nielsen looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda misses with a head kick.
Nielsen moves out of range of the leg kick from Maeda.
Maeda misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Nielsen holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Maeda dodges an elbow strike from Nielsen.
Nielsen is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Maeda is defending well for now.
Maeda missing with knees to the body.
Maeda avoids a wild elbow strike from Nielsen.
Maeda blocks the elbow strike.
Nielsen is working Maeda over against the cage.
Maeda drops down looking for an ankle pick but Nielsen pulls his leg out and moves away.
Brian Nielsen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mitsuyo Maeda.
Nielsen jabs Maeda to the body, keeping him at a distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nielsen misses with an uppercut. Maeda saw that one coming.
The fight stays on the outside here - Maeda looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Nielsen lands a lovely overhand right.
Nielsen thuds his right hand into Maeda's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nielsen looks to score with a jab to the body but Maeda is just out of range.
A good leg kick by Maeda.
Maeda moves in looking to clinch but Nielsen pushes him off.
Maeda scores with a head kick. Nielsen tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Maeda shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Maeda was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Maeda trying to control but Nielsen is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close fourth round but I would say that Brian Nielsen will probably get the nod.
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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Maeda looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Mitsuyo Maeda has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Maeda slips under a jab.
Maeda moves to clinch but Nielsen breaks away
and Nielsen counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Nielsen lands a right hook to the body.
Nielsen lands a slapping body shot.
Maeda takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Nielsen scores with a jab to the head.
Maeda fails to land with a series of punches.
Maeda tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Nielsen manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nielsen.
Nielsen misses with a wild combination.
Nielsen misses with an uppercut. Maeda saw that one coming.
Nielsen defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Maeda.
Mitsuyo Maeda seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nielsen takes a swing at Maeda's ribcage but misses.
Maeda misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Nielsen.
A clash of legs there as Nielsen blocks the low kick.
Maeda takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Maeda ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nielsen lands a slapping body shot.
Nielsen looks to throw the jab but Maeda is out of range.
Nielsen looks to land a right hand but Maeda moved out of range.
Maeda avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Maeda showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Nielsen.
Nielsen throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Maeda counters with a series of strikes. Nielsen will be more careful next time no doubt.
Maeda walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Nielsen checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Maeda throws a solid leg kick but Nielsen takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Maeda.
Brian Nielsen is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Maeda.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Nielsen keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Maeda.
Nielsen lands a jab-cross combination.

And that's the end of the fight!
Brian Nielsen showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Nielsen, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 49:46
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 50:46
Judge Viktor Lagutenko scores the fight 50:45

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Brian Nielsen!
A very excited looking Brian Nielsen made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.