PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Efriam Haldi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mitsuyo Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Haldi
vs
Maeda

167 cm
30
144 lbs
15 - 12 - 0

170 cm
36
142 lbs
31 - 23 - 0

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Granite chin

Excellent grappler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 12 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Efriam Haldi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 23 - 0, fighting out of London, Mitsuyo Maeda!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Richard Clark and James Atkins.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Haldi goes for a double leg but Maeda avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Maeda continues to drive forward.
Haldi lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Haldi landing knees to the head.

It looks like Mitsuyo Maeda has been cut.
Haldi scores with a hook to the body.
Maeda is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Haldi pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Maeda is working on a leg, looking for a takedown but Haldi is defending well.
Haldi swings wildly with an uppercut but Maeda uses good head movement to avoid it.
Haldi lands a knee to the head.
Haldi lands a good knee to the midsection. Maeda won't want to take too many of those.
Maeda dodges an elbow strike from Haldi.
Haldi wants a takedown.
Maeda has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Haldi avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Efriam Haldi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Mitsuyo Maeda.
Haldi tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Maeda blocks an elbow strike from Haldi.
Maeda tries for a takedown. No joy.
Haldi is working Maeda over against the cage.
Haldi throws an elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Haldi lands a knee to the head.
Haldi gets through Maeda's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
We've been hearing reports that Haldi has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Haldi lands a knee to the body.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Maeda.
Haldi comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
A right hand to the body from Haldi.
Nice body punch from Haldi.
Haldi tries to work over Maeda's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Haldi can't find room to land a body shot as Maeda controls the action.
Haldi slows down the pace here.
Maeda goes for a takedown in the clinch but Haldi prevents it.
Haldi lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Maeda or not.
Haldi lands an elbow just above Maeda 's eye.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Haldi avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Haldi with a knee to the head.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Haldi tries to work over Maeda's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Haldi tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Haldi throws an elbow that misses.
Haldi prevents a takedown attempt there.
Haldi is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Haldi gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Haldi is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Haldi gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Maeda.
Haldi lands a left hand.
Haldi connects with a knee to the head.
Maeda drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Haldi gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Haldi working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Haldi trying to land knees to the body.
Haldi landing knees to the body.
Haldi lands a knee to the body.
Haldi misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Maeda.
Haldi lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Knees in the clinch landing for Haldi.
Maeda looks winded!
Maeda takes an elbow to the temple.
Maeda has Haldi pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Haldi manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Maeda blocks a body shot from Haldi.
Haldi pushes off an throws an elbow but Maeda leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Haldi lands an elbow that stopped Maeda in his tracks for a moment.

That has opened up Mitsuyo Maeda's cut even more.
Maeda has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Haldi avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Haldi prevents a takedown attempt there.
Haldi scores with a knee to the head.

Maeda is rocked!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Haldi has Maeda pressed up against the cage in a tight Thai clinch. Maeda is arching his back, trying to avoid the knees but a big one sneaks through from Haldi - that's hurt Maeda badly! Oh, another knee lands and Maeda is covering up! The referee steps in to save him - possibly a bit early but Maeda doesn't seem to be complaining.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:23 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Knees). Efriam Haldi!
A very excited looking Efriam Haldi 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.