PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mitsuyo Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Pete Palahnuik (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Palahnuik has chosen Machine Civilization as his entrance music. Pete Palahnuik will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Maeda
vs
Palahnuik

177 cm
37
178 lbs
21 - 14 - 2

184 cm
36
181 lbs
27 - 11 - 1

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)
GREEN!160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 21 - 14 - 2, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mitsuyo Maeda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 11 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Pete Palahnuik!
The judges for this bout are Mauricio Rocha, Edson Gomes and Seu Braga.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Maeda throws a looping overhand right but Palahnuik ducks down to avoid it.
Maeda chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Palahnuik tries to work over Maeda's front leg with a kick but Maeda checks it.
Palahnuik looks to throw the jab but Maeda is out of range.
Maeda defending well as Palahnuik loads up on a big left hand.
Palahnuik throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
A telegraphed right hand from Maeda misses the target.
Maeda is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Palahnuik.
Palahnuik ducks under a wild hook from Maeda.
Palahnuik slips a straight right by Maeda.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Palahnuik! But no joy.
Palahnuik throws a body punch but Maeda moves out of range.
Maeda throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Palahnuik throws a hook but Maeda avoids it easily.
Maeda throws a leg kick but Palahnuik sees it coming and moves out of range.
A nice side step and Palahnuik releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.
Palahnuik checks a low kick from Maeda.
A little jabbing left from Palahnuik on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Palahnuik swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Palahnuik connects with a single shot there.
Palahnuik looks to throw the jab but Maeda is out of range.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Maeda closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Palahnuik did well to prevent Maeda getting side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Palahnuik gets full guard.
Maeda has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Palahnuik keeping moving, preventing Maeda from controlling successfully.
Maeda throwing strikes from guard but Palahnuik blocks nicely.
Maeda lands a couple of decent looking shots.

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.
Maeda pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Palahnuik is keeping the position for now.
Maeda throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Maeda throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Maeda trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Palahnuik manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Palahnuik pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Maeda is keeping the position for now.
Palahnuik trying to control but Maeda is working from the bottom.
Palahnuik wants to stand and escape but instead Maeda has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Palahnuik swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Palahnuik controlling the position.
Palahnuik keeping full guard, as Maeda tries to pass.
Palahnuik utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Maeda trying to control the position from guard on top but Palahnuik is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda wants to pass the guard but Palahnuik is keeping the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
A solid body kick from Palahnuik.
Palahnuik misses with an uppercut. Maeda saw that one coming.
A head kick misses from Maeda.
Mitsuyo Maeda seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Maeda goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Maeda shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Palahnuik as he jumps to the side.
Maeda connects with a leg kick. Palahnuik looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.

Maeda closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Palahnuik did well to prevent Maeda getting side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mitsuyo Maeda dominated that round.
That's time! Maeda's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Palahnuik lands with a cross.
Palahnuik moves out of range as Maeda strikes.
Maeda shoots for a takedown but Palahnuik saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Maeda checks the leg kick nicely there.
Maeda attempts a counter takedown but Palahnuik avoids it well and moves away.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Palahnuik.
A nice leg kick lands there from Palahnuik.
Palahnuik just misses with a punch to the body.
Palahnuik throws a half hearted mid kick.
Pete Palahnuik seems to be getting the better of the standup.
A big right from Palahnuik misses.
Maeda takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Maeda connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Maeda has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Palahnuik.
Palahnuik throws a leg kick but Maeda sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Maeda connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
A lazy left from Maeda finds it's target.
Palahnuik connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maeda thumps Palahnuik with a low kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Palahnuik blocks a jab.
Maeda buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Maeda has his takedown stuffed
and Palahnuik counters with a straight right hand.
Palahnuik misses with a body kick.
Palahnuik throws a hook to the side of Maeda's head but Maeda sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Palahnuik throws a solid leg kick but Maeda takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Palahnuik.

Maeda scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Maeda tries to advance to mount but can't.
Maeda trying to control the action but Palahnuik is working from the bottom.
Palahnuik holds on to Maeda's head and controls the position momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda taking a breather here.
Palahnuik managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Maeda.
Maeda working the body and head with strikes.
Palahnuik managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Maeda.
We've been hearing good reports from Maeda's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.
Maeda wants to control but Palahnuik is keeping him busy.
Maeda creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Palahnuik sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Mitsuyo Maeda overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Maeda misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Palahnuik defending against the ground and pound.
Maeda tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.

Maeda tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Maeda throws an elbow but Palahnuik slips to the side and avoids it well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Palahnuik is not content to let Maeda control the position.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Maeda fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Maeda pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Palahnuik throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
Maeda moves out of range as Palahnuik strikes.
Maeda uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Palahnuik.
Maeda looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mitsuyo Maeda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Horrible takedown attempt by Maeda or perhaps it was just good defense by Palahnuik, which made it look bad.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Mitsuyo Maeda will probably get the nod.
That's time! Maeda's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Maeda throws a leg kick but Palahnuik checks it.
Palahnuik now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
A leg kick checked by Palahnuik.
Palahnuik lands a nice hook to Maeda's body. Maeda takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Palahnuik throws a body kick that digs right into the meat.
Palahnuik just misses with a punch to the body.
Maeda scores with a shot to the body.
Maeda takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Palahnuik tried to score with a low kick but Maeda checks it.
Maeda throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Palahnuik sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Palahnuik tries a low kick but Maeda avoids it.
Palahnuik lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Maeda circles away quickly and effectively.
Maeda blocks a leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Maeda checks a leg kick.
Nice defenses there by Maeda.
Maeda misses with a straight right.
Maeda throws a hook to the side of Palahnuik's head but Palahnuik sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Maeda shoots for a double leg takedown but Palahnuik sprawls well. He's pushed Maeda's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Palahnuik throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Maeda sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Maeda finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Maeda connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Palahnuik uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Maeda.
Maeda fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Palahnuik manages to avoid it.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Palahnuik, as that shot connected.

Maeda looking to score a takedown here. Palahnuik is defending well but Maeda drives through and ends up in Palahnuik's guard.
Palahnuik is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maeda trying to control but Palahnuik is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda wants to pass the guard but Palahnuik is keeping the position.
Maeda wants to control from the top but Palahnuik keeps moving.
Maeda controlling from the top position.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda throws a low kick but Palahnuik moves out of range easily.
Maeda shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Palahnuik pinned against the cage. Palahnuik gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Palahnuik digs a good body shot into Maeda's ribs.
Palahnuik misses with a straight right.
Maeda blocks a leg kick.
Good exchange - Maeda coming out on top.
Palahnuik misses with a straight left.
Palahnuik blocks a low kick nicely.
Maeda keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Maeda throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Palahnuik let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Palahnuik on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Maeda throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Palahnuik's waist but Palahnuik gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Maeda off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mitsuyo Maeda. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maeda doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Palahnuik looks to score with a jab to the body but Maeda is just out of range.
Maeda waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Palahnuik.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Palahnuik! But no joy.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Maeda.

Maeda shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Palahnuik napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Pete Palahnuik has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
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!

Maeda tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Palahnuik is trying to improve his position.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Mitsuyo Maeda.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Maeda, 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 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:28
Judge Edson Gomes scores the fight 30:27
Judge Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mitsuyo Maeda!
An out of breath Mitsuyo Maeda thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.