PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Josef Urrah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Eddy Maiden (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Urrah comes to the cage accompanied by Johnny Cash - Oney. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Urrah
vs
Maiden

185 cm
30
173 lbs
12 - 11 - 0

185 cm
31
175 lbs
18 - 11 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 12 - 11 - 0, fighting out of New York, Josef Urrah!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 11 - 1, fighting out of New York, Eddy Maiden!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Hirohito Nitta and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Urrah takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Urrah throws a sloppy body shot
and Maiden counters with a nice uppercut.
A head kick misses from Urrah.
Maiden wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Urrah takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Maiden scores with a jab to the body.
Urrah lands a slapping body shot.
A head kick misses from Maiden.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maiden cracks Urrah with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Maiden misses with a low kick.
A quick step to the side and Urrah tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Maiden lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Urrah blocks the body kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maiden lands a nice looking body shot.
Urrah dips to his left and cracks Maiden with an uppercut!
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Maiden.
Maiden throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Maiden has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Maiden swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Urrah scores with a leg kick.
Eddy Maiden seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Maiden throws a head kick but Urrah moves out of range.
Urrah throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Maiden throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Urrah with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Maiden to score with a decent uppercut.
Maiden throws an overhand right that lands on Urrah's shoulder, as Urrah tries to avoid the shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maiden lands with a nice body punch.
Urrah dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Maiden. That did some damage!
Nice uppercut lands for Maiden. That snapped Urrah's head back.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Maiden throws a leg kick
and Maiden takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Urrah shoots in for a takedown but Maiden shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Urrah gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Maiden connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Nice takedown defense from Maiden. No joy for Urrah on that attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Josef Urrah. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Maiden ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Urrah moves away.
Urrah throws a counter high kick but Maiden was just alert enough to avoid it.
A big left from Maiden misses.
Urrah takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Urrah chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Maiden can pounce on him.
Urrah lands a high kick!
Urrah swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Urrah throws a body kick that misses
and Maiden connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
A slow jab from Maiden misses its intended target.
Maiden throws a hook to the side of Urrah's head but Urrah sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Jab from Maiden.
Maiden throws a body punch but Urrah moves out of range.
Maiden connects with a nice looking jab.
Maiden throws a body shot but no joy.
Maiden throws a decent looking leg kick but it doesn't land clean.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maiden throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Maiden avoids a kick to the body.
Maiden throws a body punch but Urrah moves out of range.
Urrah thinks about countering with a head kick.
Maiden misses with a hook
letting Urrah counter with a right hand.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Maiden throws a body punch but Urrah moves out of range.
Urrah shoots in looking for a takedown. Maiden tries to sprawl out of it but Urrah keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Maiden manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Maiden is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Urrah had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Urrah slips under a jab from Maiden.
Urrah is looking to counter with head kicks.
Urrah doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Maiden counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eddy Maiden dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Maiden walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Urrah checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Maiden has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Maiden looks to land a right hand but Urrah moved out of range.
Maiden misses with a hook
and Urrah counters with a leg kick.
A swing and a miss from Maiden.
Maiden swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Urrah gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Maiden counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Maiden throws an overhand right that lands on Urrah's shoulder, as Urrah tries to avoid the shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maiden gets off balance looking for a body kick
and Urrah counters with a stiff right hand.
Maiden fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Maiden pivots, looking for a leg kick but Urrah is out of range and Maiden settles back down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maiden throws a body kick that misses.
Urrah moves out of range of the strikes.
Maiden digs a good hook to Urrah's body.

Urrah looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Maiden!
Maiden is looking to regain half guard here but Urrah keeps moving and retains side control.
Maiden manages to get back to half guard.
Urrah throws a big elbow that misses, also allowing Maiden to regain full guard.
Maiden tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Urrah throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Maiden keeping moving, preventing Urrah from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maiden wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Urrah looking to sit in guard and control but Maiden gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Urrah looking for a sweep. Not yet Urrah, not yet.
Urrah is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Maiden forces his way into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Urrah is trying to get back to full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Urrah is working hard here to advance position.
Maiden wants to control but Urrah is keeping him busy.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Urrah is looking to control Maiden's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Urrah avoid being mounted?
Urrah is trying to control but Maiden manages to pass to mount!
Maiden throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Urrah because Maiden loaded up on that one.
Maiden thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Maiden raining down shots from the mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maiden tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Maiden with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Maiden prevents Urrah from getting the reversal.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Maiden lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
Maiden with the ground and pound from mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Eddy Maiden showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Maiden throws out a loose jab but Urrah uses good head movement to avoid it.
Urrah misses with a straight left.
A clash of legs there as Urrah blocks the low kick.
Urrah avoids a kick to the body.
Urrah shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Maiden throws a hook to the side of Urrah's head but Urrah sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Maiden on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Urrah tries for a takedown but Maiden circles away easily
letting Maiden counter with a right hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maiden lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Urrah misses with a takedown attempt - Maiden sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Josef Urrah. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Urrah gets a double leg takedown into Maiden's guard.
Urrah looking to pass the guard.
Maiden has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Urrah wants to control from the top but Maiden keeps moving.
Maiden seems keen to control Urrah's posture.
Maiden keeping moving, preventing Urrah from controlling successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maiden seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Maiden manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Urrah manages to get himself to full guard.

Maiden postures up in Urrah's guard and throws a big left but Urrah blocks it.
Urrah wants to sweep here but Maiden controlling him for the moment.
Maiden trying to control the position from guard on top but Urrah is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Urrah keeping full guard, as Maiden tries to pass.
Maiden scoring with punches to the head and body.
Maiden postures up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Eddy Maiden has got the better of the ground game so far.
Maiden throwing strikes but missing.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Urrah missing with a left hand there. Maiden was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Urrah throws a leg kick but he was too far away and it doesn't land.
Maiden feints the counter takedown.
Maiden misses with a wild body shot.
Eddy Maiden seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Urrah lands a leg kick that knocks Maiden off balance momentarily.
Urrah shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maiden lands an overhand right.
Maiden lands a really nice looking cross but Urrah seems unphased.
Josef Urrah has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Good work by Urrah as he checks the leg kick.
Urrah is looking to counter punch.
Urrah blocks a jab.
Urrah lifts his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Maiden looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Eddy Maiden is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Maiden throws a looping overhand right but Urrah ducks down to avoid it.
Maiden misses with a shot to the body
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Urrah throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Maiden swings for the body but Urrah moves out of range.
Maiden throws out a loose jab but Urrah uses good head movement to avoid it.

And that's the end of the fight!
Eddy Maiden comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Maiden has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 27:30
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Eddy Maiden!
Eddy Maiden decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.
In defeat, Josef Urrah stepped up to the mic, saying 'Man kan vara vinnare även om man förlorar.'.