PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Akira Maeda (ranked 4221 p4p, 3909 weight class) and Jon Fairtex (ranked 497 p4p, 474 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Maeda
vs
Fairtex

192 cm
20
209
1 - 2 - 0

179 cm
22
200
1 - 2 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Akira Maeda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jon Fairtex!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Elvis Blanc and Dillan Fox.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fairtex misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Maeda lands a nice looking body shot.
Maeda bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Fairtex's head backwards.
Maeda lands a nice shot to the body.
Fairtex paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Maeda ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Fairtex is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maeda just misses with a punch to the body.
Fairtex misses with a hook to the body

and Maeda counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Maeda.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Maeda trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Fairtex looking to hit a scissor sweep but Maeda is one step ahead there.
Maeda wants to control from the top but Fairtex keeps moving.
Fairtex avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Maeda is fighting to break Fairtex's control of his arms but Fairtex is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Fairtex looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Maeda missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's two 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.
Fairtex working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Maeda.
Fairtex is pulling down on Maeda's head to control his posture.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
We've been hearing reports that Maeda has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Fairtex thuds a left hand into Maeda's body.
Maeda tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Fairtex was well out of range. Poor timing from Maeda.
Fairtex takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Fairtex on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Maeda throws a body shot but no joy.
Fairtex scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Maeda.
Maeda displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Fairtex throws out the jab.
An inside leg kick lands from Fairtex.

Fairtex takes the fight into the clinch.
Fairtex scores with a hook to the body.
Fairtex blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Fairtex pulls guard successfully.
Maeda trying to control the position from guard on top but Fairtex is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Maeda throwing strikes from guard but Fairtex blocks nicely.
Maeda will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex has his hands on Maeda's head, controlling the position.
Maeda trying to control the position from guard on top but Fairtex is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda throws a big right hand that misses.
Maeda throws a big elbow that misses.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Maeda wants to control from the top but Fairtex keeps moving.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Fairtex walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Maeda checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
Maeda swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Maeda cracks a nice hook into Fairtex's ribs.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Akira Maeda dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Fairtex throws out a powerful jab.
Maeda changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Fairtex throws a body kick that misses

and Maeda counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Maeda.
Maeda throwing strikes but missing.
Maeda is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Maeda is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Fairtex can do to turn this around?
Maeda in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fairtex utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Fairtex is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Maeda is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda trying to move into half guard but instead Fairtex has managed to sweep!

Fairtex trying to control the position from guard on top but Maeda is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Maeda looking to sit in guard and control but Fairtex gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Maeda looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Fairtex with a flurry of punches that miss.
Maeda is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Maeda is looking to sweep but instead, Fairtex has passed into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda wants to improve his position but Fairtex is controlling well.
Maeda is staying active underneath Fairtex, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Maeda regains full guard. Nicely done.
Maeda wants to sweep but no luck.
Maeda bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Fairtex's guard.

A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Maeda accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Maeda stopping the sweep attempt from Fairtex.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Maeda is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Maeda won't allow Fairtex to sweep him here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda wants to control from the top but Fairtex keeps moving.
Maeda landing some decent shots from guard.
Maeda won't allow Fairtex to sweep him here.
Fairtex trying to control the position here.
Maeda postures up.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Fairtex bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Maeda's guard.

Fairtex throwing strikes from guard but Maeda blocks nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maeda is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Maeda throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Maeda lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Fairtex slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Maeda throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Maeda works over Fairtex with some ground and pound from guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Maeda trying to control the position from guard on top but Fairtex is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda throwing strikes from guard but Fairtex blocks nicely.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Akira Maeda dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Maeda staying out of range there.
Fairtex keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Maeda looks to score with a jab to the body but Fairtex is just out of range.
Fairtex throws a body kick that misses

and Maeda counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Fairtex!
Maeda sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Fairtex is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Fairtex gets back to half guard.
Maeda looks to land a strike but Fairtex avoids it nicely and regains full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Fairtex wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Fairtex controls Maeda momentarily but Maeda frees himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda controlling from the top position.
Maeda throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Fairtex works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Maeda is stalling in the full guard.
Fairtex working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Maeda.
Maeda postures up and lands a big shot to Fairtex's brow.
Jon Fairtex has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Fairtex trying to keep a closed guard but Maeda is proving a slippery customer.
Maeda landing with the ground and pound.
Maeda postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Fairtex has control of Maeda's left arm, preventing Maeda from doing any damage.
Maeda throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Fairtex works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Fairtex swings away with a body shot that misses

so Maeda counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Maeda postures up in Fairtex's guard and throws a big left but Fairtex blocks it.
Maeda is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda throwing strikes but missing.
Maeda throws an elbow that misses. Fairtex uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Maeda's guard. Nice move by Fairtex!

Maeda is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Maeda manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Fairtex manages to get himself to full guard.

Maeda advances position into side control!
Akira Maeda is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Fairtex is looking to regain half guard here but Maeda keeps moving and retains side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fairtex wants to control but Maeda postures up.
Maeda wants to control but Fairtex is keeping him busy.
Fairtex is trying to escape the position but Maeda is controlling the position.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

And that's the end of the fight!
Akira Maeda showed his dominance in that final round.
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 Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:27
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Akira Maeda!
Jumping up and down and very excited, Akira Maeda waved his t-shirt featuring 160Q Energy for $150's logo in front of the cameras.