PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Damien Maia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and steve blackman (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). blackman has chosen Three 6 Mafia - It's A Fight (Best of Rocky 6) as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Maia
vs
blackman

180 cm
18
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

188 cm
23
173 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Knockout power

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Damien Maia!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, steve blackman!
The judges for this bout are Wesley Smith, Cecil Peabody and Frank Dennis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Maia drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
blackman manages to get back to half guard.
Maia thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Maia trying to control the pace.
blackman moves into full guard.
Maia is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

blackman is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Maia controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

blackman has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Maia can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
blackman being controlled here, momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maia has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of blackman is proving hard to escape from.

Maia drops back, looking for a kneebar! blackman looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. blackman looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from blackman!

blackman is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Maia is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
You can see the frustration on Maia's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
blackman wants to lay and pray for a moment but Maia keeps working.

That's two 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.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Maia is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

blackman is trying to get an arm triangle but Maia is defending well.
Maia can't do much from the bottom here.
Maia tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but blackman wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
blackman is looking to take a break and control but Maia is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Maia shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Maia is breathing heavily.
Maia avoids the attempt from blackman to control.
Maia trying to control but blackman is having none of it.
blackman tries to hold on but Maia pushes him away.
blackman is trying to escape the mount.
Maia punching from mount but blackman doing a good job of avoiding damage.
blackman tries to lock up and control but Maia gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

blackman defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Maia.
Maia avoids the attempt from blackman to control.
Maia tries to control but blackman wriggling away.
blackman sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.

blackman looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

blackman is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Maia pulls his head out easily.
blackman is refusing to be controlled, as Maia sits in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but steve blackman will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Nice jab there from blackman.
blackman closes this distance looking for a takedown but Maia circles away.

Maia feints and as blackman raises his hands in defense, Maia changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Maia stays in close to blackman's body and controls the position.
blackman is trying to keep Maia in close.

blackman throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Maia is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Maia pushing down on blackman's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maia seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but blackman does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Maia is really struggling to control blackman but he's trying to hold on to the position.
blackman trying to control but Maia postures up.

blackman looking for submissions off his back.
Maia working over blackman with some ground and pound. blackman looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Maia stalling.
blackman is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
blackman has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Maia is working away from the top position though.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Maia closes the distance and pushes blackman back into the cage.

Maia decides to pull guard.
blackman trying to control but Maia is working from the bottom.
blackman landing with the ground and pound.
Maia wants to sweep here but blackman controlling him for the moment.
Maia keeping moving, preventing blackman from controlling successfully.
Maia tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maia working a defensive guard here.
Maia has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
blackman landing some decent shots from guard.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.

blackman scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
blackman is keen to just control but Maia is a slippery customer.
blackman throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Maia tries to push off, looking to stand up, but blackman manages to move to mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maia can't escape the position.
Damien Maia overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

blackman looking to secure an arm triangle but Maia defends it well.
blackman lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

blackman jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Maia is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Maia and blackman has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
An elbow from blackman crashes against the mat.
You can see the frustration on Maia's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Maia tries to bench press blackman off him but blackman keeps the position.
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 Damien Maia 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.

blackman throws a head kick that misses.
Damien Maia seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
blackman looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Good work by Maia as he checks the leg kick.

Maia closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Maia trying to control the action but blackman is working from the bottom.
blackman is being controlled here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
blackman is not content to let Maia control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
blackman regains half guard there - taking advantage of Maia's attempt to lay and pray for a moment.
blackman slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Maia wants to get up but he can't break blackman's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

blackman looking to try and escape his hips here, looking for a submission. It looks like he's going for a triangle but Maia is defending well. blackman quickly switches to an armbar and extends the arm! Maia has no choice but to tap, to a very quick submission! Wow, that was lightning fast! blackman celebrates on the cage, with the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:54 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). steve blackman!