PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Al Rossi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mitsuyo Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rossi comes to the cage accompanied by Fratelli d italia - ( Inno di Mameli ) . Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Rossi
vs
Maeda

172 cm
25
142 lbs
13 - 7 - 0

165 cm
25
145 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Al Rossi!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mitsuyo Maeda!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, David Schapiro and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rossi throws a head kick but Maeda moves out of range.
Maeda swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Rossi slips a jab from Maeda.
A big left from Rossi misses.
Rossi goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Maeda is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Rossi.
Rossi shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Maeda ducks under a wild hook from Rossi.
Rossi walks into a straight right hand from Maeda.
Maeda missing with a left hand there. Rossi was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
A big right from Rossi misses.
Nice defenses there by Rossi.
Rossi feints and then cracks Maeda's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Maeda down.
Rossi throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Rossi tries a head kick but it misses.
Maeda looks to land a right hand but Rossi moved out of range.
Rossi misses with a low kick.
Maeda checks a leg kick.
Rossi looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Rossi pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Rossi thows a left - swing and a miss!
Rossi tries a head kick but it misses.
Maeda lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Nice defenses there by Rossi.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Rossi loads up on a big right hand but Maeda slips the punch.

Maeda shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Maeda wants to lay and pray for a moment but Rossi keeps working.
Rossi is in trouble now - Maeda has advanced to mount!
Maeda landing strikes from the mount and Rossi is in trouble!
Rossi tries to hold on but Maeda postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rossi blocking the ground and pound.
Maeda throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Maeda wants to control the pace but Rossi is squirming around nicely.
Maeda putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maeda thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Maeda takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Rossi wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Maeda.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda with a couple of short strikes.
Maeda pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Maeda raining down shots from the mount!

Rossi is rocked!
Maeda postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Rossi looks a forlorn figure.
Oh Rossi is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Oooooh, big shot lands for Maeda! Rossi is hurt baaadly! Maeda is firing away with more strikes - Rossi is covering up... the ref is warning him to do something. He's just covering up though still and the ref has to step in to end the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:57 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mitsuyo Maeda! Mitsuyo Maeda retains his bantamweight title!
A victorious Mitsuyo Maeda thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.