PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kellen Piston (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Connor Maynard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Piston might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to here comes the boom. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Piston
vs
Maynard

201 cm
19
170 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

181 cm
25
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Determined

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Kellen Piston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Connor Maynard!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Josh West and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Maynard looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Maynard defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Piston.
Maynard looks for a takedown but Piston sprawls well.
Maynard looks to land a body kick but Piston moved away.

Piston closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Piston wants to stand but Maynard is controlling his arm.
Piston tries to advance to mount but Maynard denies him.
Maynard wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Piston throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
You can see the frustration on Maynard's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Piston really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maynard parries the strikes from Piston easily there. Piston is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Maynard to escape.
Maynard can't do much from the bottom here.

Piston is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Maynard has escaped the position, nice work there.
Maynard sneaks a leg under to get back to half guard.
Maynard is trying to maintain the position but Piston is very close to passing his half guard.
Piston is trying to control. Maynard wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Maynard is trying is best to control the position here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Piston looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maynard is looking for a sweep. Piston is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Piston is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Piston is trying to control the action in half guard but Maynard is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Piston not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Maynard works his way to full guard. Good work.
Piston wants to control from the top but Maynard keeps moving.
Maynard has control of Piston's left arm, preventing Piston from doing any damage.
Maynard is trying to control the position but Piston postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Maynard takes the fight into the clinch.

Maynard successfully pulls guard.
Piston looking to sit in guard and control but Maynard gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Maynard controls from within his opponent's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maynard trying to control the position from guard on top but Piston is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maynard won't allow Piston to sweep him here.

Maynard gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Piston tries to clinch up but Maynard circles away and keeps his distance.
Maynard scores with a jab.
Maynard tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Maynard closes the distance and clinches.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Maynard breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Piston shoots in and drives through. Maynard sprawls well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Connor Maynard dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Maynard tries to keep at a distance but Piston has taken the fight into the clinch.
Piston jumps guard but Maynard stands there with Piston around his waist. Piston gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Piston breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Maynard defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Piston.

Piston gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Maynard to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Maynard trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Maynard postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Piston bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Maynard's guard.
Piston knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Maynard on the ground.
Maynard has his hands on Piston's head, controlling the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Piston wants to pass the guard but Maynard is keeping the position.

Maynard is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Piston is aware though and is defending well.
Piston has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Maynard kicks Piston off and gets to his feet.

Maynard moves into range and clinches up with Piston.

Maynard drags the fight down to the ground.
Piston pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Maynard is keeping the position for now.

Maynard has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Piston off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maynard throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Piston stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

Maynard pushes Piston up against the cage in a clinch.

Piston has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Maynard uses from the top position.
Maynard not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Maynard trying to control but Piston is working from the bottom.

Maynard thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Maynard is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maynard working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Piston not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Piston is really struggling to control Maynard but he's trying to hold on to the position.

Maynard stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Maynard tests Piston's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Maynard throws a leg kick which misses Piston's front leg but catches the back leg as Piston tries to avoid it.
Piston stuffs the takedown attempt from Maynard. Maynard gets slowly back to his feet.
Maynard shoots for a double leg takedown but Piston sprawls well. He's pushed Maynard's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maynard shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Piston defends it nicely.
Kellen Piston has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Connor Maynard.
Piston swats away the attempt to clinch by Maynard.
Piston will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Maynard circles away from the clinch attempt.
Piston shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Maynard but Maynard pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Maynard scores with a head kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Piston swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Maynard shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Piston but Piston pushes him off and we're back to square one.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Connor Maynard showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Horrible takedown by Maynard or perhaps it was just good defense by Piston which made him look bad.
Maynard shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Piston pinned against the cage. Piston gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Piston scores with a kick to the body.
A jab from Piston finds it's way through Maynard's defenses.
Piston shoots for a takedown but Maynard saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Maynard has a takedown stuffed.
Kellen Piston has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Connor Maynard.
Piston changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Maynard tries to avoid it but Piston manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Maynard to the ground. Maynard escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maynard tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Piston shoots in but Maynard avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Maynard tries to clinch but Piston is having none of it.
Piston shoots in but no luck this time.
Piston is trying hard to land a takedown here. Maynard sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Piston avoids the head kick by Maynard.
Piston shoots in for a takedown but Maynard shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Maynard shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Piston manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Maynard is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Maynard lands a couple of digs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Piston throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Maynard's corner is telling him to maintain position.

Maynard stands and steps away. Piston gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Maynard closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Piston to the mat! Piston manages to get full guard.
Piston can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Maynard controls the pace.
Maynard advances to half guard.

Maynard is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Piston is just riding it out for now. Maynard eventually gives up the hold.
Maynard looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Maynard is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Piston is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Maynard's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Maynard's back!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Maynard trying to control but not successfully.
Piston is trying to stick to Maynard's back but Maynard is turning into Piston. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Piston's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Maynard.
Piston 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.
Maynard stays in close to Piston's body and controls the position.
Maynard passes into half guard.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Piston tries to roll over but Maynard keeps him under control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Connor Maynard comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Maynard 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 Colin Fray scores the fight 27:30
Judge Josh West scores the fight 27:30
Judge Micheangelo Fripello scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Connor Maynard!