PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between The Sigit (ranked 713 p4p, 93 weight class) and Paul Maul (ranked 1513 p4p, 194 weight class). Sigit comes to the cage accompanied by Gie. Paul Maul will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Sigit
vs
Maul

173 cm
37
172 lbs
31 - 20 - 2

180 cm
34
182 lbs
26 - 21 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Sin City Allstars

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 31 - 20 - 2, fighting out of New York, The Sigit!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 21 - 0, fighting out of New York, Paul Maul!
The judges for this bout are Steve Montenegro, Joseph Jones and Franklyn Lucas.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Maul defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Sigit.

Sigit looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Maul is trying to get back to full guard.
Maul pushes Sigit off looking to stand but Sigit dives back in and keeps control.
Sigit trying to control from half guard but Maul is working away.
Sigit is really struggling to control Maul but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Maul is looking for a sweep. Sigit is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Maul felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Sigit thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Maul's head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sigit trying to control from half guard but Maul is working away.
We've been hearing that Sigit has been drilling a lot of ground and pound in training, so let's see if he get the finish.
Sigit wants to pass to mount but Maul is defending the position.
Sigit is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maul wants to get back to his feet.
Sigit trying to advance position but Maul counters by regaining guard.
Sigit pushes down on Maul's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Maul gets back to full guard.
Sigit makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Maul looking to hit a scissor sweep but Sigit is one step ahead there.
Sigit working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Maul preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Sigit tries to free his leg and advance position but Maul is retaining full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sigit is looking to work some ground and pound but Maul has wrist control.
Sigit wants to control from the top but Maul keeps moving.
Sigit loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Maul keeping moving, preventing Sigit from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Maul keeping full guard, as Sigit tries to pass.
Sigit postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Sigit stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Maul swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Sigit is working Maul over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sigit has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Sigit sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Maul's guard.

Sigit is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Maul sees it coming and defends easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sigit wants to work for an arm triangle but Maul is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Sigit is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Sigit working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
The fighters are battling for position here. Maul manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Sigit throwing strikes from guard but Maul blocks nicely.
Sigit chips away with some ground and pound.
Sigit is working Maul over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Maul utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Maul tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Sigit is working Maul over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Sigit looking to sit in guard and control but Maul gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Sigit throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maul pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Sigit is keeping the position for now.
Maul trying to control the position from guard on top but Sigit is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Sigit is looking for a triangle but Maul pushes his legs off easily.
Sigit looking for a sweep. Not yet Sigit, not yet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Maul trying to stand up but can't free himself from Sigit's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

The Sigit dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Maul looks to score with a jab to the body but Sigit is just out of range.
Sigit attempts a counter takedown but Maul avoids it well and moves away.
Sigit bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Sigit looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Sigit fails with the takedown
and Maul connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Sigit wants to clinch up but Maul keeps it at a distance.
Maul lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Sigit circles away quickly and effectively.
Sigit takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Sigit moves out of range of the strikes.
Sigit with a poor takedown
and Maul connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for The Sigit. That's going to take a lot out of him.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Maul scores with the left hand. Sigit knows he should have avoided that one.
Sigit shoots for a double leg takedown but Maul sprawls well. He's pushed Sigit's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Maul scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Maul connects with a nice looking jab.
Maul lands with a nice body punch.
Sigit shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Maul cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sigit fails in his attempt to clinch.
Maul connects with a body shot that sends Sigit's belly button to the back.
Maul cracks Sigit with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Sigit gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Maul.
Maul scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Sigit needs to keep his hands up - Maul had a free shot at his head there.
Maul slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Maul loads up on a big right hand but Sigit slips the punch.
Paul Maul seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Sigit uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Maul.
Sigit uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Maul.
Sigit goes for a double leg but Maul avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Maul continues to drive forward.
Sigit loads up on a big right hand but Maul slips the punch.
Maul throws a right and a left that Sigit avoids nicely.
Sigit closes this distance looking for a takedown but Maul circles away.
Maul throws out a counter right but Sigit avoids it with no problem.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Sigit dives in and grabs Maul's left leg, looking for a takedown. Maul pushes down on Sigit's head and hops out.
A big right from Maul misses.
Maul might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Maul works Sigit's body with a nice hook.
Sigit throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Maul's waist but Maul gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Sigit off to one side.
Sigit dives in and grabs Maul's left leg, looking for a takedown. Maul pushes down on Sigit's head and hops out.
Maul missing with a left hand there. Sigit was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Maul has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Maul looks to land a left hand but Sigit moved out of range nicely.
Sigit avoids the body shot from Maul.
Maul throws a right and a left that Sigit avoids nicely.
Maul lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Sigit circles away quickly and effectively.
Maul is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Maul slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Maul defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Sigit.

Sigit changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Maul looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Sloppy strikes there by Sigit.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sigit is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Maul has escaped the position, nice work there.
Sigit working the head with strikes.
Sigit working away.
Sigit works to advance to full mount. Maul defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Sigit tries to control but Maul wriggling away.
Sigit landing strikes from the mount and Maul is in trouble!
Sigit putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Sigit connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Sigit lands a couple of good shots and Maul has given up his back, trying to escape the position!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Oooh a big shot gets through from Sigit. Many more shots like that and the referee will have to think about stepping in!
The Sigit overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Sigit is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Maul has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Maul trying to get back to his feet but Sigit is in full control for now.
Sigit lands an elbow to the side of the head.

Sigit working for the rear naked choke here. He's got one arm under but Maul is defending well. A couple of punches soften him up though and Sigit has tightened the hold! This one could be all over! It is! Maul taps out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:51 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). The Sigit!
A determined The Sigit didn't want to dwell on this fight in his post fight interview. Instead he was more keen to state he wants a title shot. Let's see if he gets it!