PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Teemu Maijanen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcelio Garcia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Marcelio Garcia is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Maijanen
vs
Garcia

185 cm
22
196 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

184 cm
21
186 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid boxing
Self confident

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Powerful

STEEL PENN NUTRITION - STEEL RESERVE 158+ ONLY$89

††-Bloody Sunday-††

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Teemu Maijanen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Marcelio Garcia!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Dmitry Maklakov and Aleksei Zolotukhin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Maijanen takes the fight into the clinch.

Maijanen pulls Garcia into guard.
Garcia wants to get up but he can't break Maijanen's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Garcia is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Garcia trying to control but Maijanen is working from the bottom.
Garcia pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Maijanen is keeping the position for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Maijanen works his way into full mount!
Maijanen can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Garcia is looking to escape.
Garcia tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Maijanen landing punches.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Maijanen jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Garcia is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Garcia and Maijanen has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
You can see the frustration on Garcia's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garcia defending against the ground and pound.
Maijanen fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Maijanen lands a few punches from side control.
Maijanen lands some shots froms side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Garcia is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Maijanen working away.
Garcia is not content to let Maijanen control the position.

Maijanen looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maijanen working the head with strikes.
Garcia is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Maijanen off and has taken his back!

Garcia is persistently looking for the submission but Maijanen is defending it well.
Maijanen trying to control but he's just got himself in more trouble.
Garcia trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Maijanen doesn't escape.
Maijanen trying to control the position but Garcia manages to sink in the hooks.

That's four 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.

Garcia has his opponent's back and is working for the choke.

Maijanen defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Well, with Garcia on his back, surely it's only a matter of time before Maijanen is tapping out... Can he escape the position?
Maijanen is really stuck here.

Garcia is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Maijanen knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Maijanen for a finish.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Teemu Maijanen dominated that round.
That's time! Maijanen's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Maijanen doesn't manage to clinch there - Garcia circles away.

Garcia shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Garcia looking to ground and pound but Maijanen is blocking nicely.
Maijanen slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Garcia seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Maijanen does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Maijanen wants to control but Garcia is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Garcia is keen to just control but Maijanen is a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garcia prevents Maijanen from improving his position.

Garcia is working for a kimura but Maijanen is defending it quite comfortably.
Maijanen has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Garcia is working away from the top position though.

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

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Maijanen, as that shot connected.
Maijanen scores with a hook to the body. Garcia takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.

Garcia closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Maijanen to the mat! Maijanen manages to get full guard.
Maijanen trying to keep a closed guard but Garcia is proving a slippery customer.

Garcia stands up from guard. Let's bang!
The crowd cheers as Garcia lands an impressive looking overhand right. Maijanen doesn't seem phased though.
Garcia takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Maijanen defending well as Garcia loads up on a big left hand.
Garcia lands a two punch combo.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Garcia.
Garcia avoids the body shot from Maijanen.
Garcia closes this distance looking for a takedown but Maijanen circles away.
Garcia on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Garcia misses with a wild body shot.
Garcia shoots in for a takedown but Maijanen shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Teemu Maijanen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Marcelio Garcia.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Maijanen. No joy for Garcia on that attempt.
Garcia is breathing heavily.
Garcia takes one to the chin there.

Garcia shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Maijanen's guard.
Maijanen trying to control the position.
Maijanen tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Maijanen manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Garcia manages to get himself to full guard.
Maijanen throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Garcia works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Maijanen working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Maijanen throws and elbow that misses. Garcia uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Maijanen's guard. Nice move by Garcia!
Garcia looking to pass the guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maijanen 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.
Maijanen avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Maijanen working a defensive guard here.
Garcia stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Maijanen swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marcelio Garcia 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. 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.

Garcia feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Garcia wants to stand and escape but instead Maijanen has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.
Maijanen throws a strike but Garcia rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Garcia trying to control the position from guard on top but Maijanen is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Garcia drops back, looking for a kneebar! Maijanen looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Maijanen looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Maijanen!
Maijanen is looking to take a break and control but Garcia is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maijanen looks up at the clock and then as Garcia takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Maijanen smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Maijanen with the ground and pound but Garcia regains half guard under the barage of strikes.
Maijanen winds up and cracks Garcia with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Garcia tries to roll over but Maijanen keeps him under control.
Garcia trying to control from the bottom.
Maijanen throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Maijanen 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.
Maijanen thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Garcia's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maijanen tries to pass the half guard into mount. Garcia knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Garcia is looking to control Maijanen's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Garcia avoid being mounted?
Garcia slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Garcia has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Maijanen can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Garcia is looking for a triangle but Maijanen pushes his legs off easily.
Garcia takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Maijanen showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Garcia is trying to keep Maijanen in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maijanen throwing strikes from guard but Garcia blocks nicely.
Maijanen postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Garcia working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Maijanen.
Maijanen wants to control from the top but Garcia keeps moving.
Maijanen slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Garcia preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Maijanen has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Garcia is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Maijanen dives into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Garcia is not content to let Maijanen control the position.
Garcia manages to work his way to half guard, despite Maijanen's best efforts.
Garcia is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Garcia actively working from the bottom here.

Maijanen is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Garcia defends it well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Garcia wants to control but Maijanen is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Maijanen prevents Garcia from improving his position.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Teemu Maijanen.
I think Maijanen has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Konstantin Menshow scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by split decision... Marcelio Garcia!