PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Mirko Crotatni (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mitsuyo Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Mirko Crotatni had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Crotatni
vs
Maeda

160 cm
21
145 lbs
5 - 5 - 0

170 cm
24
142 lbs
7 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mirko Crotatni!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mitsuyo Maeda!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Alexandre Firmino and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Crotatni steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Maeda.
A jab from Maeda misses.

Crotatni tries to keep at a distance but Maeda has taken the fight into the clinch.
Maeda doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Maeda stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.

Maeda escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Mirko Crotatni seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Crotatni swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Maeda punishes Crotatni's body with a nice straight punch.
Crotatni throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Maeda keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Crotatni.
Maeda lands a nice hook to Crotatni's body. Crotatni takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Maeda connects with a good right hand that stumbles Crotatni. Crotatni circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Crotatni misses with a two punch combination.
Crotatni tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Maeda was well out of range. Poor timing from Crotatni.

Maeda closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Crotatni did well to prevent Maeda getting side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.

Maeda is working for a submission of some sort.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Maeda seems to be looking for submissions.
Maeda missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Maeda is controlling the pace.

Crotatni is defending against the submission attempts here by Maeda.
Maeda seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Crotatni does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda slows the pace down in half guard.
Crotatni keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Maeda is pressing down on Crotatni's thigh, looking to free his foot. Crotatni is holding on for now.
Maeda has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Maeda lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Maeda slips a nice elbow through Crotatni's hands, connecting with Crotatni's forehead.

Maeda is trying to work for a kimura but Crotatni is defending well.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Maeda connects with a nice short shot to Crotatni's temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crotatni wants to get back to full guard.
Crotatni is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Maeda's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Maeda's back!
Maeda has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Maeda manages to reverse the position and now he's in Crotatni's guard. Nice work there by Maeda.
Maeda controls from within his opponent's guard.
Crotatni keeping moving, preventing Maeda from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maeda distracts Crotatni with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Crotatni wants to improve his position but instead Maeda has moved into half guard.

Maeda is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Crotatni tries to get to full guard but Maeda has control of the leg.
Maeda scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Maeda throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Maeda looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Crotatni with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mitsuyo Maeda dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Crotatni misses with a hook.
Crotatni throws a jab when Maeda was well out of range.

Maeda shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Crotatni napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Crotatni is trying to get back to half guard.
Maeda cracks Crotatni with a big right hand but Crotatni just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.

Crotatni is rocked!
Maeda is staying tight to Crotatni's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Oh Crotatni is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Maeda works to advance to full mount. Crotatni defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Crotatni taking shots to the head.

Maeda looking to secure an arm triangle but Crotatni defends it well.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Maeda cracks Crotatni with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mitsuyo Maeda!