PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Alexander Maynard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Raylan Givens (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Maynard
vs
Givens

188 cm
31
197 lbs
23 - 11 - 0

187 cm
30
195 lbs
17 - 10 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

ADCC Champion
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Perkele!
CEC Nutrition Q160 & Loans

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 23 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Alexander Maynard!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 10 - 1, fighting out of Helsinki, Raylan Givens!
The judges for this bout are Johanna Lukiainen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Tarja Halkonen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Givens tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Maynard was well out of range. Poor timing from Givens.
Maynard getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Givens scoring well with a low kick there.
Givens throws a head kick but Maynard moves out of range.
Maynard lands a lovely overhand right.
Givens tries a head kick but it misses.
Maynard fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Givens buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Givens takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Maynard pivots, looking for a leg kick but Givens is out of range and Maynard settles back down.
Givens lands a front kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Maynard lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Maynard scores with a punch to the head.
Maynard throws a head kick but Givens moves out of range.
A solid leg kick lands there for Maynard.
Givens is looking to slow Maynard down with leg kicks.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Givens shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Givens was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Givens working the ground and pound from side control.
Givens working away.
Maynard is working to avoid the ground and pound but Givens connects with a decent elbow.
Givens misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Givens has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Maynard is looking for a sweep.
Maynard struggling a bit here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Givens throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Maynard can't do much from the bottom here.
Maynard is looking for a sweep.
Givens throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maynard tries to buck Givens off but Givens is having none of it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Givens cracks Maynard with a big elbow.
Givens lands some shots froms side control.
The ground and pound from Givens seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

Givens tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Maynard taking a bit of punishment here - Givens scoring with strikes.
Maynard takes an elbow right on the bridge of the nose and winces in pain.
Givens throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.
Givens is trying to ground and pound but Maynard uses the momentary lack of control by Givens to regain half guard.
Maynard is trying to stand.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Givens wants to control but Maynard is keeping him busy.
Givens works his way into full mount!

Givens looking for a guillotine from mount but Maynard is having none of it.
Maynard is trying to escape the mount.
Givens breaks from Maynard's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Maynard taking shots to the head.
Givens tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Maynard keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Givens lands a big shot there that rocks Maynard but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Givens lands a big elbow.
Givens working the ground and pound effectively.
Givens putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Givens with a couple of short strikes.
Maynard is wriggling around trying to escape.
Givens lands with some strikes.
Maynard is in all sorts of trouble here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Givens raining down shots from the mount!
Givens fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raylan Givens dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Givens throws a jab when Maynard was well out of range.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Maynard, as that shot connected.
Maynard scores with a leg kick.
Givens moves out of range of the body kick.
A solid leg kick lands there for Givens.
Givens throws the kick towards the body but Maynard avoids it.
Maynard throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Givens lands a front kick.
Givens thows a body kick. Maynard tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Maynard lands with a nice body punch.
A big right from Maynard misses.
A shot to the body from Givens misses
and Maynard counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Givens avoids the head kick by Maynard.
Givens ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Givens, right into the meat.
Givens tries a head kick but it misses.
Maynard with a body punch. A glancing blow.

Maynard pushes Givens up against the cage in a clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Givens fails to land.
Maynard holding his opponent close, against the cage.

Givens pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Givens fails with a takedown attempt.
Givens lands a front kick.
Maynard lands a lovely overhand right.
Maynard connects with a body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Givens lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Givens lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Alexander Maynard is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Givens ducks under a wild hook from Maynard.
Givens tries to score a power double leg takedown but Maynard sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Givens somewhat.
Givens defending well as Maynard loads up on a big left hand.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Givens.
Maynard tries to buck Givens off but Givens is having none of it.
Maynard is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Givens's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Givens looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Maynard with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Givens not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Givens landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Givens throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Givens 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 referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Givens lands a nice short elbow.
Givens works his way into side control.
Givens working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Givens trying to control the position but Maynard is working away.
Givens working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Givens lands a nice forearm strike.
Givens is chipping away with strikes.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maynard is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Givens throwing shots but Maynard is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Givens misses with a head shot. Maynard uses the momentum to regain guard.
Maynard is trying to control the position but Givens postures up.
Givens is looking to pass into half guard but Maynard pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Maynard is in guard.
Maynard trying to control the position from guard on top but Givens is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maynard has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Givens had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Maynard defends it easily.
Raylan Givens has got the better of the ground game so far.
Givens 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.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Givens escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Maynard gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Maynard controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raylan Givens 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!

Maynard cracks the inside of Givens's front leg.
Maynard throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Givens swats away the attempt to clinch by Maynard.
Givens plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Maynard moves out of range of the leg kick from Givens.
Maynard misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Givens.
Maynard scores with a body shot.
Maynard takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Maynard takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Givens uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Maynard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Givens throws a head kick but Maynard moves out of range.
Maynard takes a swing at Givens's ribcage but misses.
Givens looks to land a body kick but Maynard moved away.
Givens scores with the left hand. Maynard knows he should have avoided that one.
Givens thows a body shot but no joy.
Givens with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Maynard tries to close the distance and clinch up but Givens swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Givens looks for the body kick but Maynard saw that one coming.
Givens has a takedown stuffed.
Maynard tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Givens was well out of range. Poor timing from Maynard.
Givens changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Maynard loads up on a big right hand but Givens slips the punch.
Alexander Maynard has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Givens takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Maynard misses with a body shot.
Maynard throws a front kick that sends Givens stumbling back into the cage.
Givens takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Givens shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Maynard lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Maynard scores with a shot to the body.
Maynard takes a swing at Givens's ribcage but misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - Maynard looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Alexander Maynard seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Maynard swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Maynard looks for the body kick but Givens saw that one coming.
Givens uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Maynard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Givens connects with a solid leg kick.
Givens's corner calls for a 1-2. Givens obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Givens connects with a high kick.
Maynard blocks a low kick nicely.
Maynard digs a good body shot into Givens's ribs.
Givens tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Maynard was well out of range. Poor timing from Givens.
Raylan Givens is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Maynard throws a leg kick but Givens sees it coming and checks it nicely.
Givens blocks a low kick nicely.
Givens tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Maynard throws a poor cross that misses

and Givens counters with a takedown into side control.
Givens is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Maynard tries to bench press Givens off him but Givens keeps the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maynard takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Maynard trying to remain calm as Givens controls from the top position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Maynard gets back to half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Raylan Givens.
I've got Givens winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Raylan Givens!
Raylan Givens seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.