PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mitsuyo Maeda (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Patrick Mannelly (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Maeda
vs
Mannelly

177 cm
31
175 lbs
13 - 7 - 1

180 cm
29
178 lbs
16 - 4 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 7 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mitsuyo Maeda!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 16 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Patrick Mannelly!
The judges for this bout are Emerson Jorge, Mauricio Rocha and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Maeda connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Mannelly has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Maeda finds it's way round the side to connect with Mannelly's head.
Mannelly stuffs the takedown.
Maeda misses with a low kick.
Maeda misses with a low kick.
Mannelly is looking to clinch.

Mannelly has taken the fight to the clinch.
I was talking to Maeda's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Mannelly keeps control of Maeda as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Mannelly has a couple of punches blocked by Maeda.
Mannelly lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Mannelly stops a takedown attempt from Maeda.
Maeda is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Mannelly misses with a short punch on the inside.
Mannelly stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Mannelly is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Maeda is defending well for now.
Maeda jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Mannelly walks away with a smile on his face. Maeda gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mitsuyo Maeda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Mannelly lands a nice shot to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Mannelly takes a swing at Maeda's ribcage but misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mannelly dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Mannelly. Maeda does a little dance to reset his feet.
Maeda throws a solid leg kick but Mannelly takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Maeda.
Mannelly tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Maeda manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Donk. Mannelly catches Maeda right on the button with a cross.
Mannelly moves out of range of the leg kick from Maeda.
Maeda keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Maeda gets the takedown into side control.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Mannelly stops Maeda from passing to mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Mannelly gets back to half guard.
Mannelly trying to hold on to Maeda's head to control him but Maeda postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Maeda looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Mannelly with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Mannelly moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Maeda wants to control from the top but Mannelly keeps moving.
Maeda is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Maeda is fighting to break Mannelly's control of his arms but Mannelly is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Let's hope that Mannelly has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Mannelly keeping moving, preventing Maeda from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Mannelly is keeping the position for now.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Mitsuyo Maeda just wasn't active enough.
Mannelly swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Patrick Mannelly seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Maeda keeps the fight on the outside.
Maeda goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Mannelly misses the jab.
Maeda lands a nice hook to Mannelly's body. Mannelly takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Mannelly tries to clinch up.

Mannelly moves into range and clinches up with Maeda.
Mannelly misses with a body punch.
Mannelly goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Mannelly doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Maeda looking for a takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mannelly tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
A short left from Maeda.
Maeda avoiding damage as Mannelly throws knees to the body.
Mannelly struggles to land a body shot inside as Maeda controls his hands.

Maeda successfully pulls guard.
Maeda keeping moving, preventing Mannelly from controlling successfully.
Maeda manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Mannelly manages to get himself to full guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Mannelly is pulling down on Maeda's head to control his posture.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Maeda working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Maeda stopping the sweep attempt from Mannelly.
Maeda stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Mannelly swivels though and keeps the full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Patrick Mannelly will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Mannelly tries a low kick but Maeda avoids it.
Mannelly throws a right and a left that Maeda avoids nicely.
Mannelly is looking to clinch.
Maeda shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Mannelly pinned against the cage. Mannelly gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Mannelly closes the distance looking to clinch

and Maeda counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Mannelly!
Mannelly is not content to let Maeda control the position.
Maeda prevents Mannelly from escaping the position.
Mannelly tries to buck Maeda off but Maeda is having none of it.
Maeda working the head with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mannelly stops Maeda from passing to mount.
Maeda wants to control but Mannelly is keeping him busy.
Maeda working away.
Mannelly is not content to let Maeda control the position.
Mannelly is looking to regain half guard here but Maeda keeps moving and retains side control.
Check out the look on Maeda's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Maeda working the head and body with strikes.
Mannelly is letting Maeda control him for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maeda tries to move into full mount but can't pass Mannelly's legs.
Maeda is looking to take a break and control but Mannelly is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Mannelly is trying to control Maeda's posture but Maeda avoids it.
Mannelly is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Maeda is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Maeda avoids the attempt from Mannelly to control.
Maeda can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Mannelly is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mannelly taking shots to the head.
Poor strikes thrown by Maeda there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Mannelly wants to hold on but Maeda pushes him away.
Maeda prevents Mannelly from getting the reversal.
Mannelly sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Mitsuyo Maeda overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Mannelly moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Mannelly wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Mannelly keeping moving, preventing Maeda from controlling successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mannelly is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Maeda working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Maeda working some strikes from top position.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Mannelly is adopting a defensive guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Mannelly wants to stand up but Maeda is controlling him.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Maeda throwing strikes but missing.
Mannelly preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mitsuyo Maeda dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Mannelly tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Maeda paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Maeda blocks a leg kick.
Mannelly wants to clinch.
Mannelly is looking to clinch.
Mannelly thows a left - swing and a miss!
Maeda walks into a jab.
Mannelly misses with a wild combination.
Maeda misses with a low kick.
Maeda lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Mannelly fails in his attempt to clinch.
Mannelly tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Ooooh, nice body kick lands from Maeda. Mannelly shrugs it off though.
Mannelly attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda shoots in looking for a takedown but Mannelly manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Maeda's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Mannelly moves into range and connects with a jab.
Mannelly scores with a hook.
Maeda misses with an attempted mid kick.
Mannelly tries to clinch but Maeda is having none of it.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Mannelly.
Mannelly has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Maeda finds it's way round the side to connect with Mannelly's head.
Maeda turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Maeda tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Maeda is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Maeda blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Mannelly blocks a couple of punches on the inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mannelly tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Maeda's elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Mannelly manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Mannelly tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Mannelly.
Maeda struggles to land a body shot inside as Mannelly controls his hands.
Maeda jumps guard but Mannelly turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mitsuyo Maeda. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Maeda tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Mannelly misses with a body punch.
Mannelly swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Maeda managing to block the knees to the body from Mannelly.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Mannelly.

Maeda has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Mannelly uses from the top position.
Maeda being controlled here, momentarily.
Mannelly must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maeda not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Maeda 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.
Mannelly tries to stand but Maeda is controlling from the bottom.
Mannelly is stalling in the full guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Patrick Mannelly was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Maeda lands a lovely overhand right.
Mannelly is looking to clinch.
Mannelly scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Maeda moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Mannelly is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Maeda rather than just go for the knockout.
Maeda uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Mannelly.
That kick from Mannelly tenderised Maeda's leg. Maeda is trying to keep his angry face on.
No luck for Maeda with that takedown attempt.
Mannelly pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mannelly misses with a jab to the body

and Maeda counters with a single leg into guard. Mannelly didn't expect that.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Maeda trying to control the position from guard on top but Mannelly is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Maeda postures up.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Patrick Mannelly.
I think Mannelly has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Emerson Jorge scores the fight 28:29
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Patrick Mannelly!
Patrick Mannelly is the new welterweight champion!
An out of breath Patrick Mannelly thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.