PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Armen Aharonian (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Demian Maia (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aharonian comes to the cage accompanied by Ara Gevorgyan - Artsakh. Maia has chosen Steel Lord On Wheels by Hibria as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Demian Maia enters the cage!

Aharonian
vs
Maia

185 cm
26
196 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

185 cm
40
200 lbs
24 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Heavy handed

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 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Armen Aharonian!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Demian Maia!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Albert Achterberg and Saam Ante.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Maia tries to clinch up but Aharonian circles away and keeps his distance.
Aharonian catches Maia with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!

It looks like Demian Maia has been cut.
Aharonian misses with an uppercut
and Maia counters with a series of strikes. Aharonian will be more careful next time no doubt.
Maia misses with a wild body shot.
Aharonian avoids a punch combination nicely.
Aharonian was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Aharonian lands a nice hook to Maia's body. Maia takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aharonian throws a hook but Maia avoids it easily.
Maia tries to counter by closing the distance.
Maia on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Aharonian. Aharonian obviously looking to wear him down.
A solid leg kick lands there for Aharonian.
Maia uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Aharonian.
Maia throws a counter combo.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maia fails with the takedown.
An attempted straight right counter from Aharonian misses the target.
A big left from Aharonian misses.
Maia let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Aharonian dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Maia has closed the distance and engaged Aharonian in a clinch.
Maia misses with a punch on the inside.
Maia lands a shoulder strike.
Aharonian just leaning against Maia, taking a breather.
Maia lands a left hand that snaps the head of Aharonian backwards.
Aharonian fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

Maia manages to break the clinch.
A telegraphed right hand from Aharonian misses the target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aharonian keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Maia.
Maia tries to clinch there but Aharonian circles away.
Aharonian swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Aharonian fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Maia manages to avoid it.
Maia tries to close the distance and clinch but Aharonian swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Maia moves out of range of the strikes.
Aharonian throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

Maia clinches up with Aharonian and pushes him back against the cage.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Aharonian breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Maia fails with an attempt to clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Maia. Those never looked like landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aharonian misses with a straight right.
We've been told by Aharonian's head coaches at Gym Amsterdam that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Aharonian misses with a body shot.
Maia fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Aharonian manages to avoid it.
Aharonian is looking for a counter combo.
Aharonian throws a sloppy body shot
and Maia counters with an inside leg kick.
Aharonian avoids the body shot from Maia.
Aharonian keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Aharonian clobbers Maia with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Aharonian throws a right hand that Maia ducks under and follows up with a left that Maia also avoids with ease.
A looping hook to the body misses from Aharonian. Maia does a little dance to reset his feet.
Maia throws a push kick but Aharonian slaps the foot to one side.
Armen Aharonian seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aharonian keeps the fight on the outside.
Maia drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Aharonian ducks under a wild hook from Maia.
Maia throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Maia walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Aharonian misses the body punch
and Maia counters with an outside leg kick.
Maia on the wrong end of a nice hook.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Aharonian pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Sloppy strikes from Aharonian. Those never looked like landing.
Armen Aharonian is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Aharonian keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Maia just misses with a punch to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Armen Aharonian dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Demian Maia's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Horrible takedown attempt by Maia or perhaps it was just good defense by Aharonian, which made it look bad.
Maia swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Armen Aharonian is winning the standup battle so far.
Maia misses with an uppercut.
A little feinted left hand from Aharonian on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Aharonian.
Maia throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Aharonian's waist but Aharonian gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Maia off to one side.
Aharonian fires out a quick counter leg kick but Maia just manages to avoid it.
Aharonian scores with a hook to the body. Maia takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Maia tries to clinch up but Aharonian circles away and keeps his distance.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Aharonian misses with the combination.
Aharonian throws a front kick that sends Maia stumbling back into the cage.
Maia is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Aharonian rather than just go for the knockout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aharonian thuds his shin into the meat of Maia's side.
Aharonian lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Aharonian tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Aharonian rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Maia moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Maia wants to counter with a clinch but Aharonian pushes him away.
Aharonian throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Despite the aggression on Maia's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.
Aharonian misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Maia.

Maia shoots in and gets a takedown into Aharonian's guard.
Aharonian wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Aharonian preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Maia trying to control but Aharonian is working from the bottom.
Maia postures up and lands a big shot to Aharonian's brow.
Maia is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Maia won't allow Aharonian to sweep him here.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Maia landing some decent shots from guard.
Aharonian seems keen to control Maia's posture.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Aharonian has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Maia off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Aharonian misses with a body shot.
Maia tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Aharonian manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Left hook, right uppercut from Maia.
Aharonian lands with a slapping head kick.
Maia has his takedown stuffed
and Aharonian counters with a straight right hand.
Armen Aharonian has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Demian Maia.
Aharonian throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Maia moves in looking to clinch but Aharonian pushes him off.
Maia ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Aharonian is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Maia can do to turn this around?
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
A head kick by Aharonian misses
and Maia counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Aharonian takes a swing at Maia's ribcage but misses.
Maia looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Aharonian misses with a double jab.
Aharonian misses with a jab, cross combination.
Maia now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Aharonian scores with a head kick. Maia tried to block it but didn't get his arm up in time.

That has opened up Demian Maia's cut even more.
Aharonian tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Maia is able to avoid easily.
Aharonian is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Maia misses with a takedown attempt - Aharonian sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Armen Aharonian dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Demian Maia's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Maia fails to land with a series of punches.
Aharonian was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Aharonian is looking to land body kicks.
Maia now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Aharonian throws an overhand right that lands on Maia's shoulder, as Maia tries to avoid the shot.

Maia darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Aharonian kicks off Maia and gets to his feet.
Aharonian dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Maia. That did some damage!
Aharonian scores with a push kick.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Maia fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Maia slips under a jab from Aharonian.
A nice side step and Maia releases a counter shot to the body, but it doesn't find it's home.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maia doesn't manage to clinch there - Aharonian circles away.
Maia ducks under a wild hook from Aharonian.
Aharonian fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Aharonian scores with a jab. Maia acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Aharonian throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Maia throws a body punch but Aharonian moves out of range.
Aharonian scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

Maia is rocked!
Aharonian finds Maia's off switch, with a big overhand right that connects perfectly to the side of the head! Maia flops back against the cage, eyes gazing into the distance. Aharonian lands an unnecessary shot before the referee has time to step in and end the fight. Brutal stuff but I'm sure Maia will be OK.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:51 of round 3, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Armen Aharonian!
A victorious Armen Aharonian thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.