PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Abdullah Zaire (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marcos Maidana (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Abdullah Zaire has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Zaire
vs
Maidana

183 cm
23
198 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

188 cm
21
190 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Great low kicks
Insanely flexible

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Abdullah Zaire!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Marcos Maidana!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Timothy Bukovac and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zaire pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Zaire with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
A thudding body kick lands there by Zaire!
A chopping leg kick lands by Zaire.
Maidana loads up on a big right hand but Zaire slips the punch.
Zaire pushes Maidana away with a front kick.
Zaire walks into a jab.
Zaire ducks under a wild hook from Maidana.
Zaire ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Maidana misses with a looping left.
Zaire thinks about countering with a head kick.
Maidana takes a kick to the side of the head.
Zaire throws a front kick that sends Maidana stumbling back into the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Zaire thuds his shin into the meat of Maidana's side.
Zaire lands with a nice body kick.
Maidana looks winded!
Maidana steps to his left, right into the path of a big body kick from Zaire. That one must have hurt.
A punch lands to the side of Zaire 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Maidana missing with a left hand there. Zaire was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Maidana takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zaire feints and then cracks Maidana's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Maidana down.
Maidana stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Zaire.
Zaire keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Maidana.
Maidana throws a right and a left that Zaire avoids nicely.
Maidana has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from Zaire.
Maidana tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Zaire avoids the body shot from Maidana.
Maidana misses with an uppercut
and Zaire counters with a good, hard body kick but Maidana shrugs it off.
Zaire lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Zaire lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
A big left from Zaire misses.
Maidana drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Zaire defends it well.
Thud! ouch! good body kick from Zaire - that will leave a mark!
Zaire walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Maidana has tried to improve his agility in the runup to this fight.
Maidana jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Marcos Maidana is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zaire misses with a hook. Maidana ducked under it nicely.
Zaire lands with an overhand left.
Maidana sizes up Zaire with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Maidana tries to bum rush Zaire with a series of wild strikes but Zaire uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Zaire tries to counter with a takedown but Maidana is quick to defend against it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zaire scores with a head kick.
A looping hook to the body misses from Maidana. Zaire does a little dance to reset his feet.
Maidana pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Maidana lands a lovely overhand right.
Zaire looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Zaire connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Maidana lunges at Zaire with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Zaire's hand.
Maidana's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Zaire scoring well with a low kick there.
A swing and a miss from Maidana.
Maidana throws a big shot that misses.
Zaire cracks Maidana with a right hand to the side of the head.
Maidana misses with a hook.
Zaire ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Zaire ducks under a wild hook from Maidana.
Maidana changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Maidana misses with an uppercut. Zaire saw that one coming.
Zaire fires out a quick counter leg kick but Maidana just manages to avoid it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Maidana throws the left hand but Zaire avoids the punch easily.
Zaire chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Zaire uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Maidana.
Maidana swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Maidana waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Zaire.
Maidana throws a hook but Zaire blocks it.
Zaire's Muay Thai looks sharper than normal. He has obviously been working on it in the gym.
Zaire is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Maidana.
Maidana missing with a left hand there. Zaire was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Maidana might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Ohhhhh! A huge head kick from Zaire! Maidana is out on his feet! Zaire rushes in and throws more strikes. The ref is looking closely - Maidana is covering up but the punishment is just too much and the ref steps in to stop the fight! Maidana is staring into space, just thankful that the beatdown has ended. Brutal finish.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:34 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Abdullah Zaire!
Our winner, Abdullah Zaire, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.