PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Thomas Maeda (ranked 834 p4p, 1496 weight class) and Esa Kettu (ranked 121 p4p, 208 weight class). Maeda comes to the cage accompanied by Submission. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Esa Kettu was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Maeda
vs
Kettu

169 cm
35
164
28 - 18 - 0

179 cm
38
155
26 - 20 - 3

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Altitude Clothing

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 28 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Thomas Maeda!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 26 - 20 - 3, fighting out of New York, Esa Kettu!
The judges for this bout are Percy O'Donnell, Don Winkell and Timothy Bukovac.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good standup being displayed there by Kettu as he connects with a hook.
Maeda throws a combination that misses
and Kettu connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Maeda moves into the clinch successfully.
Kettu gets through Maeda's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Kettu misses with a punch on the inside.
Maeda misses with a punch to the body.
Maeda tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Kettu doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Maeda manages to break the clinch.
Maeda misses with a looping left.
Kettu swats away the attempt to clinch by Maeda.
Maeda throws a leg kick
enabling Kettu to counter with a crisp jab.
Maeda misses with the combination.
Maeda sizes up Kettu with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Maeda slips a jab from Kettu.
Kettu fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Maeda throws a looping overhand right but Kettu ducks down to avoid it.
Maeda scores with a jab to the jaw.
Maeda is looking to clinch.
Maeda looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Kettu lands with a nice body punch.
Kettu lands with a cross.
Kettu fails to land with a series of punches.
It looked like Maeda was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Kettu.
Kettu scores with a crisp jab that stopped Maeda in his tracks.
Kettu moves away from the strike by Maeda.
Maeda wants to clinch but Kettu slips to the side
and Kettu counters with a nice uppercut.
Esa Kettu is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
A telegraphed right hand from Maeda misses the target.
Kettu lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

Maeda is rocked!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Kettu cracks Maeda with a good jab.
Oh Maeda is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Kettu closes the distance and lands a vicious right hand that drops Maeda! Kettu dives in looking to finish! Maeda is still trying to defend himself but he's taking too many shots and the referee has no choice but to stop the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:51 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Esa Kettu!
A relieved looking Esa Kettu thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.
Thomas Maeda spoke after the fight, saying 'Through Japanese translator to English. "My opponent was better today. I will not underestimate him next time"'.