PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Mahmoud Izrani (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ricardo Arona (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ricardo Arona is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Izrani
vs
Arona

190 cm
18
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
19
200 lbs
4 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Dangerous knees
Cuts easily

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Mahmoud Izrani!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ricardo Arona!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Emerson Jorge and Alexandre Firmino.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Izrani throws a lazy head kick

so Arona counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Arona trying to stand up but can't free himself from Izrani's guard.

Arona drops back looking for a leg! Izrani is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Izrani manages to kick Arona off! Arona jumps back into Izrani's guard.
Izrani looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Arona stands up and waves to Izrani to follow him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Arona shoots for a double leg takedown but Izrani sprawls well. He's pushed Arona's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Mahmoud Izrani seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Izrani fails with an attempt to clinch.
Izrani tries to clinch up

and Arona counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Arona tries to stand but Izrani is controlling from the bottom.

Arona drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Arona jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arona works a leg free and moves into half guard.

Arona is working for a kimura but Izrani is defending it quite comfortably.
Izrani moves into full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Izrani tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Arona trying to stand up but can't free himself from Izrani's guard.
Arona is fighting to break Izrani's control of his arms but Izrani is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Arona wants to pass the guard but Izrani is keeping the position.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Izrani has a closed guard, preventing Arona from standing up.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Izrani tries to clinch but Arona is having none of it.
Izrani tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Arona counters with a single leg into guard. Izrani didn't expect that.
Arona stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Izrani swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Izrani knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Arona on the ground.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Arona is looking to stand up but Izrani won't let him.

Arona drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Arona jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Arona tries to stand but Izrani is controlling from the bottom.

Arona drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Arona jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Izrani controlling the position.
Izrani is trying to control the position from the bottom.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

Arona thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Arona trying to stand up but can't free himself from Izrani's guard.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Arona won't allow Izrani to sweep him here.

We're going to have a standup here because Mahmoud Izrani wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Arona circles away from the clinch attempt.
Izrani fails in his attempt to clinch.
Izrani fails with an attempt to clinch.
Izrani is looking to clinch.
Arona avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Mahmoud Izrani is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Arona fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Izrani closes the distance but Arona moves to the side

and Arona counters with a takedown into side control.
Arona looks gassed!

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Izrani manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Izrani controlling the action here.

Arona is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Izrani pulls his head out easily.
Arona gets full guard.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Izrani would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

Arona is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Izrani defends well.
Izrani looking to pass the guard.
Izrani sitting in guard here, content to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ricardo Arona dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Izrani tries to clinch up.
Izrani tries to clinch

and Arona counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Arona is looking to stand up but Izrani won't let him.
Arona is fighting to break Izrani's control of his arms but Izrani is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Izrani is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Arona won't allow Izrani to sweep him here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Mahmoud Izrani has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
Izrani tries to close the distance and clinch but Arona swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Izrani closes the distance but Arona moves to the side

and Arona counters with a nice double leg into side control. Izrani won't be happy with that.
Arona wants to stand but Izrani has his arm trapped.

Arona tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Arona has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Arona is breathing heavily.

Arona is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Izrani is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Arona is trying to get an arm triangle but Izrani is defending well.
Izrani regains half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Izrani holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.

Arona is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Arona is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Arona prevents Izrani from improving his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Arona is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Izrani doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Arona.

Arona looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Izrani slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Izrani pulls Arona in close to prevent any damage.
Arona trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

Arona is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

Arona drops back looking for a leg! Izrani is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Izrani manages to kick Arona off! Arona jumps back into Izrani's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Izrani manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Arona manages to get himself to full guard.

Arona had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Izrani defends it easily.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Izrani trying to control but Arona is working from the bottom.
Izrani pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Arona is keeping the position for now.

Arona looking for a guillotine here but Izrani defends easily.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.

Arona is looking for a triangle but Izrani pushes his legs off easily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Izrani is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ricardo Arona comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Arona 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 2 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.

Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight for Ricardo Arona!
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight for Ricardo Arona!
Judge Alexandre Firmino scores the fight for Ricardo Arona!

Ricardo Arona wins by unanimous decision!