PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between James Crane (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and David Arias (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Arias's choice of entrance music: Don Omar - Conteo. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Crane
vs
Arias

184 cm
18
147 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

173 cm
21
150 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, James Crane!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, David Arias!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Stewart Dunkirk and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Crane rushes Arias and presses him up against the cage.

Arias breaks the clinch.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Arias gets underhooks to prevent Crane's takedown attempt.
Arias misses with a punch on the inside.
Arias stops a takedown attempt from Crane.

Arias manages to break the clinch.

Crane drives through with a takedown into guard.
Crane wants to pass the guard but Arias is keeping the position.
Crane trying to control the position from guard on top but Arias is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Crane is standing up over Arias. Arias looks to escape but Crane dives into side control.
Crane is staying tight to Arias's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Crane seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Arias for as long as he can get away with.
Arias regains half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crane is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Arias wants to get back to full guard.
Crane controlling the pace.
Crane will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Crane is tying to control. Arias wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Crane wants to pass the guard but Arias is defending well.
Crane is working hard here to advance position.
Crane is looking to take a break and control but Arias is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Arias looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Crane regains full guard. Nicely done.
Crane is breathing heavily.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Arias's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Arias postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Arias wants to control from the top but Crane keeps moving.
Crane looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Crane controls Arias momentarily but Arias frees himself.
Crane has momentary wrist control but Arias slips an elbow through the middle.
Arias throws a big right hand that misses.
Crane wants to control but Arias passes easily into half guard.
Arias thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
A combination from Arias does no damage.
Arias misses with a double jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arias misses with a low kick.

Arias has Crane up against the cage in a clinch.
Crane tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Crane. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Crane tries for a takedown but Arias manages to get underhooks.
Arias lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Crane backwards.
Arias throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Crane blocks it with crossed arms.
Crane is trying to break the clinch but Arias has him pressed against the cage.
Arias crunches a lovely knee into Crane's ribcage.

Crane has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Arias uses from the top position.
Crane working a defensive guard here.
Arias makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Arias postures up.
Crane is pulling down on Arias's head. It's preventing any offense from Arias, at least for the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Crane is looking for a triangle but Arias pushes his legs off easily.
Crane looking to control.
Arias passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Crane sneaks back into half guard.
Crane moves into full guard.
Arias postures up.

Crane is looking for a triangle but Arias pushes his legs off easily.
Crane controlling the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Crane is on top in guard.
Crane sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Arias's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Crane dominated that round.
That's time! Crane's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Arias fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Crane with a poor takedown
and Arias counters with a three punch combo that has Crane backing up. Crane nods at Arias to acknowledge the strikes.
Crane with a lazy takedown attempt

and Arias counters with a takedown into side control.
Crane prevents Arias from improving position.
Crane regains half guard.
Crane gets back to full guard.
Arias trying to control but Crane is working from the bottom.
Arias must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

Crane isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Arias stacks Crane on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Arias!
Arias lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Crane down.
You can see the frustration on Crane's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
James Crane overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Crane is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crane has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Arias is working away from the top position though.
Crane manages to get to full guard.
Arias in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Crane trying to control the position.
Crane utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Crane looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Arias scoring with some ground and pound.
Crane is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Arias preventing the sweep.
Crane looking to control.

That's two 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.
Arias has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Crane is proving hard to escape from.
Crane controls Arias momentarily but Arias frees himself.
Crane controlling the position.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Arias accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Crane misses with a takedown attempt

and Arias counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Crane's guard now.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Crane. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Arias stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Arias keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Arias drives through and clinches with Crane against the cage.
Arias digs a right hand into Crane's ribs. Those have got to be taking their toll on Crane's gas tank.

Arias manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Arias trying to strike off his back.
Crane preventing the sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crane is stalling in the full guard.
Arias is trying to keep Crane in close.
Arias trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Arias striking from the bottom.
Arias doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Crane stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Arias.

Arias gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Crane looking for a takedown.
Arias lands a right hand.
Arias tries to land a knee to the head but Crane blocks with his arms.
Arias trying to land knees to the body.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Arias breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Arias tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Crane counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Arias misses with a low kick as Crane jumps back.

Crane gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Arias postures up.
Crane pulls Arias in close to prevent any damage.
Crane is trying to control the position but Arias postures up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Crane is looking to sweep but instead, Arias has passed into half guard.

Crane is defending against the submission attempts here by Arias.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

David Arias showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Crane is pressed up against the cage. Arias has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Crane down to the mat. Crane avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Crane changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Arias tries to avoid it but Crane manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Arias to the ground. Arias escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Crane really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Crane shoots and misses

and Arias counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Arias.
Crane controls Arias momentarily but Arias frees himself.

Arias throws a sloppy strike and Crane has hooked up an armbar on the loose arm! He's turned and extended fully! Arias is forced to tap! Great BJJ from Crane!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:50 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). James Crane!