PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between John Saint Pierre (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Asano Arai (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Arai is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Fantastic Baby - BIG BANG. Asano Arai is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Saint Pierre
vs
Arai

190 cm
18
270 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

200 cm
24
225 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
KO power

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the 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, John Saint Pierre!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Asano Arai!
The judges for this bout are Leandro Rodrigues, Edson Gomes and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Saint Pierre wants to clinch.
Saint Pierre wants to clinch but Arai slips to the side
and Arai counters with a stiff right hand.

It looks like John Saint Pierre has been cut.
Saint Pierre takes a head kick and shrugs it off.
Saint Pierre takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Saint Pierre fails with the takedown.
Saint Pierre throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Arai.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Saint Pierre misses with a takedown attempt - Arai sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Arai uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Saint Pierre.

Arai lands a high kick to the side of Saint Pierre's head that stuns him and send him tumbling down to the canvas! Arai dives into guard, looking to finish.

Arai gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Arai circles away from the clinch attempt
and Arai counters with a nice body shot.
Arai moves into range and connects with a jab.

John Saint Pierre's cut is getting worse.
A shot to the body from Saint Pierre misses
and Arai counters with a nice leg kick.
Saint Pierre misses with a series of wild punches.
Arai punishes Saint Pierre's body with a nice straight punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Saint Pierre tries to clinch up but Arai circles away and keeps his distance.
Arai looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Saint Pierre on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.

Oh, that's a big right hand from Arai and Saint Pierre goes tumbling to the canvas! Arai follows him to the ground and looks to finish from half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Arai is looking for a kimura but Saint Pierre is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Arai to get the leverage.
Saint Pierre is looking to get back to full guard here but Arai has managed to pass to side control instead.
Arai content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.

Arai decides to stand back up. Arai steps back and let's Saint Pierre get back to his feet.
Arai connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.

John Saint Pierre's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Arai scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Arai has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Arai bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Saint Pierre's head backwards.
Arai misses with a two punch combination.
Saint Pierre falls off balance throwing a combination
letting Arai counter with a right hand.

Saint Pierre is rocked!

Jeez, John Saint Pierre's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arai circles and sees the opportunity to plant his feet and throw a really nice straight left hand that drops Saint Pierre to the canvas! Saint Pierre doesn't know where he is but he's trying to survive - Arai keeps piling on the pressure and forces the referee to step in! This one is aaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:09 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Asano Arai!
A pretty intense looking Asano Arai took the opportunity post-fight to ask for a shot at the title.