PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Bucky Henderson (ranked 3937 p4p, 443 weight class) and Dex Arial (ranked 4498 p4p, 485 weight class). Arial has chosen Thunder as his entrance music. This should be a great matchup!

Henderson
vs
Arial

180 cm
25
175 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

178 cm
21
176 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Bucky Henderson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Dex Arial!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, William Peck and Dillan Fox.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Henderson wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.

Arial is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Henderson's half guard.

Arial decides to stand and escape the position.
Henderson misses with a body shot
and Arial counters with a low kick, right behind Henderson 's knee.

Henderson gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Arial.
Henderson misses with a punch on the inside.
Arial wants a takedown but no success here.
Arial is trying to drag Henderson to the mat but Henderson just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Henderson is pushing Arial up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Stalling in the clinch from Henderson.
Henderson displaying some good clinch control by pressing Arial up against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A shot in the inside from Henderson.
Arial has Henderson pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Henderson manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Bucky Henderson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dex Arial.
Arial goes for a takedown attempt but Henderson pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Henderson bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
Henderson misses the shot to the body.
Henderson avoids the head kick by Arial.
Henderson tries to clinch but Arial moves away
and Arial counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Arial tries to keep at a distance but Henderson has taken the fight into the clinch.

Arial's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Henderson looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Henderson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Arial manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arial avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Arial is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.

Arial throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Henderson tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Arial is in Henderson's guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Henderson pulls Arial in to control the position.
Henderson is trying to keep Arial in close.
Arial throwing strikes but missing.
Henderson keeping moving, preventing Arial from controlling successfully.
Henderson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Arial accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Arial throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arial postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Arial trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Arial postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Arial drops back looking for a leg! Henderson is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Henderson manages to kick Arial off! Arial jumps back into Henderson's guard.
Arial throwing strikes from guard but Henderson blocks nicely.
Henderson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Arial trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Arial is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Henderson controls Arial momentarily but Arial frees himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Arial scoring with punches to the head and body.
Arial is looking to work some ground and pound but Henderson has wrist control.
Arial wants to control from the top but Henderson keeps moving.
Henderson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Arial.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Henderson throws a body punch but Arial moves out of range.

Arial shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Henderson's guard.
Arial looking to pass the guard.
Arial has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Arial landing with the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dex Arial dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

A punch combination from Henderson misses.
Arial goes for a double leg but Henderson avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Henderson continues to drive forward.
Arial has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Henderson misses with a body shot.

Arial drives through with a takedown into guard.
Arial preventing the sweep.
Arial has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Arial throws a strike but Henderson rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Arial can do anything to dispel that myth.
Henderson postures up in Arial's guard and throws a big left but Arial blocks it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Henderson trying to control but Arial is working from the bottom.
Henderson not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Henderson wants to control from the top but Arial keeps moving.
Arial is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henderson trying to control the position from guard on top but Arial is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Henderson stands and throws Arial's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Henderson scoring with punches and elbows.

Henderson tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Arial managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Henderson.
Arial pushes Henderson away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Henderson gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's two 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.
Henderson is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Henderson trying to control the position but Arial is working away.
Arial manages to work his way to half guard, despite Henderson's best efforts.
Arial desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Henderson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Arial is refusing to be controlled, as Henderson sits in half guard.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Arial pushes Henderson off looking to stand but Henderson dives back in and keeps control.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Arial shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Henderson as he avoids it easily.
Henderson takes a swing at Arial's ribcage but misses.
Arial thinks about the counter body kick.
Henderson shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Arial but Arial pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Henderson misses with a wild combination.
Henderson misses with a body shot.
Arial feints the counter takedown.
Arial misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Henderson was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Henderson throws a body shot but no joy.
Nice sprawl there from Henderson as Arial shoots in.
Bucky Henderson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dex Arial.
Henderson scores with a hook to the body. Arial takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Arial avoids the body shot from Henderson.

Henderson gets the takedown into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Arial parries the strikes from Henderson easily there. Henderson is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Arial to escape.
Arial manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!
Dex Arial has got the better of the ground game so far.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Arial working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

Arial is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Henderson doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Arial.
Henderson wants to improve his position but Arial is controlling well.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Arial thows a huge punch but Henderson dodges it nicely.
Henderson wants to control but Arial is keeping busy and won't allow it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Bucky Henderson dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Arial shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Henderson has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Arial is working away from the top position though.
Henderson has hold of Arial's hands but Arial slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

It looks like Bucky Henderson has been cut.
Arial not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Arial drops an elbow to the side of Henderson's head.

Henderson is rocked!
Arial winds up and cracks Henderson with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Oh Henderson is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Arial takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Arial lands a big elbow from half guard. That looks like it's hurt Henderson quite badly. Henderson pulls Arial in close trying to recover. Arial postures up and lands two really hard shots that put Henderson on queer street! The ref takes a look and decides to call an end to the fight! Possibly an early stoppage but Henderson doesn't seem to be complaining too much.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:57 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Dex Arial!
Dex Arial seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.