PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Hin Areni (ranked 1872 p4p, 214 weight class) and Arlo Rochester (ranked 2246 p4p, 252 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Areni might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Mosaique. Rochester has chosen Voodoo Child- Jimi Hendrix as his entrance music. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Areni
vs
Rochester

169 cm
21
147 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

189 cm
22
162 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Powerful

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 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Hin Areni!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Arlo Rochester!
The judges for this bout are Jeff Smith, Colin Fray and Roger Salmon.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Areni scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Areni looks to score with a jab to the body but Rochester is just out of range.
Rochester is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Rochester defending well as Areni loads up on a big left hand.
Rochester takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Rochester looks to land a left hand but Areni moved out of range nicely.
Arlo Rochester seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Rochester slips a jab from Areni.
A big left from Areni misses.
A little jabbing left from Rochester on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Rochester throws a lazy uppercut
letting Areni counter with a right hand.
Areni scores with a shot to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rochester throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
enabling Areni to counter with a crisp jab.
Areni avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Areni is looking to counter the offense by Rochester and move into the clinch.
Areni throws a lazy uppercut
and Rochester makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Areni lands a jab to the nose.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rochester throws a head kick that misses.
Areni is looking to counter punch.
Nice defenses there by Rochester.
Rochester throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Areni counters with a two punch combo.
Rochester walks into a stiff left hand from Areni.
Rochester throws an off balance right hand
and Areni counters with a nice uppercut.
Nice shot lands for Rochester.

Areni shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Areni showed some decent athleticism there.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Areni trying to control from half guard but Rochester is working away.
Rochester felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Areni lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Areni lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Areni slips a nice elbow through Rochester's hands, connecting with Rochester's forehead.

Rochester looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Areni prevents Rochester from improving his position.
Rochester is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Areni scores with a couple of nice shots.
Areni is keen to just control but Rochester is a slippery customer.
Areni is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Areni looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Rochester with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Rochester looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Nice strikes from Areni there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rochester actively working from the bottom here.
Rochester is in trouble now - Areni has advanced to mount!
Areni lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Areni lands a big elbow.
BOOM! Areni connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Areni landing strikes from the mount.
Areni scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Rochester?
Areni working Rochester over with strikes here.

Rochester is rocked!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The referee warns Rochester that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Rochester is still in real trouble! Can Areni finish him?
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Areni lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Areni postures up and throws a couple of big shots that have Rochester in real trouble here! The ref calls for Rochester to improve his position which he doesn't do, so the referee has no choice but to end the fight due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Hin Areni!
Hin Areni decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.