PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mickey Arroyo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Stroud (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Stroud is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Vallenfyre - Iconoclast. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Tom Stroud was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Arroyo
vs
Stroud

173 cm
21
145 lbs
11 - 4 - 0

178 cm
21
168 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

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 11 - 4 - 0, fighting out of London, Mickey Arroyo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, Tom Stroud!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Chris Edwards and Colin Fotheringham.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Arroyo swinging wildly here.
Stroud tries to clinch but Arroyo moves out of range.
Stroud avoids a punch combination nicely.
Stroud avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Arroyo tries to clinch but Stroud moves out of range.
Arroyo looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Stroud is fending him off so far but Arroyo persists. Nope, Stroud circles away and we're back to standing.

Arroyo clinches with his opponent.
Arroyo scores with a shoulder strike.
Stroud looking to stall.
Arroyo swings away with an uppercut that misses.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Stroud trying to stall but Arroyo improves his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stroud wants to take the fight to the mat but Arroyo manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Arroyo trying to control the position but instead, Stroud has worked for underhooks and has pushed Arroyo into the cage.
Arroyo creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Stroud's defenses.
Arroyo makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Arroyo stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Arroyo can't break the clinch.
Arroyo is struggling to control the position.
Stroud throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Arroyo takes a shot to the head.

Arroyo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Stroud tries to close the distance and clinch up but Arroyo swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Arroyo moves into the clinch successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arroyo lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Stroud has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Arroyo is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Arroyo doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Arroyo scores with a shoulder strike.
Arroyo lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Arroyo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Arroyo lands with a right to the head.
Arroyo wants to break the clinch but can't.
Stroud being controlled against the cage.
Stroud is looking to take this one to the mat.
Mickey Arroyo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tom Stroud.
Arroyo is trying to maintain a safe position but Stroud gets an underhook and turns Arroyo into the cage.
Stroud doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Stroud drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Arroyo gets the underhooks and prevents it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stroud lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Arroyo blocking some punches.
Arroyo prevents a body shot from Stroud.
Arroyo lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Arroyo looking to slow down the pace here.

Arroyo's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Arroyo tries to close the distance and clinch up but Stroud swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Stroud slaps away a takedown attempt from Arroyo, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Stroud swats away the attempt to clinch by Arroyo.
Stroud is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Arroyo is looking to clinch but Stroud is avoiding it.
Arroyo goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Arroyo is looking to clinch.
Stroud fails in his attempt to clinch.
Arroyo throws a series of punches but Stroud moves out of range.
Stroud shoots in for a double leg but Arroyo sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Arroyo darts in trying to clinch
and Stroud counters with a body kick that stops Arroyo in his tracks momentarily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Arroyo is looking to clinch but Stroud is avoiding it.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Arroyo tries for a takedown but Stroud circles away easily
and Stroud counters with a series of strikes. Arroyo will be more careful next time no doubt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mickey Arroyo dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Arroyo tries to close the distance and clinch but Stroud swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Arroyo.

Stroud forces Arroyo back against the cage and clinches.

Stroud pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Arroyo avoids a punch combination nicely.
Arroyo does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Stroud avoids the head kick by Arroyo.
Stroud looks to land a combination. Arroyo sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Stroud tries to close the distance and clinch but Arroyo swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Stroud keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Arroyo throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Stroud's waist but Stroud gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Arroyo off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mickey Arroyo. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Arroyo shoots in and gets a takedown into Stroud's guard.
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.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Stroud lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Arroyo!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Stroud controlling his opponent.
Stroud working away from the top, dropping strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Arroyo avoids a series of strikes thrown by Stroud.
Stroud looking to ground and pound but Arroyo is blocking nicely.
Stroud working the ground and pound effectively.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Stroud avoids the attempt from Arroyo to control.
Stroud punishing his opponent with strikes.
Arroyo tries to hold on but Stroud postures up.

Stroud is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Arroyo can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Arroyo is in all sorts of trouble here.
Arroyo blocking the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stroud trying to control but Arroyo is having none of it.
Stroud sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Stroud cracks Arroyo with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:44 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Tom Stroud!
Tom Stroud seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.