PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Areo Hotah (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ola Normann (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hotah is coming into this fight with a significant injury, which will no doubt have an effect on his cardio. Ola Normann looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Hotah
vs
Normann

211 cm
25
300 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

200 cm
18
300 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ Brown Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

[JMFC] Arashi Fighting Nutrition Q160 Recovery
Torment Fightwear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Areo Hotah!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ola Normann!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shigeki Fujiwara and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hotah takes a swing at Normann's ribcage but misses.
Hotah is breathing heavily.
Normann takes a jab right on the kisser.
Hotah thows a body shot but no joy.
Normann shoots in for a takedown but Hotah shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Sloppy strikes from Hotah. Those never looked like landing.
Normann dodges the punch combination from Hotah.
Horrible takedown by Normann or perhaps it was just good defense by Hotah which made him look bad.
No luck for Normann with that takedown attempt.
Areo Hotah has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ola Normann.
Normann with a poor takedown
and Hotah counters with a three punch combo that has Normann backing up. Normann nods at Hotah to acknowledge the strikes.
Normann keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Normann shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Hotah defends it nicely.
Hotah missing with a left hand there. Normann was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Normann closes the distance and clinches up with Hotah, looking for a takedown. Normann pushes Hotah against the cage but Hotah circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Normann changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Hotah tries to avoid it but Normann manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Hotah to the ground. Hotah escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Hotah lands an overhand right.
Hotah swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Hotah displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Normann.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hotah digs a good body shot into Normann's ribs.
Hotah lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Hotah thows a left - swing and a miss!
Normann shoots in for a takedown but Hotah shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Hotah lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Normann circles away quickly and effectively.
Hotah just misses with a punch to the body.
Normann changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Hotah tries to avoid it but Normann manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Hotah to the ground. Hotah escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Normann takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Normann avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Normann tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Hotah swivels and escapes.
Normann walks into a stiff left hand from Hotah.
Hotah misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Normann slips a jab and a cross from Hotah.

Normann closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.

Normann is looking for a kimura but Hotah is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Normann to get the leverage.

Normann is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Normann is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hotah is looking to control Normann's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Hotah avoid being mounted?

Normann is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Hotah defends it well.
Hotah knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Normann on the ground.

Normann is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Normann is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Hotah is just riding it out for now. Normann eventually gives up the hold.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Normann is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Hotah sees it coming and defends easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Areo Hotah will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Normann takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Normann steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Hotah.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hotah looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Normann uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Hotah.
Normann should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Hotah stuffs the takedown.
Hotah catches Normann with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Normann shoots in for a takedown but Hotah shows good takedown defense.
Hotah scores with a nice strike.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Normann looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Hotah is fending him off so far but Normann persists. Nope, Hotah circles away and we're back to standing.
Areo Hotah has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Ola Normann.

Normann shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Hotah is trying to defend but Normann finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.

Normann is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Normann is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Normann is looking for a kimura but Hotah is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Normann to get the leverage.
Hotah tries to get to full guard but Normann has control of the leg.

Normann is looking for a kimura here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Normann is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Normann is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.

Normann is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Hotah sees it coming and defends easily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hotah is trying to stand up here but Normann is controlling him well.

Normann is looking for a kimura but Hotah is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Normann to get the leverage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Hotah looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Normann is working for a submission of some sort.
Hotah is trying to stand.

Normann is looking for a kimura here.

Normann is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Hotah doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Normann.

Normann seems to be working for a kimura but Hotah defends the submission attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Normann is working for a kimura but Hotah is defending it quite comfortably.

Normann is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Hotah has managed to free his arm - good work.
Normann tries to pass to full mount but Hotah defends it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Normann is looking for a kimura but Hotah is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Normann to get the leverage.

Normann is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Hotah works his way to full guard. Good work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ola Normann showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Hotah scores with a jab.

Normann feints and as Hotah raises his hands in defense, Normann changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Hotah is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

Normann drops back looking for a leg! Hotah is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Hotah manages to kick Normann off! Normann jumps back into Hotah's guard.
Normann stands and throws Hotah's legs to the side, diving into side control.

Normann swings around for an armbar but Hotah sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Normann's guard.

Normann throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

Normann working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Hotah doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Hotah manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Normann looking for a guillotine here but Hotah defends easily.

Normann is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Normann isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Hotah stacks Normann 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 Hotah!
Normann is looking to regain half guard here but Hotah keeps moving and retains side control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hotah wants to stand but Normann has his arm trapped.
Normann manages to get back to half guard.

Normann looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Hotah is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hotah wants to stand but Normann has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

Normann actively working from the bottom here.

Normann is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Hotah pulls his head out easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Normann actively working from the bottom here.

Normann looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Normann looking for submissions off his back.

Normann is defending against the submission attempts here by Hotah.

Hotah moves into side control, avoiding a weak kimura attempt from Normann.
Normann is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Normann manages to work his way to half guard, despite Hotah's best efforts.

Normann looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Normann gets back to full guard.

Hotah avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Hotah has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Hotah gets to his feet - Normann follows without any prompting.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Normann shoots in but no luck this time.
Hotah will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ola Normann comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Normann has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 28:30
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 28:30
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ola Normann!
During a confident post fight interview, Ola Normann thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.