PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Emel Arslan (ranked 4772 p4p, 4783 weight class) and Jamie Crossten (ranked 411 p4p, 412 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Arslan
vs
Crossten

182 cm
20
155
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
20
145
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Emel Arslan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Jamie Crossten!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Donald Grub and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Arslan scores with a kick to the body.
Arslan stuns Crossten with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Nice straight punches there by Arslan. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Arslan.
Arslan lands with a hook. Crossten tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

Arslan moves into the clinch successfully.

Crossten breaks the clinch.
Arslan dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Arslan lands the left hand.
Arslan lands a body shot.

Arslan has Crossten up against the cage in a clinch.
Crossten is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Crossten turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!

Arslan sneaks out the side door and pushes Crossten away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.
Emel Arslan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Crossten shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Crossten throws a big right hand that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Crossten trying to control the position from guard on top but Arslan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Arslan trying to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Crossten throwing strikes but missing.

Crossten thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Crossten missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Arslan working for a triangle but Crossten defends it easily.
Arslan looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Crossten drops back looking for a leg! Arslan is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Arslan manages to kick Crossten off! Crossten jumps back into Arslan's guard.
Crossten working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Arslan keeping moving, preventing Crossten from controlling successfully.
Crossten is working Arslan over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Crossten lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Crossten postures up.
Arslan keeping moving, preventing Crossten from controlling successfully.
Arslan is trying to keep Crossten in close.
Crossten missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Crossten drives through with a takedown into Arslan's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Crossten postures up.

Crossten drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but Arslan manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Crossten has Arslan in his guard.

Crossten wants to hit a sweep here but Arslan passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Crossten there!

Arslan is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Crossten to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Crossten shrugs it off.
Arslan wants to control the pace but Crossten is squirming around nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Crossten regains half guard.
Arslan tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Crossten.
Arslan is just content to waste time from the top position. Crossten takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Arslan pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Crossten is keeping the position for now.
Crossten pulls Arslan in close to prevent any damage.
Arslan trying to control the position from guard on top but Crossten is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Emel Arslan dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Arslan with a poor takedown

and Crossten counters by clinching up.

Crossten has hold of one of Arslan's legs. Arslan is fighting the takedown attempt but Crossten gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Arslan working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Crossten.
Crossten throwing strikes from guard but Arslan blocks nicely.
Arslan preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Arslan avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Crossten wants to control from the top but Arslan keeps moving.
Crossten with a nice head shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Crossten controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Arslan looking to control.

Crossten drops back for a leg but he's not going to get it - he lets go and Arslan dives on top into guard.

Arslan wants to control from the top but Crossten keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Crossten is on top in guard.

Arslan looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Arslan is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Crossten throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Crossten trying to control but Arslan is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Arslan looking to control.
Arslan preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Arslan pulls Crossten in close to his closed guard and prevents Crossten from doing any damage or advancing position.
Arslan controls Crossten momentarily but Crossten frees himself.
Crossten cracks Arslan with a solid left hand.

Arslan looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Crossten must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Crossten not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Crossten is looking to stand up but Arslan won't let him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crossten engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Arslan trying to control the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Arslan scores with a nice right hand.
Arslan looking to land some kicks to the body here.

Arslan drives through and clinches with Crossten against the cage.

Crossten pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Arslan shoots in and drives through. Crossten sprawls well.

Crossten shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.

Arslan kicks Crossten off and gets back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Arslan forces Crossten back against the cage and clinches.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Crossten gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Jamie Crossten has got the better of the ground game so far.
Arslan is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Arslan wants to control but Crossten is keeping busy.
Crossten looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Crossten trying to control from half guard but Arslan is working away.
Arslan moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Jamie Crossten will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Crossten misses with a kick to the body.
Arslan shoots in for a takedown but Crossten shows good takedown defense.
Arslan gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Crossten counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

Arslan manages to wriggle out and sneak his way back up to his feet, so the fighters are now clinched up against the cage.

Arslan is fighting off a takedown attempt but Crossten is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Arslan to the mat. Arslan regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Crossten lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Crossten working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Arslan's head.
Arslan is trying to keep Crossten in close.

Arslan is looking for a triangle but Crossten pushes his legs off easily.
Crossten throwing strikes from guard but Arslan blocks nicely.
Crossten seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Arslan is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Crossten missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Arslan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Arslan avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Arslan looking to control.
Crossten trying to control the position from guard on top but Arslan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

Arslan clinches with his opponent.

Crossten breaks the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Crossten keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.
Arslan fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Crossten avoids it really well and circles away.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Crossten.
Crossten looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Arslan is avoiding damage well.
Arslan is trying to control Crossten's posture but Crossten avoids it.
Arslan is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Crossten throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Crossten working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
Arslan is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Arslan can't do much from the bottom here.
Crossten tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Crossten tries to advance to mount but Arslan denies him.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Crossten cracks Arslan with an elbow. That is naaassty.

Crossten is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Arslan knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Crossten takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Arslan struggling a bit here.

Crossten is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Arslan has escaped the position, nice work there.
Arslan can't do much from the bottom here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Crossten working the ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jamie Crossten comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Crossten 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 James Atkins scores the fight 28:29
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 28:29
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jamie Crossten!