PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Marlon John (ranked 4000 p4p, 464 weight class) and Tobias Orion (ranked 1746 p4p, 225 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

John
vs
Orion

185 cm
21
205 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

199 cm
19
210 lbs
8 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Urban Fighter

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Marlon John!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Tobias Orion!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Cecil Peabody and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Orion tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
An attempted straight right counter from John misses the target.
John displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Orion.

Orion clinches up with John and pushes him back against the cage.
John is trying to drag Orion to the mat but Orion just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.

John has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Orion clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Orion wriggles onto his back under a barage of strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Orion is working to get back to half guard.
Orion has found himself in a tricky position here. He's been working his transitions in training so let's see if he can work his way out of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
John with good strikes from the mount here!
Orion is in all sorts of trouble here.
John controlling his opponent.
Orion keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
John lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
John with a couple of short strikes.
Orion takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Orion wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by John.
Orion is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
John misses with a head shot.
John throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Orion is trying to escape the mount.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
John throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
The referee warns Orion that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Orion holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as John tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
John prevents Orion from getting the reversal.
John throwing strikes but Orion recovers to half guard. A much better position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Orion keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Orion keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
John thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Orion's head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Orion keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Orion keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
John seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Orion does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
John looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Orion is pressing down on John's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
John with a flurry of punches that miss.
John working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Orion has momentary wrist control but John slips an elbow through the middle.
John stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Orion swivels though and keeps the full guard.
John not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Orion controlling John's posture.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
John stands up over Orion, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marlon John dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Orion just misses with a punch to the body.
John circles away from the clinch attempt.
Orion tries to close the distance and clinch up but John swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Orion shoots for a double leg takedown but John sprawls well. He's pushed Orion's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Good work by John as he checks the leg kick.
John swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
John avoids the head kick by Orion.
John tries to counter with a takedown but Orion is quick to defend against it.
Orion tries to clinch up but John circles away and keeps his distance.
John lands a slapping body shot.
John takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Orion tries to clinch but fails miserably
and John counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

It looks like Tobias Orion has been cut.
A low kick from Orion misses

and John counters with a nice double leg into side control. Orion won't be happy with that.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
You can see the frustration on Orion's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Orion is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but John is staying active.

That's one minute gone in the round.
John tries to score with some ground and pound. Orion controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
The strikes coming from John are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
John working the head with strikes.
Orion parries the strikes from John easily there. John is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Orion to escape.
John lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Orion down.
John tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
John trying to control the position but Orion is working away.
John working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by John.
Orion wants to control but John postures up.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Sloppy strikes there by John.
Orion gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Orion taking some punishment here, with John in his half guard.
Orion tries to get to full guard but John has control of the leg.
Orion keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
John scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Orion has his hands clasped together around John's back. He's all about the action.
John is taking a breather. Orion says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
John 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.
John thows a huge punch but Orion dodges it nicely.
John with the ground and pound but Orion uses the opportunity to regain guard.
John lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Orion preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Orion keeping moving, preventing John from controlling successfully.
John throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Orion works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
John engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
John looking to pass the guard.
John has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
John postures up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Orion fails in his attempt to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marlon John dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Tobias Orion's cut.
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. This is the final round!

Orion drives through and clinches with John against the cage.
Orion blocks a punch to the side of the head.
John doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
John is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
John is trying to break the clinch but Orion is controlling him.
Orion is pressed up against the cage. John has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Orion down to the mat. Orion avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Tobias Orion is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Orion wants to clinch up but John keeps it at a distance.
John looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Orion doesn't manage to clinch there - John circles away.
An attempted straight right counter from John misses the target.

Orion has closed the distance and engaged John in a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Orion throws an elbow that misses.
John is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Orion can do to turn this around?
John blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
John is trying to drag Orion to the mat but Orion just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
John prevents a body shot from Orion.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Orion gets underhooks to prevent John's takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Marlon John. That's going to take a lot out of him.
John wants a takedown.
John is looking for a takedown.
John can't break the clinch.
John working hard to break the clinch.
Orion is defending well against a takedown attempt.
John blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Orion has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. John is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
John looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

John gets a trip takedown into half guard.

Orion manages to escape and get back to his feet!
Orion fails with the takedown
and John counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
John takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Orion moves in looking to clinch but John pushes him off.
John throwing a counter right hand but Orion manages to avoid it.
Tobias Orion seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

John gets tackled into the cage by Orion. Orion maintains the clinch.
John drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
John tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Orion smiles and moves away.
Tobias Orion has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Orion feints and as John raises his hands in defense, Orion changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Orion won't allow John to sweep him here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Orion throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as John works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Orion slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
John seems keen to control Orion's posture.
John is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
John is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Orion dives into side control.
Marlon John is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four 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.
John tries to buck Orion off but Orion is having none of it.
John is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Orion off and has taken his back!
John just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
Orion takes a big shot to the side of the head.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tobias Orion comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think John has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 29:28
Judge Cecil Peabody scores the fight 29:28
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marlon John!
Marlon John decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.