PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Josh Johnson (ranked 5104 p4p, 4983 weight class) and Test Twenty One (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Johnson
vs
Twenty One

182 cm
24
210
3 - 2 - 0

185 cm
18
209
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Likes musicals

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Josh Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Test Twenty One!
The judges for this bout are Lou da Vinci, Jonathan Paton and Jorge Garcia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Twenty One tries to clinch there but Johnson circles away.
Twenty One lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Twenty One pushes Johnson away with a front kick.
No luck for Johnson with that takedown attempt.
Johnson displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Twenty One.

Johnson closes the distance and clinches.
Twenty One wants to break free but Johnson has control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Twenty One stalling against the cage.

Johnson manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Johnson is controlling Twenty One's posture.
Twenty One wants to control from the top but Johnson keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Twenty One is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Johnson bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Twenty One's guard.

Johnson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Johnson drops back looking for a leg! Twenty One is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Twenty One manages to kick Johnson off! Johnson jumps back into Twenty One's guard.
Twenty One being controlled here, momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Twenty One is looking to sweep but instead, Johnson has passed into half guard.

Johnson seems to be looking for submissions.
Johnson controlling the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson uses his free foot to push down on Twenty One's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Twenty One.
Johnson is landing with some decent strikes but Twenty One is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Johnson controlling from mount.
Twenty One tries to control Johnson's body but Johnson pushes him off. Twenty One squirms to his side and now Johnson has his back!
Johnson trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Twenty One doesn't escape.

Johnson patiently working for the choke. Which fighter will keep their nerve here?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson struggling to land strikes to the head as Twenty One covers up.
Johnson is riding his opponent, not letting Twenty One buck him off.
Johnson seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Twenty One for as long as he can get away with.
Johnson continues to stall.

Johnson is persistently looking for the submission but Twenty One is defending it well.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Twenty One is really stuck here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Johnson dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Johnson shoots in and bounces Twenty One off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Twenty One is wriggling around but Johnson manages to pass to half guard.

Johnson slows the pace down in half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson moves nicely into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Twenty One tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Johnson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Twenty One can do to turn this around?
Johnson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Twenty One is trying to reverse the position but instead Johnson has taken his back - oops!
What can Twenty One do to escape this position? He's going to have to figure it out pretty quick if he wants to stay in the fight!
Johnson softening up his opponent with strikes here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Twenty One just trying to survive but Johnson is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Twenty One is breathing heavily.

Twenty One is staying cool under pressure, defending well against the rear naked choke attempt from his opponent.
Johnson keeps control of the position easily here as Twenty One tries to buck him off.
Johnson missing with punches from the back.
I would not like to be Twenty One right now.
Josh Johnson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands a shot to the head.
Johnson avoiding Twenty One 's attempts to control his hands.
You know, I was talking to some of our celebrities at ringside tonight and they were split right down the middle on who was going to win this fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Twenty One can't escape the position.
Johnson has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Twenty One's body.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Johnson lands with a couple of good shots - one to the side of the head and one questionable shot that could be viewed as to the back of the head but the referee lets it go.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Josh Johnson dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Johnson drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Johnson is standing up over Twenty One. Twenty One looks to escape but Johnson dives into side control.

Johnson controls the position.
Johnson gets to mount! Twenty One was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Johnson looking to control and managing it successfully.
More hug and hope from Johnson.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Twenty One takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson punching from mount but Twenty One doing a good job of avoiding damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johnson controlling the position easily from mount.
Johnson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Twenty One hang on?
BOOM! Johnson connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Twenty One holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Johnson tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Johnson controlling his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands a heavy elbow.

Johnson is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Twenty One can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Twenty One tries to control Johnson's body but Johnson pushes him off. Twenty One squirms to his side and now Johnson has his back!
Johnson biding his time, controlling Twenty One.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is punishing Twenty One with strikes - can he finish him?!

Twenty One is rocked!

Johnson is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Twenty One has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Twenty One is still in real trouble! Can Johnson finish him?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson is raining down hard shots and and Twenty One has had enough - he's tapped out due to the strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:34 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Josh Johnson!