PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Remi Johnson (ranked 1337 p4p, 2323 weight class) and Ger McDonnell (ranked 183 p4p, 275 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.

Johnson
vs
McDonnell

174 cm
23
165
4 - 2 - 0

171 cm
24
160
5 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Conquer

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 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Remi Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ger McDonnell!
The judges for this bout are Patrick Alders, Radbod Blank and Albert Achterberg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? McDonnell is fending him off so far but Johnson persists. Nope, McDonnell circles away and we're back to standing.

Johnson scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
McDonnell is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Johnson off and has taken his back!
I've been told that McDonnell has been drilling his wrestling of late, which has already helped him take this fight to the mat. Let's see how much of an impact it has on the outcome of the ground game.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McDonnell just keeping the dominant position. He can't wait too long though, otherwise the referee will stand them back up.
McDonnell lands a shot to the body.
McDonnell tries to keep control of the position but Johnson is staying busy.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McDonnell controlling the position well here. Johnson rolled but McDonnell kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
Johnson is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.
A lull in the action here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is trying to stand back up.
Johnson trying desperately to get back to his feet here but he's not having any joy at all. He's going to tire himself out if he's not careful.
McDonnell tries to keep control of the position but Johnson is staying busy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson is trying to stand back up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
McDonnell struggling to keep hold of the position.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ger McDonnell 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.

McDonnell misses with a low kick.

Johnson drives through with a takedown into McDonnell's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Johnson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
McDonnell is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Johnson passes easily into side control. Nice work.
McDonnell takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Johnson throwing ground and pound but whilst doing so, he forgets to control position and McDonnell works his way back to half guard. Good composure under pressure.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson throwing shots but McDonnell is blocking nicely.
McDonnell controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson lands strikes from half guard.
Johnson trying to control the action but McDonnell is working from the bottom.
Johnson winds up and cracks McDonnell with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
McDonnell trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!
Johnson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can McDonnell hang on?
Johnson cracks McDonnell with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Johnson punishing his opponent with strikes.
McDonnell is trying desperately to improve position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Johnson connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Johnson misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
Johnson looking to finish McDonnell with some ground and pound. This is bad for McDonnell!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Johnson controlling from the full mount.
McDonnell wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Johnson.
McDonnell is in all sorts of trouble here.
Johnson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of McDonnell's face.
Johnson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Johnson has control of McDonnell's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and McDonnell regains control of the situation pretty easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson controlling from mount.
Johnson fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
McDonnell blocking the ground and pound.
McDonnell tries to reverse the position but Johnson maintains control.
Johnson raining down hammerfists from mount.
Johnson looking to finish McDonnell with some ground and pound. This is bad for McDonnell!

Johnson is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but McDonnell is surviving well by controlling Johnson's body position as best he can.
Johnson trying to control but McDonnell is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands with some strikes.
Johnson looking to control but McDonnell is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Johnson throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
McDonnell takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Johnson misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Johnson lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Johnson looking to secure an arm triangle but McDonnell defends it well.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Remi Johnson dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Johnson tries to score a power double leg takedown but McDonnell sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Johnson somewhat.
Johnson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that McDonnell can do to turn this around?
McDonnell looks to land a left hand but Johnson moved out of range nicely.
A swing and a miss from McDonnell.
Johnson doesn't succeed with the takedown
and McDonnell cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Johnson misses with a jab to the body
enabling McDonnell to counter with a crisp jab.

Johnson drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Johnson with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Johnson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson throwing strikes but missing.
Johnson landing some decent shots from guard.
Johnson has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Johnson throwing strikes from guard but McDonnell blocks nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McDonnell keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
McDonnell tries to land a sweep but no joy.
McDonnell wants to get back to his feet but Johnson is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
McDonnell preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Johnson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Johnson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Johnson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

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.

Johnson drops back, looking for a kneebar! McDonnell looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. McDonnell looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from McDonnell!

Johnson wants to get back to his feet.
Johnson tries to wriggle free to get back to his feet but he's given up his back! Oops.
McDonnell struggling to land strikes to the head as Johnson covers up.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson prevents McDonnell from getting a body triangle.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Johnson is looking to stand back up. He's having to work hard to escape but eventually he manages it.
Johnson misses with a takedown
enabling McDonnell to counter with a crisp jab.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Remi Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
McDonnell misses with a body shot.
Johnson avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Johnson shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says McDonnell as he avoids it easily.
A little jabbing left from McDonnell on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Johnson scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Remi Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Johnson darts in looking for a takedown but McDonnell gets double underhooks and turns Johnson into the cage.
McDonnell looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Johnson has McDonnell pressed against the cage, preventing McDonnell from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
McDonnell is trying to break the clinch but Johnson is controlling him.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
McDonnell wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

McDonnell breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Johnson misses with a takedown
and McDonnell counters with a stiff right hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ger McDonnell comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think McDonnell 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 Patrick Alders scores the fight 28:28
Judge Radbod Blank scores the fight 28:28
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 28:28

The fight is ruled a draw!