PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Ovechkin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gunnar Johnsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johnsson comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Kashmir - Led Zeppelin kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Gunnar Johnsson is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Ovechkin
vs
Johnsson

180 cm
24
177 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

180 cm
24
180 lbs
10 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Solid boxing
KO power

Good takedowns
Counter striker
Determined

Hellbent, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Ivan Ovechkin!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Gunnar Johnsson!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, Cecil Peabody and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ovechkin misses with a jab, cross combination.

Johnsson shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Johnsson was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Ovechkin tries to reverse the position but Johnsson maintains control.
Ovechkin throwing hammer fists to the chest of Johnsson. What's that going to do exactly?
Ovechkin working to try and regain half guard.
Johnsson looking to finish Ovechkin with some ground and pound. This is bad for Ovechkin!
Ovechkin tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Ovechkin 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.
Ovechkin tries to buck Johnsson off but he can't manage it.
Johnsson scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Ovechkin is in all sorts of trouble here.
Johnsson in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Johnsson scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Johnsson unloading with bombs!
Johnsson trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ovechkin is desperately trying to improve his position but Johnsson has a good base and remains in mount.
Ovechkin is working hard here to advance position.
Johnsson looking to control but Ovechkin is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Johnsson scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Johnsson prevents Ovechkin from getting the reversal.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johnsson with shots to the head and body - Ovechkin looks very uncomfortable down there.
Ovechkin bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Ovechkin trying to stand up but can't free himself from Johnsson's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ovechkin trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Johnsson wants to sweep here but Ovechkin controlling him for the moment.
Johnsson keeping full guard, as Ovechkin tries to pass.
Johnsson controls Ovechkin momentarily but Ovechkin frees himself.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Ovechkin fails with the takedown
and Johnsson counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Ovechkin throws a hook but Johnsson avoids it easily.
Ovechkin jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Ovechkin tries to bum rush Johnsson with a series of wild strikes but Johnsson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Ivan Ovechkin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ovechkin is breathing heavily.
Ovechkin gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Johnsson counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnsson looks to land a left hand but Ovechkin moved out of range nicely.
Ovechkin shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Johnsson throws a jab when Ovechkin was well out of range.
Johnsson lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Johnsson displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Ovechkin throws out the jab.
Ovechkin takes a swing at Johnsson's ribcage but misses.
Ovechkin has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Johnsson finds it's way round the side to connect with Ovechkin's head.
Ovechkin throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Ovechkin looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

Johnsson scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Johnsson working over Ovechkin with some ground and pound. Ovechkin looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Johnsson working Ovechkin over with strikes.
Johnsson working over Ovechkin with some ground and pound. Ovechkin looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Johnsson lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Ovechkin has hold of Johnsson's hands but Johnsson slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Johnsson looks to score some points with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnsson passes the guard and advances to mount!
Johnsson working Ovechkin over with strikes here.
Johnsson with good strikes from the mount here!
Ovechkin keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Johnsson with a couple of short strikes.
A nice elbow there by Johnsson.
Johnsson is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Ovechkin is looking to improve his position but Johnsson isn't that keen on the idea.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gunnar Johnsson dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Johnsson misses with a hook.
Ovechkin gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Johnsson counters with a single leg into guard. Ovechkin didn't expect that.
Ovechkin can't keep his opponent in guard - Johnsson advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Ovechkin misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Ovechkin slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Johnsson trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Johnsson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Johnsson is in close to Ovechkin's body, working some short punches and elbows.

Ovechkin working for a triangle but Johnsson defends it easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Ovechkin looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnsson stands up over Ovechkin, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Ovechkin working for submissions but it's allowed Johnsson to get to half guard.
Ovechkin wants to get back to full guard but Johnsson has mounted him!
Gunnar Johnsson has got the better of the ground game so far.
Ovechkin keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Johnsson with shots to the head and body - Ovechkin looks very uncomfortable down there.
Johnsson with a couple of short strikes.
Johnsson prevents Ovechkin from getting the reversal.

Johnsson working for a submission but Ovechkin is keeping him at bay.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ovechkin is wriggling around trying to escape.
Johnsson with good strikes from the mount here!
Johnsson with shots to the head and body - Ovechkin looks very uncomfortable down there.
Ovechkin is trying desperately to improve position.
Johnsson with shots to the head and body - Ovechkin looks very uncomfortable down there.
Ovechkin can't escape the position.
A nice elbow there by Johnsson.
Johnsson lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Ovechkin hang on?
Ovechkin is desperately trying to improve his position but Johnsson has a good base and remains in mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnsson landing shots from mount.
Ovechkin sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Ovechkin throws a sloppy strike from the bottom. He's now off balance and Johnsson manages to pass to side control.
Ovechkin is not content to let Johnsson control the position.

Johnsson is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Ovechkin knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Johnsson takes advantage of some sloppy striking from Ovechkin to pass into mount.
Johnsson landing punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ovechkin is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Ovechkin working to try and regain half guard.
Johnsson tries to control but Ovechkin wriggling away.
Ovechkin is working to get back to half guard.

Johnsson working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gunnar Johnsson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Ovechkin misses with a straight left.
Johnsson fails to land the takedown.
Ovechkin has his takedown stuffed

and Johnsson counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
A left hand lands to the body for Johnsson.
Johnsson misses with an elbow over the top.
Johnsson misses with a hook from the clinch.

Johnsson wants the takedown. Ovechkin is fighting it off but Johnsson persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Ovechkin's guard against the cage.
Johnsson trying to control but Ovechkin is working from the bottom.
Johnsson throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Ovechkin works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Johnsson throwing strikes but missing.

Ovechkin has an active guard here but Johnsson has managed to pass into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ovechkin works his way to full guard. Good work.
Johnsson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Ovechkin looking to hit a scissor sweep but Johnsson is one step ahead there.
Ovechkin throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.

Ovechkin looking for a guillotine here but Johnsson defends easily.
Ovechkin is looking to stand up but Johnsson isn't so interested in that idea.
Ovechkin keeping moving, preventing Johnsson from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Johnsson is pushing down on Ovechkin's leg trying to pass to half guard. Ovechkin is fighting to maintain full guard but Johnsson has managed to sneak the leg through.

Ovechkin looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

Ovechkin is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Johnsson pulls his head out easily.
Johnsson is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Johnsson 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.
Johnsson trying to pass the guard but Ovechkin defending well.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Johnsson lands a nice short elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ovechkin wants to improve his position but Johnsson is controlling well.
Johnsson wants to pass to mount but Ovechkin is defending the position.
Gunnar Johnsson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Nice jab there from Johnsson.
Ovechkin throws a predictable looking body shot

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

Ovechkin isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Johnsson stacks Ovechkin 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 Johnsson!
Ovechkin is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnsson wants to control but Ovechkin is keeping him busy.
Ivan Ovechkin has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

Johnsson tries for a kimura but Ovechkin is defending well.
Ovechkin tries to bench press Johnsson off him but Johnsson keeps the position.
Ovechkin is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Johnsson off and has taken his back!

Ovechkin has got his arm under Johnsson's chin working for the choke… has he got it? It looks pretty tight! Oh! Johnsson has spun round into Ovechkin's guard beautifully! Well done that man!

Ovechkin is looking for a triangle here but Johnsson uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gunnar Johnsson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Johnsson has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight for Gunnar Johnsson!
Judge Cecil Peabody scores the fight for Gunnar Johnsson!
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight for Gunnar Johnsson!

Gunnar Johnsson wins by unanimous decision!