PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Rickhard Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Black Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rickhard Smith has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Smith
vs
Johnson

185 cm
20
215 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

187 cm
22
215 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Dangerous GnP
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Rickhard Smith!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Black Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Taro Takaoka and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Smith throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Johnson's waist but Johnson gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Smith off to one side.
Johnson throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Smith.

Smith gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Smith avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Johnson has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Smith is proving hard to escape from.
Smith not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Johnson must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Smith tries to strike from the bottom.
Johnson pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Smith is keeping the position for now.
Johnson has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Smith is proving hard to escape from.
Smith 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.

Smith looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Johnson would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Johnson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Smith. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Smith working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Johnson doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Johnson manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Johnson wanted to stand there but Smith had control of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Johnson wanted to stand there but Smith had control of the position.
Smith looking to control.
Smith manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Smith with shots to the head and body - Johnson looks very uncomfortable down there.

It looks like Black Johnson has been cut.

Smith has hold of Johnson's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Johnson manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Johnson reaches up to try and control the position but Smith seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Johnson rolls and tries to escape and now Smith has his back!
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.
Johnson looks gassed!
Smith gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Johnson looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Johnson is keeping busy.

Smith has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Johnson has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Johnson tries to escape the position.
Johnson trying to control the action but Smith just sinks the hooks in.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Smith working for the rear naked choke here. He's got one arm under but Johnson is defending well. A couple of punches soften him up though and Smith has tightened the hold! This one could be all over! It is! Johnson taps out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:35 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Rickhard Smith!