PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jimmy Johnstone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Skjelbred (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johnstone comes to the ring accompanied by Living is a Problem. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Johnstone
vs
Skjelbred

170 cm
22
157 lbs
8 - 7 - 0

175 cm
23
163 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Granite chin

ENDLESS 152

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 8 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Jimmy Johnstone!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, John Skjelbred!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Shigeki Fujiwara and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Skjelbred has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Johnstone takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Johnstone throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Skjelbred.

Skjelbred rushes Johnstone and pushes him back against the ropes in a clinch.

Johnstone breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Skjelbred tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Skjelbred tries to close the distance and clinch up against the ropes but Johnstone paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Johnstone swinging wilding here.
A big left from Skjelbred misses.
A chopping leg kick lands by Skjelbred.
Johnstone throws a leg kick

and Skjelbred counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Skjelbred missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Skjelbred is looking to advance position but Johnstone won't allow it.
Skjelbred working Johnstone over with strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Skjelbred is looking to stall here but Johnstone recovers full guard.
Skjelbred looking to sit in guard and control but Johnstone gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Skjelbred looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Skjelbred has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Johnstone's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Skjelbred not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Johnstone wants to get up but he can't break Skjelbred's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Skjelbred wants to control but Johnstone passes easily into half guard.

Skjelbred is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Johnstone pulls his head out easily.
Johnstone prevents Skjelbred from improving his position.

Skjelbred looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Skjelbred is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Johnstone fails to land with a series of punches.
Skjelbred checks a leg kick nicely.

Skjelbred gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Skjelbred keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Johnstone's efforts to push away.
Johnstone wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Johnstone prevents Skjelbred from breaking the clinch.
Johnstone is trying to force a seperation but Skjelbred has the dominant position.
A frustrated look appears on Johnstone's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Skjelbred tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Johnstone is trying to break the clinch but Skjelbred is controlling him.
Skjelbred tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Skjelbred looking to slow down the pace here.
Johnstone looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Johnstone is trying to break free.
Skjelbred can't get the takedown.
Johnstone tries to circle away but Skjelbred has him pinned against the ropes.
Johnstone is trying to break free.
Skjelbred takes a shot to the head.
A right handed body shot lands from Skjelbred.
Skjelbred tries for a takedown but Johnstone manages to get underhooks.
Skjelbred jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Johnstone walks away with a smile on his face. Skjelbred gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Jimmy Johnstone has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Skjelbred.

Skjelbred shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Johnstone keeping moving, preventing Skjelbred from controlling successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Skjelbred dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Skjelbred digs a good body shot into Johnstone's ribs.
John Skjelbred seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Skjelbred fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Johnstone scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Skjelbred throws a sloppy head kick and Johnstone moves out of range easily.
Skjelbred shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Johnstone but Johnstone pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Johnstone throws a combination. Skjelbred tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Skjelbred moves in looking to clinch but Johnstone pushes him off.
Nice takedown defense from Johnstone. No joy for Skjelbred on that attempt.
Johnstone looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Skjelbred is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Skjelbred takes a jab right on the kisser.
Skjelbred is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Johnstone throws a series of punches but Skjelbred avoids them all with ease.

Skjelbred closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Skjelbred not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Skjelbred sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Skjelbred is looking to stall here but Johnstone recovers full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Skjelbred is fighting to break Johnstone's control of his arms but Johnstone is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Skjelbred wants to control from the top but Johnstone keeps moving.
Skjelbred scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Skjelbred trying to control but Johnstone is working from the bottom.

Skjelbred is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Skjelbred looking to sit in guard and control but Johnstone gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Johnstone gets to his feet. Skjelbred looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
A combination from Johnstone does no damage.
Johnstone leaves Skjelbred with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Jimmy Johnstone has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Skjelbred.
Johnstone misses with a few strikes there.

That's four 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.
Skjelbred moves in looking to clinch but Johnstone pushes him off.
Johnstone throws a combination. Skjelbred tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Skjelbred fails with a takedown attempt.
Johnstone will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Johnstone stuffs the takedown.
Johnstone tries to bum rush Skjelbred with a series of wild strikes but Skjelbred uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Johnstone misses with a wild body shot.
Johnstone keeps the fight on the outside.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jimmy Johnstone dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Johnstone jabs at Skjelbred's body.
Johnstone keeps the fight on the outside.
Skjelbred cracks the inside of Johnstone's front leg.
Johnstone swinging wilding here.
Jimmy Johnstone is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Skjelbred shoots in looking for a takedown. Johnstone tries to sprawl out of it but Skjelbred keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Johnstone manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Skjelbred fails with a takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnstone avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
A nice inside leg kick there by Skjelbred. That's going to slow Johnstone down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnstone swinging wilding here.
Johnstone lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Skjelbred circles away quickly and effectively.
Johnstone keeps the fight on the outside.
Johnstone misses with a wild combination.
Johnstone throws a low kick but it's checked well by Skjelbred.

Skjelbred shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Johnstone is trying to defend but Skjelbred finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Skjelbred is keen to just control but Johnstone is a slippery customer.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnstone is trying to stand back up but Skjelbred is controlling him
Skjelbred controlling the action here.
Skjelbred missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

Skjelbred is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Johnstone sees it coming and defends easily.
Skjelbred is looking to take a break and control but Johnstone is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Skjelbred wants to free his trapped foot but Johnstone is holding on for dear life with his legs.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnstone is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Skjelbred's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Skjelbred's back!
Skjelbred is really stuck here.

Johnstone is working for the rear naked choke. He has one arm under the chin but Skjelbred has hold of the other arm. A bit of a stalemate here.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Skjelbred rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Johnstone is thwarting Skjelbred's attempts to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Johnstone trying to control from half guard but Skjelbred is working away.
Skjelbred wants to get back to full guard.

Johnstone decides to return to a standing position.
Johnstone pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Skjelbred has a takedown stuffed.
Jimmy Johnstone has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of John Skjelbred.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Skjelbred tries to clinch there but Johnstone circles away.
Skjelbred tries to clinch there but Johnstone circles away.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to John Skjelbred.
I think Skjelbred 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Skjelbred!