PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Alex Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gerhard Franke (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johnson comes into the arena with Rumskib - Think Eyes Away blaring out of the sound system. Both fighters will be looking to make this an exciting fight for the fans, I'm sure!

Johnson
vs
Franke

185 cm
23
272 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

195 cm
20
240 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Alex Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Gerhard Franke!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Bruno Lombardi and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Franke.

Johnson shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Franke manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Johnson preventing the sweep.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Johnson landing with the ground and pound.

Franke throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Franke wants to sweep here but Johnson controlling him for the moment.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Franke is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Johnson is aware though and is defending well.
Johnson has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Johnson with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson preventing the sweep.
Franke preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Franke working a defensive guard but Johnson passes into half guard.
Johnson tries to pass the half guard into mount. Franke knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Franke will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A shot to de liver by Franke. Beautiful body shot.
Franke misses with a double jab.
Johnson throws a predictable looking body shot
and Franke counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Franke uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Johnson.
Alex Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Franke gets caught flat footed, as Johnson shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Johnson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Johnson working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Johnson lands a couple of elbows.
Franke has control of Johnson's left arm, preventing Johnson from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson landing with the ground and pound.

Franke has his foot on Johnson's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Johnson works his way back into a safe position though.
Franke is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Johnson landing with the ground and pound.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Franke looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Franke keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.
Johnson looking to pass the guard.
Franke wants to sweep here but Johnson controlling him for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Franke utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Johnson pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Franke is keeping the position for now.
Johnson thows a big elbow that misses.
Johnson scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Franke not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Franke on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Johnson swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Franke counters with a one-two to the body.
Johnson takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Nice body punch from Franke.
Franke works Johnson's body with a nice hook.
Johnson swings away with a body shot that misses
and Franke counters with a nice body shot.
Johnson ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Johnson swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franke moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Johnson misses with a hook to the body
letting Franke counter with a right hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Johnson looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Johnson is breathing heavily.
Franke regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Johnson.
Franke wants to sweep but no luck.
Johnson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Franke manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Johnson manages to get himself to full guard.
Franke wants to pass the guard but Johnson is keeping the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Franke lands a couple of elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Gerhard Franke will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Johnson misses with a body shot
and Franke counters with a series of strikes. Johnson will be more careful next time no doubt.
Franke throws a body punch but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson is looking to wear down Franke with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Johnson misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Franke connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Franke lands a really nice looking cross but Johnson seems unphased.
Johnson scores with the left hand. Franke knows he should have avoided that one.
Franke misses with a few strikes there.
Johnson takes a swing at Franke's ribcage but misses.
Franke throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Johnson on the side of the head.
Franke works Johnson's body with a nice hook.
Johnson shoots and misses
and Franke counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Johnson misses with a hook. Franke ducked under it nicely.
Franke misses with a series of wild punches.
Johnson misses with a takedown
and Franke counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Gerhard Franke is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Johnson thuds his right hand into Franke's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Franke lands a right hook to the body.
Johnson swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Franke counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Johnson with a poor takedown
and Franke connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Alex Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson has his takedown stuffed
and Franke counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Franke with a jab.
Franke fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Some wild striking there from Franke.
A shot to the body from Johnson misses
and Franke counters with a nice body shot.
Franke lands a slapping body shot.
Franke tries to bum rush Johnson with a series of wild strikes but Johnson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Franke lands with a nice body punch.
Franke takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Franke throws a good cross that connects.
Franke has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
No joy there for Franke, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Franke lands a jab to Johnson's midsection.
Franke lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Franke thumps Johnson with a low kick.
Franke throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Franke scores with a punch to the head.
Franke swinging wilding here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Johnson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Franke.
Johnson gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Franke counters with a shoot takedown. Johnson fights it but they end up in guard.
Franke looking to pass the guard.
Franke postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Johnson holds on and takes a little breather.
Johnson being controlled here, momentarily.
Franke wants to control from the top but Johnson keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Franke 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.
Franke trying to control but Johnson is working from the bottom.
Franke might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Johnson kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.

Johnson closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Franke did well to prevent Johnson getting side control.
Johnson moves into full mount! Franke won't be happy about that!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Franke is bucking up trying to escape but Johnson cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Johnson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Franke slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Franke is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Johnson scores with a couple of nice shots.
Alex Johnson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Franke is pressing down on Johnson's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Johnson wants to pass the guard but Franke is keeping the position.
Johnson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Johnson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Franke swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Franke is trying to control the position but Johnson postures up.
Johnson working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Franke is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Johnson is aware though and is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gerhard Franke showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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.

Franke lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Franke punishes Johnson's body with a nice straight punch.

Franke shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Johnson napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Johnson tries to bench press Franke off him but Franke keeps the position.
Franke postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Franke wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.
Johnson gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Franke frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Franke landing punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Franke looking to control but Johnson is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Johnson keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Franke. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Franke wants to control the pace but Johnson is squirming around nicely.

Franke is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Johnson has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Franke prevents Johnson from getting the reversal.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Franke cracks Johnson with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Franke connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Franke looking to finish with strikes here!
Johnson is squirming around, avoiding Franke's attempts to control the action.
Franke controlling his opponent.
Franke prevents Johnson from getting the reversal.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Franke goes for an armbar but Johnson turns quickly into his guard - lovely anticipation from Johnson.
Johnson preventing the sweep.
Franke keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.
Johnson is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Johnson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Johnson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Franke is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Franke takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Johnson trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Franke keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Johnson throws the left hand but Franke avoids the punch easily.
A shot to the body from Johnson misses
and Franke counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Gerhard Franke is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The fighters circling - Johnson throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Johnson shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
letting Franke counter with a right hand.
Johnson misses with a body punch
and Franke counters with a right hand to the body.
Alex Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Johnson misses with a shot to the body
and Franke counters with a one-two to the body.
Johnson takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Franke connects with a single shot there.
Franke lands with a shot to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gerhard Franke comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Franke winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Dean Styles scores the fight 27:30
Judge Bruno Lombardi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gerhard Franke!