PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jamal Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Greg Graffin (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johnson has a slight injury, which hopefully won't affect the fight too much. Greg Graffin has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Johnson
vs
Graffin

189 cm
22
200 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

192 cm
19
200 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Jamal Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Greg Graffin!
The judges for this bout are Bruno Hogan, Skip Squint and Steve Erwin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Graffin pushes Johnson up against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Graffin slows down the pace here.
Graffin lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Graffin lands a knee to the head.

Graffin turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!

Graffin thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Graffin is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.
Graffin passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Johnson!
Graffin controlling from mount.
I looks like Graffin might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Graffin.
Johnson is looking to get to half guard.
Graffin looking to control and managing it successfully.
Graffin's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

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.
Graffin looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Graffin controlling the pace for now.
Graffin lands a heavy elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Graffin with a couple of short strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Graffin lands a heavy elbow.
Graffin fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Graffin looking to control and managing it successfully.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Let's hope that Graffin has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

Despite being in the dominant position, Greg Graffin just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
The fight stays on the outside here - Graffin looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graffin fails in his attempt to clinch.
Graffin closes this distance looking for a takedown but Johnson circles away.
Graffin just misses with a punch to the body.

Graffin clinches.
Graffin unloads a knee to the mid-section. Johnson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Johnson on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Graffin unloads a knee to the mid-section. Johnson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

Graffin turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Graffin manages to end up in side control.

Graffin stands up.
Greg Graffin seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Graffin is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

Graffin clinches.
Nice elbow from Graffin.
Graffin lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

It looks like Jamal Johnson has been cut.
Johnson letting Graffin take a breather here.
Graffin unloads a knee to the mid-section. Johnson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Graffin gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Graffin unloads a knee to the mid-section. Johnson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Greg Graffin dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Back to the action!

Graffin throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

Johnson gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Johnson being controlled here, momentarily.
Graffin works over Johnson with some ground and pound from guard.

Graffin stands and steps away. Johnson gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Graffin tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Graffin looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Graffin controlling the action here.
Johnson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Graffin.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graffin trying to pass the guard but Johnson defending well.
Graffin is controlling the pace.
Graffin really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Johnson. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Graffin tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Johnson.
Graffin stalling.

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.
Graffin looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Graffin is taking a breather. Johnson says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Graffin not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Graffin decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Graffin moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.
Graffin tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Johnson circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson misses with a takedown attempt

and Graffin decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Johnson's guard.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Graffin from controlling successfully.
Johnson has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Graffin has passed into side control.
Graffin working the ground and pound from side control.
Graffin lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Graffin taking a breather here.
Johnson is looking to regain half guard here but Graffin keeps moving and retains side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Graffin looking to control but instead Johnson has slipped a leg in, to regain half guard.
Johnson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Graffin performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Graffin is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Graffin seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Greg Graffin showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Graffin looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Graffin shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Graffin showed some decent athleticism there.
Graffin is looking to advance position but Johnson won't allow it.
Graffin keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Johnson wants to get back to full guard but Graffin has mounted him!
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Graffin looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

Graffin jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Johnson is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Johnson and Graffin has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Johnson regains half guard.
Greg Graffin has got the better of the ground game so far.
Johnson is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Graffin's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Graffin's back!
Johnson doesn't have the hooks in and Graffin manages to turn into his guard.
Graffin content to stall in guard here.

Graffin stands up and waves to Johnson to follow him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Graffin fails with an attempt to clinch.
Johnson misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Graffin tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Graffin shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Johnson but Johnson pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Johnson swats away the attempt to clinch by Graffin.
Johnson stuffs the takedown.
Johnson lands a nice hook to Graffin's body. Graffin takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Graffin has Johnson up against the cage in a clinch.

Graffin jumps guard.

Graffin uses the cage to get back to his feet.
The fight stays on the outside here - Graffin looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Graffin has closed the distance and engaged Johnson in a clinch.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

Graffin drags the fight down to the ground.
Johnson wants to control from the top but Graffin keeps moving.
Graffin wants to stand and escape but Johnson is having none of it.
Graffin keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.
Johnson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Graffin pulls Johnson in close to prevent any damage.
Graffin is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Graffin looking to control.
Graffin bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Johnson's guard.
Graffin trying to control the position from guard on top but Johnson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Graffin content to stall in guard here.
Graffin has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Johnson is proving hard to escape from.

Graffin decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

And that's the end of the fight!
Greg Graffin comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Graffin 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 Bruno Hogan scores the fight 27:30
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 25:30
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 25:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Greg Graffin!