PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Johnny James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ainsley Clearly (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

James
vs
Clearly

186 cm
19
200 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
22
210 lbs
1 - 7 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

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 Helsinki, Johnny James!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Ainsley Clearly!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Marco Blurström.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
James swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Clearly shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has James pinned against the cage. James gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Clearly drives through and clinches with James against the cage.
Clearly looking for a takedown.

James pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
James scores to the head and body with a nice combination!

It looks like Ainsley Clearly has been cut.

James closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
James putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Clearly in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Clearly tries to break free but James pushes him back against the cage.

James breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
James throws a series of punches but Clearly avoids them all with ease.
No joy there for James, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
James lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Clearly circles away quickly and effectively.
James blocks a head kick by Clearly.
Clearly circles away from the clinch attempt
letting Clearly counter with a right hand.

Clearly closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming James to the mat! James manages to get full guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
James working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Clearly.
James is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Clearly scoring with some ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Clearly scoring with punches to the head and body.
Clearly throws a big right hand that misses.
Clearly pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. James is keeping the position for now.
Clearly throws a big right hand that misses.
James is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Clearly content to stall in guard here.
James can't keep his opponent in guard - Clearly advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
James is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Clearly throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Clearly lands a nice short elbow.
James looks like he's trying to stand up.
Clearly is trying to control the action in half guard but James is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
James tries to kick Clearly off but Clearly keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
James is looking for a sweep. Clearly is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Nice strikes from Clearly there.
James trying to control here.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Clearly lands strikes from half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nice strikes from Clearly there.
Clearly moves nicely into side control.
Clearly taking a breather here.
James taking punishment in the form of punches.
Clearly is chipping away with strikes.
Clearly is chipping away with strikes.
Clearly just content to control the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clearly grinds an elbow into James's temple.
James taking a bit of punishment here - Clearly scoring with strikes.
Clearly lands an elbow.
James is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

Clearly decides to take the fight back to the feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
James throws a right hand that Clearly ducks under and follows up with a left that Clearly also avoids with ease.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ainsley Clearly dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ainsley Clearly's cut.
That's time! James's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

James throws a right hand that Clearly ducks under and follows up with a left that Clearly also avoids with ease.
Clearly tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but James was well out of range. Poor timing from Clearly.
James misses with a double jab

and Clearly counters by moving into the clinch.
Clearly goes for a takedown attempt but James pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Clearly scores with a sloppy right hand. James should have avoided that one.
James misses with a wild combination.
Nice shot by Clearly.
James throws a left and a right that both miss
and Clearly counters with a nice uppercut.
James misses with a few strikes there.

Clearly gets a takedown into half guard.
James wants to control but Clearly is keeping busy.
James is trying to stand up here but Clearly is controlling him well.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James taking some punishment here, with Clearly in his half guard.
Clearly lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
James looks like he's trying to stand up.
Clearly lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Ground and pound from Clearly.
Clearly landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Clearly content to control rather than advance.
Clearly scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clearly is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Clearly throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
James is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Clearly lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Clearly performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Clearly lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Ground and pound from Clearly.
James wants to get back to his feet.
Clearly wants to lay and pray for a moment but James keeps working.
James wants to improve his position but Clearly is controlling well.
Clearly scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Clearly landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Clearly thows a huge punch but James dodges it nicely.
Clearly working over James with some ground and pound. James looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Clearly takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Clearly seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Ainsley Clearly has got the better of the ground game so far.
Clearly is trying to control. James wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
James is looking for a sweep. Clearly is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
James is looking to escape.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Clearly lands a nice short elbow.
James is refusing to be controlled, as Clearly sits in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ainsley Clearly showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ainsley Clearly's cut.
That's time! James's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Clearly stuns James with a nice body shot, before stepping back out of range.
Johnny James seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
James connects with a nice looking jab.
James falls off balance throwing a combination
and Clearly counters with a nice uppercut.
A looping hook to the body misses from Clearly. James does a little dance to reset his feet.
James motions for Clearly to come forward. James throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.

Clearly bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Clearly in side control lands a decent elbow.

Clearly decides to stand back up. Clearly steps back and let's James get back to his feet.
James throws a right and a left that both miss.
Clearly looks to land a combination but James avoids it well.
James throws a combination that misses
and Clearly makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
James pivots as if he's going to throw a leg kick but stops half way.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Clearly fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches James on the side of the head.
Clearly fails to land with a series of punches.
Clearly lands a jab to the head.
James misses with a combination

and Clearly holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James can't break the clinch.

Clearly breaks the clinch.
A jab from James misses.
Clearly tests James's chin there with a solid looking shot.
No joy there for James, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Johnny James is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Clearly shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Clearly not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Clearly thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
James tries to kick Clearly off but Clearly keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Clearly drops an elbow to the side of James's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clearly prevents James from improving his position.
Clearly missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Clearly trying to advance position but James counters by regaining guard.
Clearly is in close to James's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Clearly controlling from the top position.
Clearly won't allow James to get back to his feet.
James keeping moving, preventing Clearly from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
James is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Clearly wants to control from the top but James keeps moving.
Clearly looking to pass the guard.
Ainsley Clearly is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Clearly's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Clearly slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Clearly stands up over James, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Johnny James has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
James will have to put a bit more behind his punches if he's going to do any damage from this position.

Clearly stands up and waves to James to follow him.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ainsley Clearly comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Clearly 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ainsley Clearly!