PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Xavier Gray (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brad Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brad Johnson struggled to make weight for this fight. He only made it down to 136.7lbs at the first attempt and had to take the additional two hours to make the official bout weight. Let's see how much it's taken out of him. Well, the cameraman is lingering on a pretty young lady for a bit too long there. Keep your eyes on the fighters buddy or you'll miss the fighter intros!

Gray
vs
Johnson

167 cm
24
140 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

168 cm
24
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Xavier Gray!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Brad Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Steve Erwin and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson tries a head kick but it misses.
Johnson looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Gray stuffs the takedown.
Gray scores with a jab to the body.

Gray forces Johnson back against the ropes and clinches.

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

Gray decides to stand back up. Gray steps back and let's Johnson get back to his feet.
Horrible takedown by Gray or perhaps it was just good defense by Johnson which made him look bad.
Johnson dodges the punch combination from Gray.
Gray is trying hard to land a takedown here. Johnson sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Gray fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Xavier Gray. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Gray will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Johnson keeps the fight on the outside.

Gray darts in and clinches Johnson up against the ropes.

Gray breaks from the clinch.
Gray works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Gray has closed the distance and engaged Johnson in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gray manages to break the clinch.
Gray wants to clinch up but Johnson keeps it at a distance.
Gray tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Johnson swivels and escapes.
Johnson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Johnson fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Gray avoids it really well and circles away.

Gray clinches up against the ropes.
Gray lands an elbow just above Johnson 's eye.
Gray wants a takedown.

Gray breaks the clinch.
Gray tries to clinch but Johnson is having none of it.

Gray instigates a clinch.
Gray using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.

Gray pulls guard effortlessly.
Johnson won't allow Gray to get back to his feet.
Johnson looking to sit in guard and control but Gray gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray wants to stand but Johnson is controlling his posture from full guard.
Johnson is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Johnson doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Gray wants to stand but Johnson has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

Johnson is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Gray fails with an attempt to clinch.

Gray bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Johnson can't do much from the bottom here.

Gray has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Gray dives in and grabs Johnson's left leg, looking for a takedown. Johnson pushes down on Gray's head and hops out.
Gray shoots for a double leg takedown but Johnson sprawls well. He's pushed Gray's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Gray looks for a takedown but Johnson sprawls well.
Xavier Gray seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Johnson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Johnson throws a jab but it's blocked by Gray.

Gray darts in and clinches Johnson up against the ropes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gray escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Gray drives through and clinches with Johnson against the ropes.

Gray's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Gray connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Gray wants to clinch up but Johnson keeps it at a distance.
Gray misses with a jab, cross combination.
Gray feints and then cracks Johnson's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Johnson down.

Gray has managed to clinch.

Gray manages to break the clinch.
Gray tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Gray moves into range and clinches up with Johnson.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Gray breaks the clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Gray displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Gray scores with a leg kick.

Gray has closed the distance and engaged Johnson in a clinch.
Gray lands a knee to the body.

Gray's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavier Gray dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Gray lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Johnson circles away quickly and effectively.
Gray is looking to clinch.
Johnson takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Gray misses with a wild combination.
Gray looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Johnson is fending him off so far but Gray persists. Nope, Johnson circles away and we're back to standing.
A nice combination there by Gray.

Johnson is rocked!
Danga de danga de dang - Gray scores with a four punch combination!
Johnson is still on wobbly legs! Can Gray finish him?

Gray closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Gray wants to stand up but Johnson has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Gray prevents Johnson from improving his position.
Gray wants to get back to his feet.
Johnson seems to have recovered his senses.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Gray stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Gray lands a two punch combo.
Gray tries to clinch there but Johnson circles away.

Gray rushes Johnson and presses him up against the ropes.

Gray breaks the clinch.
Gray throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Johnson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Gray tries for a takedown but Johnson circles away easily

and Johnson counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Gray!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gray's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Gray holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Johnson tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Gray is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Johnson can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Gray is looking to escape.
Johnson punching from mount but Gray doing a good job of avoiding damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gray wants to try and get back to his feet.
Johnson unloads with some shots from mount but Gray bucks and avoids them well.
You get the feeling that Gray really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Gray is squirming around, avoiding Johnson's attempts to control the action.

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.
Gray avoids a strike by Johnson and manages to complete a very nice reversal in the process, to end up in Johnson's guard! Fantastic escape!

Johnson is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fighter is doing enough on the ground.
Gray fails with an attempt to clinch.

Gray lands a left and a right that sends Johnson crashing to the canvas! Gray dives into mount looking to finish!
Johnson tries to hold on but Gray postures up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Johnson is squirming around, avoiding Gray's attempts to control the action.
Gray is trying to stand up but he's being controlled by his opponent.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Xavier Gray dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Gray misses with a jab, cross combination.

Gray gets a clinch.
Gray utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Gray lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!

Gray escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Gray tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Gray dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
The fight stays on the outside here - Gray looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Gray fails in his attempt to clinch.
Gray tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.

Gray has taken the fight to the clinch.
Gray using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Johnson has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Gray pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Johnson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Gray fails in his attempt to clinch.

Gray drops Johnson with a nice combination! Gray dives into Johnson's guard, looking to finish!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gray has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Johnson is proving hard to escape from.

Gray gets to his feet - Johnson follows without any prompting.
Gray fakes the leg kick and cracks Johnson in the body.
Gray stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Gray tries for a takedown but Johnson sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Johnson shoots in looking for a takedown. Gray tries to sprawl out of it but Johnson keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the ropes. Gray manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.

Gray clinches.
Gray effectively controlling the action here.

Gray escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Gray closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
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.
Gray tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Johnson.
Johnson flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Gray tries to stand but his arm is trapped.
Xavier Gray overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Gray postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Johnson to stand up.
Johnson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Gray is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Johnson.
Brad Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Xavier Gray has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Brad Johnson.
Gray throws a head kick that misses.
Gray throws a series of punches but Johnson moves out of range.
Gray is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A lazy left from Gray finds it's target.
Johnson clinches but Gray breaks the clinch
and Gray counters with a left and a right that stings Johnson.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Gray instigates a clinch.
Gray tries to score a body lock takedown but Johnson shows good agility there to stay on his feet.

Gray breaks the clinch.
Gray throws a right hand that Johnson ducks under and follows up with a left that Johnson also avoids with ease.
Xavier Gray is winning the standup battle so far.
Gray avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Gray moves into range and connects with a jab.
Gray is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Johnson can do to turn this around?
Gray fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Johnson tries to close the distance and clinch up but Gray swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Gray misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Gray tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Gray fails to land the takedown.
Gray misses with a double jab.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Gray moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
No luck for Gray with that takedown attempt.
Johnson misses with a wild body shot.

And that's the end of the fight!
Xavier Gray showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Gray has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Damien Edna scores the fight 30:27
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Summer Carpenter scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Xavier Gray!