PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Johnny T (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Obrien (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). T's entrance music is Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers - Born to Lose . A fine choice. Johnny T is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples... Tweaking his own nipples that is.

T
vs
Obrien

185 cm
21
192 lbs
1 - 7 - 0

189 cm
25
195 lbs
1 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 7 - 0, fighting out of New York, Johnny T!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mike Obrien!
The judges for this bout are Jorge Garcia, Dean Styles and Jonathan Paton.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Obrien closes this distance looking for a takedown but T circles away.
Obrien swats away the attempt to clinch by T.

Obrien bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Obrien looking to punish the body of his opponent here but T is avoiding damage well.
Obrien controlling the position from side mount.
T tries to bench press Obrien off him but Obrien keeps the position.
Obrien misses with the ground and pound.
T is trying to control Obrien's posture but Obrien avoids it.
T is letting Obrien control him for a moment.

Obrien wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by T, who protects the arm well.
Obrien working the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Obrien working away.

Obrien decides to stand up, so the ref orders T to his feet.

Obrien has closed the distance and engaged T in a clinch.
T misses with a knee to the head.
T throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Obrien blocks it with crossed arms.
T makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

Obrien drags the fight down to the ground.
Obrien controlling the position.

Obrien is working an open guard so T takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
T tries to clinch
and Obrien counters with a straight right hand.
T wants to clinch but Obrien slips to the side

and Obrien counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Obrien.
T keeping moving, preventing Obrien from controlling successfully.
Obrien must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

T has his feet on Obrien's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
T closes the distance but Obrien moves to the side
and Obrien counters with a nice body shot.
T is breathing heavily.

Obrien clinches up against the cage.
T tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Obrien breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
T leaves Obrien with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Obrien rushes T and presses him up against the cage.

Obrien breaks the clinch.

T gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
T lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Obrien!
Obrien is working to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
T is standing up out of mount! Strange tactic there - he must really want this one on the feet!
T tries to clinch but Obrien moves away
and Obrien counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
T throws a sloppy body shot

and Obrien decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in T's guard.

T looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Obrien passes into side control.
Obrien moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
T managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Obrien.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Obrien decides to stand back up.

Obrien shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. T manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Obrien's corner is telling him to maintain position.

T is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Obrien sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Obrien is pushing down on T's leg trying to pass to half guard. T is fighting to maintain full guard but Obrien has managed to sneak the leg through.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
T is looking to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Obrien dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Obrien circles away from the clinch attempt

so Obrien counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

T working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Obrien doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Obrien manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Obrien stands up from guard. Let's bang!
T throws a right and a left that both miss.
Obrien slips a jab from T.
Obrien scores with a jab. T acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

Obrien shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Obrien was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Mike Obrien has got the better of the ground game so far.
Obrien forces the positional change into back control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
T trying to control the action but Obrien just sinks the hooks in.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee is taking a good look at T as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Obrien!
Obrien biding his time, controlling T.
Obrien is trying to stick to T's back but T is turning into Obrien. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Obrien's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by T.
Obrien is controlling T's posture.

Obrien throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Obrien keeping moving, preventing T from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Obrien looking for a sweep. Not yet Obrien, not yet.
T wants to stand but Obrien has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Obrien is pulling down on T's head. It's preventing any offense from T, at least for the moment.
T looking to pass the guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Obrien drives through with a takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Obrien sitting in guard here, content to control.
Obrien forces his way into half guard.

T actively working from the bottom here.
T is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Obrien is taking a breather. T 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.

Obrien looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's four 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.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Obrien in particular looking to stall.

Obrien is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
T is trying to stand up here but Obrien is controlling him well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mike Obrien showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! And we move into the final round!

T tries to clinch but Obrien moves away

and Obrien counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Obrien with a nice head shot there.
Obrien stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. T swivels though and keeps the full guard.
T working a defensive guard here.

T throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
T can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Obrien controls the pace.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Obrien accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Obrien slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Obrien trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
T is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Obrien bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
T avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Obrien.
T is pushing Obrien's head away, looking to escape. Obrien manages to hold on to the position though.
The referee asks Obrien politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Obrien prefers to stall for the moment though.
Obrien has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
T bucks up and tries to throw Obrien off but instead Obrien has got his back!
Obrien gets his hands free as T looks to control.
Obrien is riding his opponent, not letting T buck him off.
T avoids the strikes from Obrien.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Obrien biding his time, controlling T.
T is trying to get back to his feet but Obrien has full control of the position and if anything, T has just worked his way into a worse spot.
Obrien biding his time, looking for the opening.
T rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Johnny T has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Mike Obrien.

Obrien moves into the clinch successfully.

Obrien pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
T wants to clinch

and Obrien counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Obrien.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
T tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Obrien stays in close to T's body and controls the position.

T is working an open guard so Obrien takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Obrien closes this distance looking for a takedown but T circles away.
T throws a head kick that misses.
A head kick by T misses

and Obrien counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Obrien.
T misses with a shot to the kidneys.
T is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Obrien is defending well for now.

Obrien gets control of T's arms and successfully pulls guard. Obrien will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.

Obrien is looking for a triangle but T pushes his legs off easily.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells T's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

And that's the end of the fight!
Mike Obrien comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Obrien has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Jorge Garcia scores the fight 26:30
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 27:30
Judge Jonathan Paton scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mike Obrien!