PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between dominickoy machida (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Howard (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). machida comes to the cage accompanied by the game. John Howard has the eye of the tiger tonight.

machida
vs
Howard

185 cm
24
223 lbs
11 - 13 - 1

185 cm
26
218 lbs
11 - 4 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Great low kicks
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite 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 11 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, dominickoy machida!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, John Howard!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Shirou Masuda and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Howard paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
machida has a takedown stuffed.

machida shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
machida prevents Howard from getting the reversal.

machida goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Howard is on top in guard.
machida wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Howard looking to pass the guard.
Howard is looking to work some ground and pound but machida has wrist control.
machida wants to stand but Howard is controlling the position.

machida has his feet on Howard's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Howard circles away from the clinch attempt.
dominickoy machida seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
machida shoots in for a double leg but Howard sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
machida wants to clinch.
machida fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for dominickoy machida. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
machida swings for the body but Howard moves out of range.
Howard misses with an uppercut. machida saw that one coming.
machida shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Howard pinned against the cage. Howard gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Howard swats away the attempt to clinch by machida.
machida on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
machida shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Howard sprawls well. Howard wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. machida gets slowly back to his feet.
Howard stuffs the takedown.
machida is breathing heavily.
Howard scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
machida's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Howard connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! machida scrambles back to his feet.

Howard feints and as machida raises his hands in defense, Howard changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Howard stands up over machida, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Howard postures up and lands a big shot to machida's brow.
Howard landing some decent shots from guard.
machida is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Howard is in close to machida's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Howard prevents machida from getting back to his feet.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Howard's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Howard working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of machida's head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Howard throwing strikes from guard but machida blocks nicely.
Howard in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

machida is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Howard's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Howard scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Howard trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Howard keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of machida's head.
machida trying to keep a closed guard but Howard is proving a slippery customer.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Howard lands a couple of digs.
machida utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Howard working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Howard accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Howard accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Howard postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Howard won't allow machida to get back to his feet.
Howard must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Howard with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Howard cracks machida with a solid left hand.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Howard is working machida over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Howard works over machida with some ground and pound from guard.
machida is trying to control the position from the bottom.
machida preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
machida is looking to stand up but Howard isn't so interested in that idea.

machida has his foot on Howard's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Howard works his way back into a safe position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Howard scoring with some ground and pound.
Howard throws a big right hand that misses.
machida is looking to stand up but Howard isn't so interested in that idea.
Howard scoring with some ground and pound.
Howard postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Howard postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Howard chips away with some ground and pound.
machida not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Howard makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Howard cracks machida with a solid left hand.
machida working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Howard.
Howard scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Howard scoring with some ground and pound.

machida is rocked!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Howard lands a couple of elbows.
Oh machida is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Howard prevents machida from getting back to his feet.
machida seems to have got his legs back now.
Howard working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
machida has momentary wrist control but Howard slips an elbow through the middle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Howard dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

machida fails with the takedown
and Howard counters with a stiff right hand.
Howard scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
machida tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Howard counters with a nice uppercut.
machida tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Howard makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Howard lands a nice shot to the body.
machida on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Howard works machida's body with a nice hook.
Howard clobbers machida with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
machida's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Howard connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! machida scrambles back to his feet.
machida misses with a takedown attempt

and Howard counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for machida!
Howard scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish machida?
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A big strike lands for Howard! That's really hurt machida and he's turned his back - Howard keeps firing away and the ref dives in to stop the fight! Howard jumps to his feet to celebrate the victory!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:02 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Howard!