PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Brad Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fou Rthihovsky (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Brad Johnson had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 137.3lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. 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.

Johnson
vs
Rthihovsky

168 cm
26
140 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

165 cm
22
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Big heart

Good takedowns
Counter striker
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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Brad Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Fou Rthihovsky!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Steve Erwin and Summer Carpenter.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Johnson looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Johnson throws a left and a right that both miss

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

Rthihovsky jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Johnson manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Rthihovsky wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.
Johnson is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

Rthihovsky thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura but Johnson is defending well.
Rthihovsky wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rthihovsky is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura but Johnson is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rthihovsky trying to control the action but Johnson is working from the bottom.

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Rthihovsky looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rthihovsky is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Johnson has escaped the position, nice work there.
Rthihovsky trying to control the position but Johnson is working away.

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Rthihovsky wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Rthihovsky tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Rthihovsky has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Rthihovsky tries for a kimura but Johnson is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fou Rthihovsky dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Johnson enables Rthihovsky to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Johnson manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Rthihovsky trying to control the position from guard on top but Johnson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Rthihovsky slips nicely into half guard.

Rthihovsky is looking for a kimura here.
Rthihovsky trying to control the action but Johnson is working from the bottom.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rthihovsky is looking to advance position but Johnson won't allow it.

Rthihovsky seems to be working for a kimura but Johnson defends the submission attempt.

Rthihovsky is looking for a kimura here.
Rthihovsky moves into full mount! Johnson won't be happy about that!
Fou Rthihovsky has got the better of the ground game so far.

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.

Rthihovsky looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Rthihovsky wants to take Johnson's back but he can't do it this time.
Rthihovsky trying to control but Johnson is having none of it.
Rthihovsky takes his opponent's back. Perhaps a chance to lock up a rear naked choke here.

Rthihovsky is looking for the choke from the back position but Johnson is controlling his hands well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Rthihovsky looking for the RNC.

Rthihovsky working for a choke but Johnson is defending well.

Rthihovsky is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Johnson is defending well though. Rthihovsky let's go of the attempt for now.

Rthihovsky is working for a rear naked choke. Johnson is not defending it well and Rthihovsky has tightened it up quickly! This could be all over! Johnson refuses to tap and goes to sleep, forcing the referee to intervene. A little trickle of blood came out of Johnson's nose as his head slumped to the floor. That is naaaasty!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:01 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Fou Rthihovsky!