PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between CJ Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tony Jaa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Johnson might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to 2pac & Dr.Dre - California Love. 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
Jaa

170 cm
22
140 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

168 cm
27
140 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Solid chin

Gilop®

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 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, CJ Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Tony Jaa!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Gwen Towbar and Stewart Dunkirk.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Jaa slaps away a takedown attempt from Johnson, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Johnson keeps the fight on the outside.
Jaa tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson throws a lazy uppercut
and Jaa counters with an outside leg kick.
Jaa tries to clinch but Johnson is having none of it.
Johnson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Jaa lands a big head kick that sends Johnson tumbling to the mat! Jaa takes a step backwards and waves Johnson back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Johnson is rocked!
Johnson swats away the attempt to clinch by Jaa.
Johnson keeps the fight on the outside.
Johnson misses with a double jab.
Jaa tries to move into range but Johnson moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Jaa but Jaa pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Johnson takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Johnson tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Jaa was well out of range. Poor timing from Johnson.
Jaa throws a right hand that Johnson ducks under and follows up with a left that Johnson also avoids with ease.

Jaa pushes Johnson up against the cage in a clinch.
Jaa stalling in the clinch.
Jaa with a knee to the head.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as Jaa takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
Jaa putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Johnson in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Jaa smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for CJ Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Johnson takes a kick to the side of the head.
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!
Jaa moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.
Johnson avoids the head kick by Jaa.
Jaa tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Jaa ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Jaa tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Jaa connects with an inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jaa walks into a jab.
Tony Jaa is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Johnson does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Jaa uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Johnson.
Johnson on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Johnson throws a poor cross that misses
and Jaa counters with an outside leg kick.

Jaa moves into the clinch successfully.
Jaa will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Johnson up against the cage.
Johnson tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Jaa dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jaa has Johnson pressed against the cage, preventing Johnson from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Jaa lands an elbow inside.
Jaa misses with a knee strike.
Jaa landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Jaa missing with knees to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Jaa stalling against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Jaa landing knees to the head.
Johnson trying to stall but Jaa improves his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tony Jaa dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Johnson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Jaa tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Johnson manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Johnson goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Jaa lands with an uppercut that bounces Johnson off the cage and back into range.
Johnson gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Jaa.
Tony Jaa is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Jaa uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Johnson.
Johnson swats away the attempt to clinch by Jaa.

Jaa closes the distance and clinches.
Jaa gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Jaa gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knees to the body from Jaa.
Stalling in the clinch from Jaa.
Johnson tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Johnson fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Jaa misses with a knee strike.
Jaa lands a good knee to the midsection. Johnson won't want to take too many of those.
Johnson takes an elbow to the temple.
Jaa trying to stall but Johnson improves his position.
Jaa lands an elbow inside that Johnson shrugs off.
Jaa utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
The referee is keeping an eye on Jaa - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jaa lands a good knee to the midsection. Johnson won't want to take too many of those.
Jaa lands a nice knee to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Jaa is struggling to control the position.
Johnson fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for CJ Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Jaa working Johnson over with knees to the body.
Johnson trying to stall but Jaa improves his position.
Jaa scores with a knee to the head.
Jaa has Johnson pressed against the cage, preventing Johnson from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jaa comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Knees in the clinch landing for Jaa.
Jaa lands an elbow inside that Johnson shrugs off.
Jaa scores a nice knee to the body.
Johnson tries to pull guard but Jaa won't allow it.
Jaa utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Jaa working Johnson over with knees to the body.
Tony Jaa seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Johnson fails to pull guard.
Jaa just leaning against Johnson, taking a breather.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson takes a knee right on the jaw!
Jaa effectively controlling the action here.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Jaa tries a knee to the head but Johnson blocks it.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Jaa.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Tony Jaa.

Jaa clinches up with Johnson and pushes him back against the cage.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Jaa trying to control the position but instead, Johnson has worked for underhooks and has pushed Jaa into the cage.
Jaa taking a breather.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tony Jaa showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Johnson avoids the body shot from Jaa.
Johnson throws a looping overhand right but Jaa ducks down to avoid it.
Johnson misses with an uppercut.
Jaa tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson throws a wild body kick that Jaa sees coming a mile off.
Johnson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Jaa manages to avoid it.
Johnson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Johnson swings widly with a right hand
and Jaa counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Johnson is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Oh Johnson is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Jaa tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson seems to have got his legs back now.
Jaa tries to close the distance and clinch but Johnson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson swats away the attempt to clinch by Jaa.
Johnson works Jaa's body with a nice hook.
Johnson misses with a lunging right hand
and Jaa counters with a big head kick but Johnson shrugs it off.
Johnson throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Johnson paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Johnson throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.

Jaa drives through and clinches with Johnson against the cage.
Jaa with a knee to the head.
Jaa will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Johnson up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Knees to the body from Jaa.
Jaa is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Johnson is defending well for now.
Johnson being controlled against the cage.
Jaa throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Johnson blocks it with crossed arms.
Johnson has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Johnson takes a knee to the side of the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Jaa just stands there and leans against the cage.
Jaa is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Johnson is keeping busy.
Jaa has Johnson pushed against the cage.
Johnson misses with a short punch on the inside.
Jaa tries to stall but Johnson uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Johnson jumps guard but Jaa stands there with Johnson around his waist. Johnson gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Johnson tries to pull guard but Jaa holds him up against the cage and eventually Johnson drops back down to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for CJ Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Johnson changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Jaa fights it off and pushes away nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson misses with a hook.
CJ Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Jaa uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Johnson.
Johnson misses with a looping left.
Johnson misses with a left hand
and Jaa counters with a big head kick but Johnson shrugs it off.
A combination from Jaa does no damage.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
A looping hook to the body misses from Jaa. Johnson does a little dance to reset his feet.
CJ Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Johnson lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tony Jaa comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Jaa 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 Alan Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 27:30
Judge Stewart Dunkirk scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tony Jaa!