PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Max Damage (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Colin St John (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Damage's entrance music is Burritos - by Sublime. A fine choice. The crowd seem to be enjoying St John's choice of entrance music: Uilleann Pipes. Colin St John has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Damage
vs
St John

195 cm
21
290 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

193 cm
22
250 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Big heart

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Powerful

KAISER

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Max Damage!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Colin St John!
The judges for this bout are Donald Grub, Paul Tew and Steven Brown.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Damage gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
St John misses with a looping right.
Some bone on bone action there as Damage checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Damage tries for a takedown but St John sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Damage keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
St John misses with a straight left.
We've been told by Damage's head coaches at Ludus Magnus that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
St John misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Damage.
Damage misses with a body shot.
Damage closes the distance and clinches up with St John, looking for a takedown. Damage pushes St John against the cage but St John circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
St John throws an overhand right that lands on Damage's shoulder, as Damage tries to avoid the shot.
Damage swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Damage's hands are dropping dangerously low here and St John connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Damage scrambles back to his feet.
Damage tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but St John defends well and Damage ends up having to push St John into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Max Damage. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Damage blocks an uppercut.
Damage has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by St John after a bit of a struggle.
Damage has St John pressed against the cage, preventing St John from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
A nice right hand lands inside from St John.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
St John is trying to break the clinch but Damage has him pressed against the cage.

St John breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
A cross from St John lands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damage tries to clinch up.
Damage misses with a takedown
and St John counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Damage keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

St John closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - St John lands in his opponent's guard.
Damage looking to hit a scissor sweep but St John is one step ahead there.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as St John accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
St John postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Damage manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. St John manages to get himself to full guard.
Damage wants to control from the top but St John keeps moving.
St John preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Damage got a little sloppy there for a moment and St John has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Damage has managed to get both his arms back between St John's legs - danger averted.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
St John working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Damage.

St John working for a triangle but Damage defends it easily.
Damage postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Damage controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

St John is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Damage chips away with some ground and pound.
Damage content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
St John is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
St John throwing shots but Damage is blocking nicely.
Damage slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
St John throwing strikes from guard but Damage blocks nicely.
St John has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Damage is adopting a defensive guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
St John with a flurry of punches that miss.
St John is looking to work some ground and pound but Damage has wrist control.
St John sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Damage's guard.
St John throws a strike but Damage avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
St John trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
St John pushes down on Damage's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Damage is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Colin St John dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

St John tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Damage displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as St John throws out the jab.
Damage avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
St John leaves Damage with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
St John jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Damage changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. St John tries to avoid it but Damage manages to keep hold of a leg and drag St John to the ground. St John escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
St John slips a jab from Damage.

A momentary lapse in concentration from St John enables Damage to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. St John manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Damage is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.

St John has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Damage can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

St John is looking for a triangle but Damage pushes his legs off easily.
St John has momentary wrist control but Damage slips an elbow through the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Damage looking to pass the guard.
Damage throws a big right hand that misses.
St John is trying to keep Damage in close.
Damage trying to control the position from guard on top but St John is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

St John is looking for a triangle but Damage pushes his legs off easily.
Damage wants to control from the top but St John keeps moving.
Damage lands a couple of digs.
St John trying to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Damage showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Damage trying to control the position from guard on top but St John is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Damage trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

St John looking for a guillotine here but Damage defends easily.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
St John manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
St John looking to finish with strikes here!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damage is looking to get to half guard.
Max Damage overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
St John with shots to the head and body - Damage looks very uncomfortable down there.
St John with good strikes from the mount here!
Damage avoids a series of strikes thrown by St John.
St John unloads with some shots from mount but Damage bucks and avoids them well.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw St John working his ground and pound in the gym. He isn't landing a great percentage of his ground strikes so far though.
Damage is looking to improve his position but St John isn't that keen on the idea.
St John looking to ground and pound but Damage is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St John in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
St John thowing shots but they're missing.
St John lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Damage hang on?
St John with a couple of short strikes.
St John working Damage over with strikes here.

St John has hold of Damage's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Damage manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
St John trying to control but Damage is having none of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Colin St John showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Damage uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from St John.
Max Damage has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
St John misses with a looping left.
Damage shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. St John defends it nicely.
Damage shoots in but St John avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
St John throws a wild body kick that Damage sees coming a mile off.
Damage tries for a takedown but St John circles away easily

and St John counters with a shoot takedown. Damage fights it but they end up in guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Max Damage. That's going to take a lot out of him.
St John preventing the sweep.
St John with a flurry of punches that miss.
St John throws a big right hand that misses.
St John tries to free his leg and advance position but Damage is retaining full guard.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for St John. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St John trying to control the position from guard on top but Damage is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
St John works over Damage with some ground and pound from guard.
Damage is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
St John is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
St John working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Damage's head.
St John is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
St John throwing strikes but missing.
Damage keeping moving, preventing St John from controlling successfully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St John is looking to work some ground and pound but Damage has wrist control.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Damage has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but St John has passed into side control.
St John is trying to ground and pound but Damage uses the momentary lack of control by St John to regain half guard.
St John not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
St John throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
St John throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Damage blocking the ground and pound attempt from St John.

St John is working for a kimura but Damage is defending it quite comfortably.
Damage blocking the ground and pound attempt from St John.
St John thows a huge punch but Damage dodges it nicely.
Damage works his way to full guard. Good work.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells St John's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
St John throwing strikes from guard but Damage blocks nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Damage controls St John momentarily but St John frees himself.
Damage tries to land a sweep but no joy.
St John stays in close to Damage's body and controls the position.

Damage has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but St John can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
St John in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

And that's the end of the fight!
Colin St John comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well St John 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 Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steven Brown scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Colin St John!
A victorious Colin St John thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.