PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mike Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nebojsa Zupan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Johnson
vs
Zupan

180 cm
25
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

191 cm
25
170 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Mike Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Nebojsa Zupan!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, Russell Pearce and David Schapiro.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A nice combination there by Zupan.

Johnson shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Zupan napping and manages to drive through into side control!
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Johnson takes a little break here. Zupan wants to take advantage but he is being controlled well.
Johnson has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Zupan tries to improve position but can't.
Zupan parries the strikes from Johnson easily there. Johnson is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Zupan to escape.
Zupan can't do much from the bottom here.
Zupan is looking to regain half guard here but Johnson keeps moving and retains side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A lull in the action here.
Zupan is trying to control Johnson's posture but Johnson avoids it.
Johnson is moving around in side control but his primary objective seems to be to maintain the position.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Zupan misses the shot to the body.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Zupan is looking to clinch but Johnson is avoiding it.
Zupan stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Zupan wants it to stay on the feet.
Zupan looks to throw the jab but Johnson is out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zupan tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Johnson paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Johnson shoots for a double leg takedown but Zupan sprawls well. He's pushed Johnson's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Johnson takes a jab right on the kisser.
Zupan lands with a nice body punch.
Zupan takes a swing at Johnson's ribcage but misses.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Johnson.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Johnson drives through with a takedown into Zupan's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Johnson preventing the sweep.
Johnson content to stall in guard here.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Zupan trying to control the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson won't allow Zupan to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zupan looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Johnson trying to control but Zupan is working from the bottom.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Mike Johnson wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Zupan connects with a slap. Keep your fist closed son.
Nebojsa Zupan is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Johnson takes a jab right on the kisser.
Johnson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Johnson darts in looking for a takedown but Zupan gets double underhooks and turns Johnson into the cage.
Johnson is breathing heavily.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Zupan tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

Zupan pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Johnson scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!
Zupan cracks a nice hook into Johnson's ribs.
Johnson dives in for a single leg takedown but Zupan sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Zupan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Zupan tries to stall but Johnson uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Zupan works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Zupan tries to throw a body punch but Johnson avoids it by throwing Zupan back against the cage.
Zupan lands a left hand that snaps the head of Johnson backwards.
Zupan presses Johnson against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Zupan lands a left hand.
Zupan lands an uppercut.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Zupan has a couple of punches blocked by Johnson.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A hook to the body from Zupan.
Zupan scores with a hook to the body.
Zupan lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Johnson backwards.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nebojsa Zupan dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Zupan lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Zupan connects with a jab.
Johnson shoots in and drives through. Zupan sprawls well.
Zupan cracks Johnson with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Zupan misses with a series of wild punches.
Zupan has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Zupan throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Zupan uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Johnson has time to react.
Johnson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Zupan paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Johnson throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Zupan's waist but Zupan gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Johnson off to one side.

Johnson shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Johnson showed some decent athleticism there.
Zupan is looking to escape.

Zupan pushes Johnson off and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson closes the distance and clinches up with Zupan, looking for a takedown. Johnson pushes Zupan against the cage but Zupan circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Zupan looks to land a combination. Johnson sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Zupan is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Zupan throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Johnson stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Johnson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Zupan lands with a cross.
Zupan throws a series of strikes that have Johnson backpedaling.
Zupan fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Johnson looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Nebojsa Zupan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Zupan lands with a hook. Johnson tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Nice body punch from Zupan.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Zupan.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Zupan fails in his attempt to clinch.

Zupan rushes Johnson and presses him up against the cage.
Zupan working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Zupan presses Johnson against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Zupan misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zupan is looking to control Johnson's arms but Johnson gets an underhook and turns him. Now Zupan has his back to the cage.
Zupan lands a left hand that snaps the head of Johnson backwards.
Zupan tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Zupan throws a punch but it's blocked by Johnson.
Zupan struggles to land a body shot inside as Johnson controls his hands.
Zupan swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Johnson.
Zupan wants to stall.
Zupan lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Johnson wants a takedown.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zupan lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Zupan lands a left hand.
Zupan taking a breather.
Zupan keeps control of Johnson as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Zupan can't find room to land a body shot as Johnson controls the action.
Zupan is looking to control Johnson's arms but Johnson gets an underhook and turns him. Now Zupan has his back to the cage.
Zupan misses with a short punch on the inside.
Zupan wants to stall.
Johnson wants a takedown.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Zupan misses with a punch to the body.
Zupan lands with a light punch inside.
Zupan fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A short uppercut from Zupan.
Zupan is trying to maintain a safe position but Johnson gets an underhook and turns Zupan into the cage.
Zupan lands an uppercut.
Johnson is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Zupan gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Zupan is trying to maintain a safe position but Johnson gets an underhook and turns Zupan into the cage.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Zupan wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Johnson blocks a punch to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nebojsa Zupan 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!

Zupan is looking to clinch.

Zupan gets caught flat footed, as Johnson shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Johnson trying to control but Zupan is working from the bottom.
Zupan looking to control.
Zupan pulls Johnson in close to prevent any damage.
Zupan controls Johnson momentarily but Johnson frees himself.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Nebojsa Zupan.
Zupan fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Johnson on the side of the head.
Johnson shoots in but no luck this time.
Johnson takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zupan tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Johnson manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
A combination from Johnson does no damage.
Zupan lands a body shot.
Zupan is using his reach advantage to land shots from outside his opponent's range.
Zupan scores with a one two! Johnson had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
A big left from Zupan misses.
Zupan scores with a jab to the jaw.
Zupan lands a jab to the head.
Zupan connects with a crisp jab.
A jab lands there for Zupan.
Johnson avoids the body shot from Zupan.

Johnson gets the takedown into side control.
Zupan struggling a bit here.
Zupan sneaks back into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Johnson wants to take a breather but Zupan is having none of it.
Zupan wants to get back to full guard.
Zupan is still trying to improve position.
Zupan moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Zupan bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Johnson's guard.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Zupan stands up from Johnson's guard - Zupan perhaps looking for a knockout.
Zupan connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Zupan lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Johnson at a distance.
Zupan scores with a body shot.
A jab from Zupan does it's job there.
Zupan moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.
Zupan looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Zupan moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.
A combination from Zupan does no damage.
Johnson on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Johnson walks into a left hand.
Johnson takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Zupan fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Johnson is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Zupan scores with a hook.
Zupan digs a good hook to Johnson's body.
Zupan throws the left hand but Johnson avoids the punch easily.
Johnson looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.

Johnson darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
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!
Johnson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Mike Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Johnson stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nebojsa Zupan comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Zupan winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 John Roberts scores the fight 27:30
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 27:30
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Nebojsa Zupan!