PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between John Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Asiong Salonga (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Asiong Salonga has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Johnson
vs
Salonga

173 cm
24
165 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

179 cm
20
164 lbs
0 - 5 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, John Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Asiong Salonga!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Hirohito Nitta and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Salonga closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Salonga lands in his opponent's guard.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Johnson looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Salonga passes into side control.

Salonga stands up and beckons Johnson to his feet.
Salonga blocks a head kick by Johnson.

Johnson gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Salonga stops a takedown attempt from Johnson.
Salonga wants to break free but Johnson has control.
Johnson jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Salonga walks away with a smile on his face. Johnson gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Salonga scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Johnson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Salonga on the ground.
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!
Salonga performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

Salonga stands, ready to strike. The ref makes him back up and allows Johnson to get to his feet.
Johnson wants to clinch up but Salonga keeps it at a distance.
Johnson moves out of range of the body kick from Salonga.
Salonga throws a head kick but Johnson moves out of range.

Salonga closes the distance and pushes Johnson back into the ropes.
Salonga tries to land knees in the clinch but Johnson avoids the damage to the body.
Johnson jumps guard but Salonga turns him against the ropes and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Salonga tries for a takedown. No joy.

Salonga has Johnson pressed up against the ropes. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Salonga pulls back from the ropes and twists to the side, sending Johnson tumbling to the mat - Salonga dives into Johnson's guard.

Salonga decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Johnson, up you get!
Johnson shoots for a takedown but Salonga saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Salonga has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Johnson is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Salonga moves into the clinch.
Johnson looking to stall.
Salonga lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Johnson or not.
A bit of stalling here from Salonga.
Johnson has Salonga pressed against the ropes, preventing Salonga from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Salonga has had enough of the clinch but Johnson keeps him there for the moment.

Salonga wants the takedown. Johnson is fighting it off but Salonga persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Johnson's guard against the ropes.
Johnson can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Salonga controls the pace.

Salonga decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Johnson, up you get!
Johnson is breathing heavily.

Salonga clinches.

Salonga pulls guard effortlessly.

Salonga throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Johnson is fighting to break Salonga's control of his arms but Salonga is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salonga is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
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!
Salonga is controlling the pace.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Let's hope that Salonga has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Asiong Salonga dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Johnson wants to clinch up but Salonga keeps it at a distance.
Johnson scores with a shot to the body.
Johnson misses with a takedown attempt

and Salonga counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Salonga.
Salonga stops a takedown attempt from Johnson.
Johnson avoids a wild elbow strike from Salonga.

Salonga breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Salonga tries to score a power double leg takedown but Johnson sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Salonga somewhat.
Johnson fails with the takedown
and Johnson takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for John Johnson. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Salonga closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Johnson did well to prevent Salonga getting side control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Salonga stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Salonga looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Johnson!

That's one minute gone in the round.

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

Salonga decides to stand back up. Salonga steps back and let's Johnson get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Salonga counters by moving into the clinch.
Salonga tries to break the clinch but Johnson is controlling the position.

Salonga is trying to trip Johnson. He has hold of a leg but Johnson is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Salonga persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Salonga content to stall in guard here.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Salonga works over Johnson with some ground and pound from guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Salonga stands and steps away. Johnson gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Johnson avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Salonga scores with a shot to the body.

Salonga scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.

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

Salonga looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Salonga has control of an arm but Johnson manages to advance to Salonga's back!
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salonga looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Salonga really must keep his cool here. He's controlling one of Johnson's hands and whilst he does that, he's got a chance of escaping the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Salonga breaks Johnson's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Asiong Salonga showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Salonga clinches with his opponent.

Salonga jumps guard and drags Johnson to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Salonga controlling Johnson's posture.
Johnson preventing the sweep.
Salonga has Johnson pulled in close to control his posture.

Asiong Salonga has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Johnson avoids a punch combination nicely.
Johnson with a poor takedown

and Salonga counters with a single leg into guard. Johnson didn't expect that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Salonga working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Salonga cracks Johnson with a solid left hand.
Salonga scoring with punches to the head and body.
Salonga stands and throws Johnson's legs to the side, diving into side control.

Salonga decides to stand back up. Salonga steps back and let's Johnson get back to his feet.

Salonga closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Johnson quickly recovers to half guard.
Salonga is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Johnson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Salonga is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Salonga is taking a breather. Johnson says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Salonga lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Salonga controlling the action here.
Salonga has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Salonga is looking for a kimura but Johnson is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Salonga to get the leverage.

Salonga is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Salonga missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Salonga with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Salonga lands with a punch from half guard.
Salonga moves nicely into side control.
Salonga happy to just control the position for now.
Salonga creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
John Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Asiong Salonga is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Salonga is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Johnson will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

And that's the end of the fight!
Asiong Salonga comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Salonga 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight for Asiong Salonga!
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight for Asiong Salonga!
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight for Asiong Salonga!

Asiong Salonga wins by unanimous decision!