PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Green Pillow (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johnny James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Pillow
vs
James

177 cm
26
198 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

184 cm
26
190 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Experienced

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Green Pillow!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Johnny James!
The judges for this bout are Damien Edna, Ben Watson and Chris Dean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pillow fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging James to the ground. Pillow is now in James's guard.

Pillow drops back, looking for a kneebar! James looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. James looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from James!

James working the ground and pound but Pillow is defending the strikes.
Pillow is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the cage but James has just dragged him back down to the mat.

James thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
James has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Pillow tries to escape but James is in control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pillow is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
An elbow from James crashes against the mat.
James misses with the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pillow is looking for a sweep.
James wants to control but Pillow is keeping him busy.
James cracks Pillow with a big right hand but Pillow just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Pillow on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Pillow tries to get out of the position.
Pillow wants to get back to his feet.
Sloppy strikes there by James.
James trying to control the action but Pillow is working from the bottom.
Pillow tries to buck James off but James is having none of it.
James wants to control but Pillow is keeping him busy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
James tries to score with some ground and pound. Pillow controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
James misses with the ground and pound.
Pillow is trying to escape and get back to his feet.
James laying and praying for a moment but Pillow takes advantage and regains half guard.
Pillow is looking to improve his position.
Pillow trying to hold on to James's head to control him but James postures up.
James seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Pillow does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pillow tries to clinch but James moves out of range.

James looking to score a takedown here. Pillow is defending well but James drives through and ends up in Pillow's guard.
Pillow seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Pillow keeping moving, preventing James from controlling successfully.
James trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Pillow manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Pillow pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. James is keeping the position for now.
Pillow postures up in James's guard and throws a big left but James blocks it.
James keeping moving, preventing Pillow from controlling successfully.
Pillow is really struggling to control James but he's trying to hold on to the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
James wants to sweep but no luck.
Pillow landing with the ground and pound.
James looking for a sweep. Not yet James, not yet.
Pillow wants to pass the guard but James is keeping the position.
Pillow stops James from standing up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
James looking to control.
Pillow prevents James from getting back to his feet.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Pillow darts in and clinches James up against the cage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Johnny James will probably get the nod.
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.

Pillow keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Pillow takes the fight into the clinch.

Pillow gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Pillow trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pillow wants to control from the top but James keeps moving.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Pillow looking to pass the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pillow trying to control the position from guard on top but James is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
James is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Green Pillow overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Pillow drops back looking for a heel hook - he quickly realises he's not going to get it but James manages to dive on top of him before he can escape and now Pillow has James in his guard.

James wants to control from the top but Pillow keeps moving.
Pillow knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for James on the ground.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
James throwing strikes but missing.
Pillow keeping moving, preventing James from controlling successfully.

Pillow pushes James off and scrambles back to his feet.
James dives in for a single leg takedown but Pillow sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
James has Pillow pressed up against the cage and is working for takedown. Pillow manages to improve position though and keeps the fight standing.
Green Pillow has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Johnny James.

Pillow has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed James clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Pillow is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that James can do to turn this around?

James defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Will Pillow go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
James trying to control but not successfully.

Pillow working for a choke but James is defending well.
Pillow is controlling the position but James somehow manages to roll and ends up with half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Pillow missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
James is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
James gets back to full guard.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
James seems keen to control Pillow's posture.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Green Pillow dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

The fight moves into the clinch position.

James is fighting off a takedown attempt but Pillow is just too persistent for him and manages to trip James to the mat. James regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.
Pillow missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Pillow tries to free his leg and advance position but James is retaining full guard.
Pillow postures up and lands a big shot to James's brow.
Pillow postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Pillow is fighting to break James's control of his arms but James is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pillow throws a strike but James rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

James won't allow Pillow to get back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James trying to control but Pillow is working from the bottom.
Pillow keeping full guard, as James tries to pass.
James throws a big elbow that misses.
James is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
James throwing strikes from guard but Pillow blocks nicely.
James working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
James makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
James tries to free his leg and advance position but Pillow is retaining full guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

James closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Pillow's guard.
James sitting in guard, not really doing much.
James wants to control from the top but Pillow keeps moving.
Pillow wants to stand but James is controlling the position.
James forces his way into half guard.
James stops Pillow from getting back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
James seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Pillow does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
James content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Pillow blocking the ground and pound attempt from James.
James thows a huge punch but Pillow dodges it nicely.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
James shoots and misses

and Pillow counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
James avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Pillow.
James is looking to escape.
James trying to control but Pillow postures up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Pillow is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
James is looking for a sweep. Pillow is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
James is trying to stand up here but Pillow is controlling him well.
Pillow looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Pillow throws a hook to the side of James's head but James sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Pillow throws a jab but it's blocked by James.

Pillow closes the distance and pushes James back into the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Green Pillow showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Pillow has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Damien Edna scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Watson scores the fight 29:28
Judge Chris Dean scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Green Pillow!
Green Pillow spent the whole post fight interview bigging himself up. It didn't go down that well with the fans after a while as they thought it was a bit arrogant.