PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Johan Axelsson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tommy James (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Axelsson's entrance music is Petter - Det går bra nu. A fine choice. James has chosen Tuesday's Gone as his entrance music. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Tommy James enters the cage!

Axelsson
vs
James

183 cm
28
209 lbs
9 - 6 - 0

189 cm
29
206 lbs
17 - 13 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Valhalla Fight Wear

Fury Nutrition Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Johan Axelsson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Tommy James!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, William Peck and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Axelsson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from James.
Axelsson throws a hook but James avoids it easily.
James uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Axelsson.
Axelsson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Axelsson slips a jab and a cross from James.
Axelsson throws a jab but it's blocked by James.
James uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Axelsson.
Axelsson shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has James pinned against the cage. James gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
James uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Axelsson.
Axelsson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by James.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A jab from Axelsson misses.
James takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Axelsson ducks under a wild hook from James.
James scores with a kick to the midsection.
Axelsson lands with a good body shot.
Axelsson misses with an uppercut.
James throws a head kick but Axelsson moves out of range.
James throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Axelsson staying out of range there.
Donk. Axelsson catches James right on the button with a cross.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Axelsson clobbers James with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Axelsson throws a shot from downtown. James moves away and avoids it.
Axelsson swings for the body but James moves out of range.
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!
Axelsson scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Axelsson swings widly with a right hand
and James counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

It looks like Johan Axelsson has been cut.
Axelsson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from James.
Tommy James is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
James fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
James bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
James throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Axelsson stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Axelsson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from James.
Axelsson misses with a lunging right hand
and James counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Axelsson lands a jab.
Axelsson jabbing away but nothing is landing.
James tries to score with an inside leg kick but telegraphs it and Axelsson is able to avoid easily.
No joy there for James, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Axelsson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from James.
Axelsson thows a left - swing and a miss!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A jab from James finds it's way through Axelsson's defenses.
Axelsson throws a jab when James was well out of range.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Axelsson.
This has been an exciting period of action!
James waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Axelsson.
A jab from James misses.
James throws a series of punches but Axelsson avoids them all with ease.
Axelsson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Nice defenses there by James.
Axelsson showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from James.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Johan Axelsson will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Johan Axelsson's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Axelsson lands with a cross.
James lands a leg kick that knocks Axelsson off balance momentarily.
Axelsson takes a swing at James's ribcage but misses.
James loads up on a big right hand but Axelsson slips the punch.

Axelsson scores with a takedown into James's guard.
James keeping moving, preventing Axelsson from controlling successfully.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
James controlling Axelsson's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James wants to sweep but no luck.
James working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Axelsson.
Axelsson working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of James's head.
Axelsson postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
James is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Axelsson throws an elbow that misses. James uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Axelsson's guard. Nice move by James!

James postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Axelsson is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Axelsson looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
James wanted to stand there but Axelsson had control of the position.
Axelsson working a defensive guard here.
James wanted to stand there but Axelsson had control of the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
James walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
James connects with a leg kick. Axelsson looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Axelsson throws an overhand right that lands on James's shoulder, as James tries to avoid the shot.
A combination from James does no damage.
James uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Axelsson.
A jab from Axelsson misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Axelsson misses with a wild body shot.
Nice defenses there by Axelsson.
James looks to land a right hand but Axelsson moved out of range.
Johan Axelsson is winning the standup battle so far.
Axelsson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
James dodges the punch combination from Axelsson.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Axelsson misses the shot to the body.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Axelsson misses the shot to the body.
James uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Axelsson.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johan Axelsson dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Johan Axelsson's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Axelsson throws a big shot that misses.
James thows a left - swing and a miss!
James works over Axelsson's head and body with a nice combination.
Axelsson catches James with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Axelsson throws a big shot that misses.
James shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Axelsson throws a lazy right hand but James sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
James avoids the body shot from Axelsson.
Donk. James catches Axelsson right on the button with a cross.
James throws a right hand that Axelsson ducks under and follows up with a left that Axelsson also avoids with ease.

That's one minute gone in the round.
James scores with a jab. Axelsson acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
James moves away from the strike by Axelsson.
Axelsson takes a swing at James's ribcage but misses.
Axelsson cracks James with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
James misses with a two punch combination.
Tommy James is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Axelsson throws the left hand but James avoids the punch easily.
Sloppy strikes from James. Those never looked like landing.
Axelsson keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from James.
James takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Axelsson slips a straight right by James.
James takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Axelsson uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from James.
James 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.
James misses with a series of wild punches.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A big right from Axelsson misses.

Axelsson changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. James looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Axelsson has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
The strikes coming from Axelsson are missing the target in this wave of attacks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Axelsson sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but James is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Axelsson wants to take a breather but James manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Axelsson.
Axelsson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. James swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Axelsson wants to control from the top but James keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Axelsson forces his way into half guard.
Axelsson trying to mount his opponent but James defends it.
Johan Axelsson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Axelsson seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but James does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
James wants to get back to full guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Johan Axelsson.
Well Axelsson 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 Steve Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge William Peck scores the fight 30:27
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Johan Axelsson!
During a confident post fight interview, Johan Axelsson thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
Tommy James spoke after the fight, saying 'I want to thank all you fans for coming out tonight, Fury for helping me be strong,the gang at Canadian Top Team, all of my loved ones back home, and Kyle F for letting me fight here in the HMFL!! I really wanted the win tonight, I'll get it next time.'.