PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Craig Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Raimundo Sobral (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johnson comes to the cage accompanied by Blood of Heroes!. Sobral has chosen The Baddest-Krispy Kreme as his entrance music. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Johnson
vs
Sobral

168 cm
38
200 lbs
20 - 17 - 0

180 cm
31
202 lbs
18 - 9 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
Good low kicks
Good gas tank

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 20 - 17 - 0, fighting out of New York, Craig Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Raimundo Sobral!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Dillan Fox and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Johnson has Sobral up against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson lands an uppercut.

Sobral breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Sobral has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.
Johnson swings for the body but Sobral moves out of range.
Sobral changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Johnson throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Sobral stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Johnson throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Johnson throws a hook to the side of Sobral's head but Sobral sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Sobral takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

It looks like Raimundo Sobral has been cut.
Johnson jabs Sobral to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Craig Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Johnson looks to score with a jab to the body but Sobral is just out of range.
Sobral drops down looking to force a counter takedown but Johnson defends it well.
Sobral takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Johnson throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Johnson just misses with a punch to the body.

Sobral tries to keep at a distance but Johnson has taken the fight into the clinch.
I was talking to Johnson's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson lands with a light punch inside.
The referee is keeping an eye on Johnson - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Johnson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Johnson is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Johnson closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Sobral on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Johnson. Johnson obviously looking to wear him down.
Johnson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sobral.
Sobral uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Johnson.
Johnson misses the jab.
Johnson misses with an uppercut.
Sobral feints the counter takedown.
Johnson misses with the combination.
Sobral tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson throws a left and a right that both miss

and Sobral counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Johnson!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Sobral working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Johnson tries to improve position but can't.
Johnson might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Sobral is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Johnson has escaped the position, nice work there.
Johnson is looking for a sweep.

Sobral wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Johnson, who protects the arm well.
Sobral misses with the ground and pound.
Johnson is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Sobral cracks Johnson with an elbow. That is naaassty.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Johnson's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Johnson defending against the ground and pound.

Sobral tries for a kimura but Johnson is defending well.
Johnson is trying to control Sobral's posture but Sobral avoids it.

Sobral is trying to get an arm triangle but Johnson is defending well.

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

Sobral wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Johnson, who protects the arm well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is trying to get back to half guard.

Sobral tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Sobral has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Sobral working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.

Sobral is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Johnson knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.

Sobral looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Johnson can't do much from the bottom here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Craig Johnson dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Raimundo Sobral's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Johnson looks to land a left hand but Sobral moved out of range nicely.
Johnson rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sobral moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Sobral takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Sobral chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Johnson can pounce on him.
Johnson scores with a nice strike.
A slow jab from Johnson misses its intended target.
Sobral changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Sobral get stunned by a cross and takes another one on the button. Sobral stumbles backwards and tries to bounce back off the cage but Johnson runs in and jumps on him with a leaping lead hook that puts him out! Wow, that was highlight reel stuff! Awesome finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:35 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Craig Johnson!
During a confident post fight interview, Craig Johnson thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
In defeat, Raimundo Sobral stepped up to the mic, saying 'I'll beat up every person in jail...'.