PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ricky Barr (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Boby Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Barr
vs
Johnson

220 cm
21
279 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
22
270 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Inexperienced

BJJ White Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ricky Barr!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Boby Johnson!
The judges for this bout are David Hoff, Sandra Marshall and Peter Branson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Barr moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ricky Barr seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Nice sprawl there from Johnson as Barr shoots in.
Barr tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Johnson defends well and Barr ends up having to push Johnson into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Barr throws a body shot but no joy.
Johnson tries to counter with a clinch but Barr shakes him off and moves away.
Johnson takes a head kick and keeps coming.
Barr moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.
Barr throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.

Johnson instigates a clinch.

Johnson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Barr has closed the distance and engaged Johnson in a clinch.

Johnson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Johnson gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Johnson is struggling to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barr is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Barr fails to pull the fight into his guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ricky Barr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Barr fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Johnson stalling the fight.

Johnson breaks from the clinch.
Johnson lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
The fight stays on the outside here - Barr looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Barr shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Johnson pinned against the cage. Johnson gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barr is looking to clinch but Johnson is avoiding it.
Johnson unleashes a big counter combination but Barr bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Johnson stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Johnson wants it to stay on the feet.
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Johnson has eaten all the pies!
Johnson connects with a body shot.
Some wild striking there from Johnson.
Barr appears to be looking for a big counter.
Johnson swinging wildly here.
Barr fails to land the takedown.

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

Barr clinches up against the cage.
Barr is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Johnson putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Barr in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Barr on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Johnson.
Barr tries to pull guard but Johnson forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Barr fails to pull guard.
Barr is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Johnson to keep the fight standing.
Barr is breathing heavily.

Johnson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson misses with a double jab.
Barr swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Johnson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Barr throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Johnson's waist but Johnson gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Barr off to one side.
Johnson moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.

It looks like Ricky Barr has been cut.
Johnson misses with a hook
and Barr counters with a series of strikes. Johnson will be more careful next time no doubt.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Barr shoots in for a double leg but Johnson sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Johnson fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Barr has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Barr.
Barr misses with an uppercut

and Johnson counters by clinching up.
Johnson landing knees to the body.

Johnson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Johnson misses with a head kick.
Barr wants to clinch.
Johnson fails to land with a series of punches.

Barr moves into the clinch.

Johnson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Johnson rushes Barr and presses him up against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Barr's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Johnson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

Johnson gets a clinch.
Barr looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barr tries to land knees in the clinch but Johnson avoids the damage to the body.

Johnson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Jab from Johnson.
Barr tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Johnson was well out of range. Poor timing from Barr.
Johnson throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Barr counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Johnson darts in and clinches Barr up against the cage.
Boby Johnson seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Johnson lands a nice knee to the body.

Barr breaks the clinch.
Barr tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Johnson paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Barr instigates a clinch.
Barr tries to break the clinch but Johnson is controlling the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.

Johnson jumps guard.

Johnson pushes Barr off and gets back to his feet.
Boby Johnson seems to be getting the better of the standup.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Johnson misses with a looping right.

Barr gets tackled into the cage by Johnson. Johnson maintains the clinch.

Johnson works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson is breathing heavily.
Johnson postures up.
Barr seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

Johnson stands up from guard. Let's bang!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A head kick misses from Barr.
Johnson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Barr.
Barr shoots in for a takedown but Johnson shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Johnson gets in close and instigates a clinch.

Johnson's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Barr fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Johnson is looking for the big counter here.
A head kick from Johnson lands but Barr takes it in his stride.
Barr moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson cracks Barr with an open hand slap.
Barr shoots in but no luck this time.
Johnson lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ricky Barr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Johnson pivots, looking for a leg kick but Barr is out of range and Johnson settles back down.
Johnson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Johnson looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Barr!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A lull in the action here as Johnson stalls from top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Boby Johnson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ricky Barr's cut.
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. And we move into the final round!

Barr misses with a leg kick

and Johnson counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Johnson.

Johnson breaks from the clinch.
Johnson scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
Johnson moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Barr tries to clinch but Johnson is having none of it.
Johnson keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Barr tries to clinch up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barr goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Barr tries to close the distance and clinch but Johnson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Johnson shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Barr misses with a low kick.
Johnson is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Barr misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Barr misses with a takedown
and Johnson makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Horrible takedown attempt by Barr or perhaps it was just good defense by Johnson, which made it look bad.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ricky Barr. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Johnson lands a body shot.

Johnson clinches.

Johnson's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
No luck for Barr with that takedown attempt.

Johnson instigates a clinch.

Johnson decides to pull guard.
Barr is standing up over Johnson. Johnson looks to escape but Barr dives into side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Johnson is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

Barr tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Barr has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Barr.

Johnson throws Barr to one side and escapes!

Barr throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Johnson tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Barr is in Johnson's guard.

Johnson pushes Barr off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.

Johnson looking to score a takedown here. Barr is defending well but Johnson drives through and ends up in Barr's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Johnson trying to control but Barr is working from the bottom.
Barr avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Barr looking to control.
Barr lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Johnson is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Barr is controlling him.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Johnson can do anything to dispel that myth.

And that's the end of the fight!
Boby Johnson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Johnson 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 David Hoff scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sandra Marshall scores the fight 27:30
Judge Peter Branson scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Boby Johnson!