PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ben Jonathon (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jim Degrizz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Degrizz comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Battle in prison kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Jim Degrizz has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Jonathon
vs
Degrizz

190 cm
34
215 lbs
20 - 22 - 0

187 cm
36
217 lbs
23 - 19 - 0

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Zenith Nutrition (160q/225$)

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 20 - 22 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ben Jonathon!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 19 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jim Degrizz!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Sosuke Kotani and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Degrizz throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Jonathon stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Jonathon has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Cylon Training Academy in the buildup to the fight.
Degrizz throws a combination that misses

so Jonathon counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Degrizz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Jonathon throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Jonathon postures up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Degrizz is on top in guard.

Jonathon controls Degrizz momentarily but Degrizz frees himself.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jonathon has his hands on Degrizz's head, controlling the position.
Jonathon trying to keep a closed guard but Degrizz is proving a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jonathon manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Degrizz manages to get himself to full guard.

Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Jonathon throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Jonathon with a flurry of punches that miss.
Jonathon slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Degrizz is looking to stand up but Jonathon isn't so interested in that idea.
Jonathon postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Degrizz is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Jonathon wants to control from the top but Degrizz keeps moving.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jonathon is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Degrizz is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Jonathon is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Jonathon throws a big right hand that misses.
Jonathon in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Degrizz seems keen to control Jonathon's posture.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Degrizz fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Jonathon checks it well.
Degrizz lands a jab.
Jim Degrizz is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Degrizz misses with a lunging right hand

and Jonathon counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Jonathon.
Degrizz tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Jonathon lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

Jonathon avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jonathon makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Degrizz wants to sweep here but Jonathon controlling him for the moment.

Degrizz is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Jonathon makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Jonathon postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Degrizz can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Jonathon controls the pace.
Jonathon postures up.
Jonathon looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Jonathon 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Degrizz wants to stand but Jonathon is controlling the position.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Jonathon is really struggling to control Degrizz but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Jonathon sitting in guard here, content to control.
Jonathon trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Jonathon landing some decent shots from guard.
Jonathon works over Degrizz with some ground and pound from guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Jonathon dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Degrizz misses with a wild body shot.
Jonathon appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
The fighters circling - Degrizz throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Degrizz scores with a leg kick.
A slow jab from Degrizz misses its intended target.
Jonathon changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Degrizz throws a sloppy head kick
and Jonathon counters with a straight right hand.
Nice shot lands for Jonathon.
Degrizz throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Jonathon bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Degrizz rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Jonathon decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Degrizz's guard.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Degrizz wants to stand and escape but Jonathon is having none of it.
Degrizz not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Degrizz throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Degrizz is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Jonathon with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Jonathon sitting in guard, not really doing much.

Degrizz has his foot on Jonathon's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Jonathon works his way back into a safe position though.
Jonathon connects with a couple of short punches.
Jonathon is stalling in the full guard.
Jonathon keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Degrizz's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jonathon stands up over Degrizz, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Degrizz has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Jonathon off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Degrizz tries to work over Jonathon's front leg with a kick but Jonathon checks it.
Jonathon is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Degrizz can do to turn this around?
Degrizz throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Jonathon sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Degrizz lands a nice shot to the body.
Jonathon staying out of range there.
Jonathon feinted with a counter takedown.
Jonathon avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Jonathon feinted with a counter takedown.
Degrizz throws a looping overhand right but Jonathon ducks down to avoid it.
Degrizz dips to his left and cracks Jonathon with an uppercut!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Degrizz digs a good hook to Jonathon's body.
Degrizz tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Jonathon was well out of range. Poor timing from Degrizz.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Degrizz misses.
Degrizz looks to score with a jab to the body but Jonathon is just out of range.
Jonathon ducks under a wild hook from Degrizz.
Degrizz thows a leg kick but Jonathon checks it

and Jonathon counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Jonathon trying to control the action but Degrizz is working from the bottom.
Jonathon lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Degrizz looks like he's trying to stand up.
Degrizz wants to get back to full guard.
Degrizz looks like he's trying to stand up.
Degrizz wants to control but Jonathon is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Jonathon seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Degrizz does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Degrizz tries to roll over but Jonathon keeps him under control.
Degrizz regains full guard. Nicely done.

Jonathon thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Jonathon scoring with punches to the head and body.
Degrizz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Jonathon got a little sloppy there for a moment and Degrizz has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Jonathon has managed to get both his arms back between Degrizz's legs - danger averted.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Degrizz tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Ben Jonathon overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Jonathon trying to control but Degrizz is working from the bottom.
Degrizz has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Jonathon has passed into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Jim Degrizz will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Degrizz misses with a hook

and Jonathon counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Jonathon won't allow Degrizz to get back to his feet.

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

Degrizz looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Degrizz is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Jonathon tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Degrizz tries a body shot but Jonathon blocks it.
Nice body punch from Degrizz.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Jonathon fails to pull the fight into his guard.
A nice right hand lands inside from Degrizz.
Jonathon tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ben Jonathon. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Degrizz is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Jonathon jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Degrizz walks away with a smile on his face. Jonathon gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Degrizz missing with a left hand there. Jonathon was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Jonathon uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Degrizz.
Jonathon slips under a jab from Degrizz.
Jonathon has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Degrizz.
Degrizz swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Degrizz misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Jonathon.
Sloppy strikes from Degrizz. Those never looked like landing.
Degrizz loads up on a big right hand but Jonathon slips the punch.

Jonathon gets a double leg takedown into Degrizz's guard.
Jonathon content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Jonathon's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Jonathon scores with a decent looking elbow strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Jonathon postures up in Degrizz's guard and throws a big left but Degrizz blocks it.
Jonathon pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Degrizz is keeping the position for now.
Both fighters have adopted an aggressive gameplan on the ground!
Degrizz looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Jonathon cracks Degrizz with a solid left hand.
Degrizz is looking to stand up but Jonathon isn't so interested in that idea.
Degrizz keeping moving, preventing Jonathon from controlling successfully.
Jonathon's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Degrizz is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Jonathon lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Jonathon trying to control but Degrizz is working from the bottom.
Degrizz trying to control the position here.
Degrizz being controlled here, momentarily.
Jonathon's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Jim Degrizz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Jonathon takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Jonathon takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Degrizz swings for the body but Jonathon moves out of range.
Jonathon on the wrong end of a nice hook.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Jonathon defending well as Degrizz loads up on a big left hand.
A jab from Degrizz misses.
Degrizz throws a low kick but Jonathon avoids it.
A punch combination from Degrizz misses.
Jonathon will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Jonathon throws a hook to the side of Degrizz's head but Degrizz sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
A combination from Degrizz does no damage.
Jim Degrizz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Jonathon on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Degrizz throws a one two combo.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Degrizz tries a head kick but it misses.
Degrizz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jim Degrizz comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Degrizz has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jim Degrizz!
An out of breath Jim Degrizz thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.