PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Young Barrett (ranked 24763 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Johnson (ranked 6631 p4p, 0 weight class). James Johnson will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Barrett
vs
Johnson

191 cm
25
279 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
25
220 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Young Barrett!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, James Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Matti Vanhoillinen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Johnson shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Barrett napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Barrett tries to get back to his feet but has found himself mounted instead. Damn, that's gotta suck.
Barrett tries to lock up and control but Johnson gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Johnson thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
Barrett tries to lock up and control but Johnson gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Barrett suckers Johnson into throwing a sloppy strike and uses the momentum to reverse the position beautifully! Barrett is now in Johnson's guard!
Barrett slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Barrett will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Johnson is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Barrett is aware though and is defending well.
Barrett lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Johnson pulls Barrett in close to prevent any damage.
Barrett scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Johnson being controlled here, momentarily.

Johnson is looking for a triangle here but Barrett uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Johnson being controlled for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is looking for a sweep.
Barrett controls the position.
Johnson tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Barrett wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Johnson takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
A lull in the action here.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson taking punishment in the form of punches.
A lull in the action here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Barrett is working Johnson over with some ground and pound from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Barrett working away.
Johnson is letting Barrett control him for a moment.
Barrett seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Johnson for as long as he can get away with.
Barrett'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.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Young Barrett dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Johnson closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Barrett's guard.
Barrett throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Barrett looking for a sweep. Not yet Barrett, not yet.
Johnson must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Johnson wants to control from the top but Barrett keeps moving.
Barrett lands a decent shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Barrett throwing short punches from the bottom.
Barrett trying to control the position.

Barrett has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Johnson can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson wants to control from the top but Barrett keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Johnson darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Barrett is trying to maintain the position but Johnson is very close to passing his half guard.
Johnson is looking to take a break and control but Barrett is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Barrett's head.
Barrett keeps control of the position for the meantime.
Johnson trying to control the action but Barrett is working from the bottom.
Barrett slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

Barrett working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Johnson doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Johnson manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson looking to sit in guard and control but Barrett gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Barrett is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Barrett throwing strikes from guard but Johnson blocks nicely.
Johnson controlling Barrett's posture.
Barrett throws a big elbow that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Barrett is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet but Barrett is in a dominant position and won't allow it.

Johnson is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Barrett defends well.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Johnson can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Barrett controls the pace.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Barrett swats away the attempt to clinch by Johnson.
Barrett is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Johnson.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Johnson shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Johnson was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Barrett regains half guard, as Johnson was trying to land strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Young Barrett will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Johnson feints and as Barrett raises his hands in defense, Johnson changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Barrett looking to hit a scissor sweep but Johnson is one step ahead there.
Barrett is working hard here to advance position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson trying to control the position from guard on top but Barrett is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Barrett wants to sweep but no luck.
Barrett has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson throws a big right hand that misses.
Johnson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Johnson with a flurry of punches that miss.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Johnson closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

Barrett throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!

Excellent takedown into side control there by Johnson.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Barrett can't do much from the bottom here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Barrett is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Johnson is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Barrett stops Johnson from passing to mount.
Johnson wants to control but Barrett is keeping him busy.
An elbow from Johnson crashes against the mat.
Barrett is trying to control Johnson's posture but Johnson avoids it.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Barrett sneaks back into half guard.
Johnson trying to control the action but Barrett is working from the bottom.
Johnson is stalling here. Barrett is in no mood to hang around though. He's locked up a kimura from the bottom! Johnson seems to be keeping calm but he's forced to roll out of the hold and Barrett has ended up in side control on the top. Nice work.
Johnson is trying to get back to half guard.
Barrett is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Johnson will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson tries to improve position but can't.
Johnson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Barrett creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Barrett controls the position from side control.
Barrett is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Johnson can do to turn this around?
You can see the frustration on Johnson's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Johnson is being controlled here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Young Barrett showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Barrett 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Young Barrett!