PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kareem Johnson (ranked 1768 p4p, 1732 weight class) and Ilya Muromets (ranked 261 p4p, 257 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Johnson
vs
Muromets

186 cm
21
196
5 - 2 - 0

187 cm
22
199
5 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Good gas tank

FEEBLE FIGHTWEAR

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 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Kareem Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ilya Muromets!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Phil Schofield and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Muromets lands a jab.

It looks like Kareem Johnson has been cut.
Johnson closes the distance looking to clinch
and Muromets cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

Johnson has Muromets up against the cage in a clinch.
Muromets blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Johnson presses Muromets against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Muromets fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Johnson lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Muromets or not.
Muromets lands a nice knee to the body.
Muromets misses with a punch on the inside.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Johnson.
Johnson misses with a hook from the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Johnson fails to land.
Muromets wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Johnson stalls.
Muromets misses with the head strike.
Muromets misses with a short punch on the inside.
Johnson lands with a right to the head.
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.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Muromets lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson misses with a punch on the inside.
A short left from Muromets.
Stalling in the clinch from Johnson.
A right hook to the body lands for Johnson.
Johnson goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
A nice left hand lands by Muromets.
Muromets tries to pull guard but Johnson forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
A hook to the body from Johnson.
Johnson is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Johnson lands a body punch.

Muromets manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Muromets can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Johnson controls the pace.
Muromets is trying to control the position but Johnson postures up.
Johnson not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Muromets looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Johnson passes into side control.
Johnson controlling the position from side mount.
Johnson working away.
Muromets is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Johnson is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Muromets keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Muromets tries to hold on but Johnson pushes him away.
Johnson prevents Muromets from getting the reversal.
Muromets regains half guard.
Muromets trying to hold on to Johnson's head to control him but Johnson postures up.
Muromets tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Johnson wants to pass to mount but Muromets is defending the position.

Muromets looking for submissions off his back.

Muromets with the active half guard here but Johnson passes nicely into side control.
Johnson controls the position from side control.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Kareem Johnson will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Kareem Johnson's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Johnson throws a jab but it's blocked by Muromets.
Johnson wants to clinch.
Muromets looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Johnson is looking to clinch but Muromets is avoiding it.

Johnson pushes Muromets up against the cage in a clinch.
Muromets blocking some punches.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Johnson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Muromets misses with a punch to the body.
Muromets jumps guard but Johnson stands there with Muromets around his waist. Muromets gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Muromets misses with a hook from the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson blocks an uppercut.
Johnson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Johnson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

Muromets jumps guard and drags Johnson to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Muromets throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

Muromets throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Johnson escapes and throws Muromets's legs to the side, diving into side control!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muromets wants to control but Johnson postures up.
Muromets is trying to avoid being dragged into an even worse position than he's already in but Johnson is staying active.
Johnson taking a breather here.
Johnson gets to mount! Muromets was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Muromets throwing hammer fists to the chest of Johnson. What's that going to do exactly?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Johnson avoids the attempt from Muromets to control.
Johnson sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Muromets tries to lock up and control but Johnson gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Muromets tries to control Johnson's body but Johnson pushes him off. Muromets squirms to his side and now Johnson has his back!
Muromets is trying to break free.
Muromets keeps trying to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Muromets trying to control the hands but Johnson breaks the grip.
Johnson has the hooks sunk in and you can see the will to fight slowly draining out of Muromets's body.
I really don't envy Muromets right now.
Johnson controls the action.
Johnson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Muromets can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Muromets rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Muromets is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Johnson keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Kareem Johnson dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Kareem Johnson's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Johnson tries to close the distance and clinch but Muromets swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Muromets throws out a counter right but Johnson avoids it with no problem.

Johnson closes the distance and clinches.
Johnson pressing his opponent against the cage.
Johnson scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Muromets lands an uppercut.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Muromets misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Johnson.
A head punch on the inside from Johnson fails to land.
A left hand lands to the body for Johnson.
Muromets misses with a hook from the clinch.
Johnson lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Johnson misses with a punch to the body.
Muromets throws a punch but it's blocked by Johnson.
Johnson lands a left hand.
Johnson lands a left hand.
Muromets lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Johnson's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Johnson creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Johnson on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Muromets misses with a body punch.
Muromets missing with knees to the body.
Johnson can't find room to land a body shot as Muromets controls the action.
Muromets misses with some punches.
Muromets pushes Johnson back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Johnson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Muromets blocks an uppercut.
Muromets throws a head punch that misses.
Muromets swings wildly with an uppercut but Johnson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Johnson misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Johnson can't find room to land a body shot as Muromets controls the action.
Kareem Johnson has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Muromets misses with a punch on the inside.
Kareem Johnson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson blocks an uppercut.
Muromets misses with the head strike.
Johnson tries to work over Muromets's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Muromets misses with a short punch on the inside.
Muromets tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Muromets has a couple of punches blocked by Johnson.
Muromets working aggressively here.
Muromets misses with a punch on the inside.
Muromets missing with knees to the body.
Muromets is trying to drag Johnson to the mat but Johnson just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Johnson swings away with an uppercut that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Muromets tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Johnson's elbow.
Muromets misses with a hook from the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Johnson.
Muromets being controlled against the cage.
Muromets fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Muromets misses with the head strike.
Muromets swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Johnson misses with a body punch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Muromets.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Muromets scores with a nice hook to the head.
A head punch on the inside from Muromets fails to land.
Muromets is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Johnson is defending well for now.
A shot in the inside from Muromets.
Muromets missing with knees to the body.
Muromets misses with a hook from the clinch.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Muromets can't find room to land a body shot as Johnson controls the action.
Johnson blocking some punches.
Muromets misses with a short punch on the inside.
Johnson takes a shot to the head.
Ilya Muromets has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Johnson blocks an uppercut.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ilya Muromets comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Johnson has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Colin Fotheringham scores the fight 29:28
Judge Phil Schofield scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Kareem Johnson!
A victorious Kareem Johnson thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.