PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Harry Johnson (ranked 4494 p4p, 4715 weight class) and Gregory Rodriguez (ranked 437 p4p, 443 weight class). Johnson comes to the cage accompanied by Georgia Satellites -Keep your hands to yourself. Rodriguez has chosen Many Men - 50 Cent as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Johnson
vs
Rodriguez

176 cm
19
159
0 - 0 - 0

174 cm
18
166
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Big heart

Good takedowns
Basic striking
Solid chin

Brooklyn Apothecary
Brooklyn Threads

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Harry Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Gregory Rodriguez!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Wesley Smith and Robert Twigg.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson fails to land the takedown.

Rodriguez closes the distance and clinches.

Rodriguez tightens his grip and picks Johnson up, before dumping him to the ground. Johnson manages to land in guard.
Johnson looking to control.
Rodriguez is stalling in the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rodriguez stopping the sweep attempt from Johnson.
Johnson looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Rodriguez slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez tries to free his leg and advance position but Johnson is retaining full guard.
Rodriguez not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.

Johnson working for a triangle but Rodriguez defends it easily.
Johnson is trying to keep Rodriguez in close.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Rodriguez seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Johnson gets caught napping as Rodriguez dives in and scores a takedown. Johnson manages to retain guard.
Rodriguez stays in close to Johnson's body and controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez preventing the sweep.
Rodriguez slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

Rodriguez avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Johnson working a defensive guard here.
Rodriguez sitting in guard, not really doing much.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Rodriguez trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Rodriguez content to stall in guard here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Johnson moves in looking to clinch but Rodriguez pushes him off.

Rodriguez drives through with a takedown into guard.
Rodriguez lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Rodriguez slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Johnson trying to control the position.
Rodriguez controls the pace of the fight for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Johnson's head.
Rodriguez pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Johnson is keeping the position for now.
Rodriguez content to stall in guard here.
It looks like Rodriguez might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Gregory Rodriguez dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Rodriguez manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Johnson on his heels. He'll look to pass Johnson's guard now, I'm sure.
Johnson controls Rodriguez momentarily but Rodriguez frees himself.
Rodriguez not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Johnson lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Gregory Rodriguez has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rodriguez manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Johnson manages to get himself to full guard.

Johnson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rodriguez pushes down on Johnson's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Johnson is looking to improve his position.
Rodriguez controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rodriguez is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Rodriguez seems to be looking for submissions.
Johnson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Rodriguez seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Rodriguez takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Johnson wants to get back to full guard.
Rodriguez trying to control the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rodriguez lands with a punch from half guard.
Rodriguez performing his best blanket impression for a moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rodriguez's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Johnson is trying to maintain the position but Rodriguez is very close to passing his half guard.
Rodriguez seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Rodriguez slips a nice elbow through Johnson's hands, connecting with Johnson's forehead.
Johnson throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Rodriguez perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.

Rodriguez is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Johnson sees it coming and defends easily.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Rodriguez connects with a nice short shot to Johnson's temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Still in half guard, Rodriguez seems content to control.
Rodriguez is continuing to stall.
Rodriguez is pressing down on Johnson's thigh, looking to free his foot. Johnson is holding on for now.
Still in half guard, Rodriguez seems content to control.
Rodriguez slips a nice elbow through Johnson's hands, connecting with Johnson's forehead.
Rodriguez controlling the action here.
Rodriguez working over Johnson with some ground and pound. Johnson looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Rodriguez looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Johnson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Rodriguez has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Rodriguez slows the pace down in half guard.

Johnson looking for submissions off his back.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rodriguez performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Gregory Rodriguez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Rodriguez closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Rodriguez controls the position from side control.
Rodriguez working the ground and pound from side control.
Johnson is working to avoid the ground and pound but Rodriguez connects with a decent elbow.
Rodriguez working away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A lull in the action here as Rodriguez stalls from top position.
Rodriguez working the ground and pound from side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Rodriguez just content to control the position.
Johnson taking a bit of punishment here - Rodriguez scoring with strikes.
Rodriguez is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Johnson will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
The adventures of Rodriguez the control monster continue. Boring.
Johnson is looking for a sweep.
Johnson taking punishment in the form of punches.
Rodriguez is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Johnson's shoulder. That is not cool.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Rodriguez asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Johnson takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
More stalling from Rodriguez.
Johnson taking a bit of punishment here - Rodriguez scoring with strikes.
A lull in the action here as Rodriguez stalls from top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Johnson is trying to escape the position but Rodriguez is controlling the position.
Rodriguez advances to full mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Rodriguez tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Johnson sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Rodriguez seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Harry Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Gregory Rodriguez is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Johnson taking some punishment here, with Rodriguez in his half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Gregory Rodriguez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Rodriguez 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 George Francis scores the fight 27:30
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 27:30
Judge Robert Twigg scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Gregory Rodriguez!
An intense looking Gregory Rodriguez took to the microphone post fight and gave a little speech: 'The first of many wins, can't wait to get back in here next month! '.
In defeat, Harry Johnson stepped up to the mic, saying 'Gon' put my ass in a lawnchair and have a cold beer when I get home, need some time to reflect and let the clouds open up to that big blue sky again. Then back to the gym. '.