PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Johnie Ballantine (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gristle McThornbody (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). McThornbody has chosen Tame as his entrance music. 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.

Ballantine
vs
McThornbody

188 cm
30
210 lbs
29 - 14 - 0

188 cm
31
210 lbs
31 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Mango Nutrition (90% Laundry)
XTREME PWNAGE: Down Under!

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 29 - 14 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Johnie Ballantine!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 31 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Gristle McThornbody!
The judges for this bout are Yuuki Gou, Shigeki Fujiwara and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A telegraphed right hand from Ballantine misses the target.
Ballantine swings and misses with a hook to the body.
McThornbody throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
McThornbody connects with a crisp jab.

Ballantine moves into the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from McThornbody fails to land.
Ballantine working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Ballantine misses with the head strike.
Ballantine swings wildly with an uppercut but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ballantine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Ballantine working some nice short punches in the clinch.
McThornbody lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Ballantine gets through McThornbody's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Ballantine tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
McThornbody misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Ballantine avoids the elbow strike from McThornbody, against the cage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ballantine tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
McThornbody looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
McThornbody tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Ballantine's elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McThornbody blocking some punches.
Ballantine lands a shot to the body.
McThornbody gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Ballantine swings wildly with an uppercut but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ballantine struggles to land a body shot inside as McThornbody controls his hands.
A short left from Ballantine.
McThornbody blocks a body shot from Ballantine.
Ballantine makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Ballantine lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
McThornbody misses with some punches.
McThornbody trying to stall but Ballantine improves his position.
McThornbody misses with a punch to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ballantine struggles to land a body shot inside as McThornbody controls his hands.
Ballantine working aggressively here.
Ballantine misses with a punch on the inside.
Ballantine misses with a hook to the ribs.
Ballantine throws a punch but it's blocked by McThornbody.
McThornbody lands a right hand that snaps the head of Ballantine backwards.
Ballantine struggles to land a body shot inside as McThornbody controls his hands.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A right handed body shot lands from McThornbody.
Ballantine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
McThornbody misses with a punch on the inside.
McThornbody misses with a hook from the clinch.
Good body shot from Ballantine.
McThornbody taking a breather.
Ballantine works on McThornbody's body with a couple of short punches.
Ballantine prevents a body shot from McThornbody.
McThornbody swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Ballantine fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
McThornbody lands an elbow that stopped Ballantine in his tracks for a moment.
Ballantine swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Ballantine as McThornbody tries to tie him up.
Ballantine blocks the elbow strike.
Ballantine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
McThornbody blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
McThornbody taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballantine tries to throw a body punch but McThornbody avoids it by throwing Ballantine back against the cage.
Ballantine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
A short left from Ballantine.
McThornbody blocks an uppercut.
Ballantine throws a blind hook that connects with the side of McThornbodys head.
A head punch on the inside from Ballantine fails to land.
McThornbody tries a body shot but Ballantine blocks it.
McThornbody tries to throw a body punch but Ballantine avoids it by throwing McThornbody back against the cage.
Ballantine doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
McThornbody pushes Ballantine back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
McThornbody gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Ballantine lands a right hand.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Still in the clinch, Ballantine scores with a nice short uppercut.
McThornbody lands a left hand.
Ballantine misses with a punch to the body.
Ballantine tries to work over McThornbody's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Ballantine throws a blind hook that connects with the side of McThornbodys head.
McThornbody takes a shot to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McThornbody throws a punch but it's blocked by Ballantine.
McThornbody goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ballantine tries to work over McThornbody's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ballantine.
McThornbody lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Ballantine can't find room to land a body shot as McThornbody controls the action.
Ballantine goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ballantine tries to throw a body punch but McThornbody avoids it by throwing Ballantine back against the cage.
McThornbody softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Ballantine.
Ballantine goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
McThornbody misses with a body punch.
Ballantine swings wildly with an uppercut but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ballantine tries to work over McThornbody's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ballantine blocking some punches.
A right handed body shot lands from Ballantine.
A short body shot lands from McThornbody as the two fighters clinch.
Ballantine throws a head punch that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Ballantine throws out a loose jab but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
Johnie Ballantine seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McThornbody tries a low kick but Ballantine avoids it.
Ballantine misses with a two punch combination.
A lazy left from Ballantine finds it's target.
Ballantine tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. McThornbody manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
McThornbody throws a leg kick but Ballantine sees it coming and moves out of range.
McThornbody throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Ballantine throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
McThornbody connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
McThornbody moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
McThornbody throws a leg kick
and McThornbody takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
A left and a right from McThornbody both land. Nice combination.
This has been an exciting period of action!
McThornbody pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from McThornbody in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
A nice inside leg kick there by Ballantine. That's going to slow McThornbody down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballantine avoids a kick to the body.
Ballantine uses good head movement to avoid the hook from McThornbody.
Ballantine connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.
Ballantine doesn't manage to clinch there - McThornbody circles away.
Ballantine throws a left and a right that both miss
and McThornbody counters with a nice body kick.
McThornbody uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Ballantine.
McThornbody is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Ballantine misses with a body shot.
Ballantine lands with a thumping leg kick.
Johnie Ballantine is winning the standup battle so far.
McThornbody walks forward, straight into a front kick from Ballantine.
Ballantine jabbing away but nothing is landing.
McThornbody ducks under a wild hook from Ballantine.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McThornbody bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
McThornbody connects with a right hand. Ballantine shakes it off.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Ballantine throws out a loose jab but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
McThornbody lands with a good body shot.
McThornbody throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.

Ballantine closes the distance and pushes McThornbody back into the cage.
Ballantine swings wildly with an uppercut but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
McThornbody swings wildly with an uppercut but Ballantine uses good head movement to avoid it.
Ballantine tries a body shot but McThornbody blocks it.
McThornbody is looking to control Ballantine's arms but Ballantine gets an underhook and turns him. Now McThornbody has his back to the cage.
McThornbody goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
McThornbody lands a shoulder strike.
Ballantine misses with a hook from the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballantine lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Ballantine misses with the head strike.
Nice body punch from Ballantine - that landed with a thud.
McThornbody lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
McThornbody misses with some punches.
A head punch blocked on the inside by McThornbody.
Johnie Ballantine has scored more points in the clinch so far.
McThornbody throws a head punch that misses.
A short left from McThornbody.
McThornbody tries to work over Ballantine's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Ballantine throws a head punch that misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for McThornbody.
Ballantine struggles to land a body shot inside as McThornbody controls his hands.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Ballantine.
McThornbody throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Ballantine gets through McThornbody's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Ballantine avoids the elbow strike from McThornbody, against the cage.
McThornbody scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Ballantine working aggressively here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by McThornbody.
McThornbody lands a body punch in the clinch.
McThornbody presses Ballantine against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Ballantine goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Ballantine lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of McThornbody backwards.
McThornbody gets through Ballantine's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
McThornbody lands a nice shot to the body.
McThornbody struggles to land a body shot inside as Ballantine controls his hands.
Ballantine tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Ballantine scores with a nice hook to the head.
Ballantine swings away with an uppercut that misses.
McThornbody blocks a body shot from Ballantine.
Ballantine swings wildly with an uppercut but McThornbody uses good head movement to avoid it.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ballantine avoids a wild elbow strike from McThornbody.
Ballantine misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Ballantine blocks a body shot from McThornbody.
McThornbody scores with an uppercut up the middle.
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 Johnie Ballantine will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Ballantine misses with a straight right.
Ballantine misses with a body shot.
McThornbody looks to land a right hand but Ballantine moved out of range.
A punch combination from Ballantine misses.
McThornbody uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Ballantine.
Ballantine misses with a straight right.
McThornbody tries to land a front kick but Ballantine steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Ballantine tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but McThornbody paws at him with a jab and circles away.
McThornbody throws a big shot that misses.
McThornbody thows a body shot but no joy.
Ballantine tests McThornbody's chin there with a solid looking shot.

Ballantine forces McThornbody back against the cage and clinches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballantine misses with a hook from the clinch.
McThornbody fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
McThornbody lands a left hand that snaps the head of Ballantine backwards.
Ballantine softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Ballantine misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Ballantine throws a blind hook that connects with the side of McThornbodys head.

McThornbody escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Ballantine takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Ballantine lands a two punch combo.
A bone on bone clash there as Ballantine blocks the leg kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
McThornbody throws an overhand right that lands on Ballantine's shoulder, as Ballantine tries to avoid the shot.

Ballantine forces McThornbody back against the cage and clinches.
McThornbody with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Ballantine swings away with an uppercut that misses.
McThornbody misses with a body punch.
Ballantine throws a blind hook that connects with the side of McThornbodys head.
Gristle McThornbody has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
McThornbody lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Ballantine backwards.
A short right from Ballantine.
McThornbody creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Ballantine has a couple of punches blocked by McThornbody.
McThornbody avoiding damage.
The crowd are getting on McThornbody's back here. They're not happy about his lack of aggression in the clinch.
McThornbody struggles to land a body shot inside as Ballantine controls his hands.
Johnie Ballantine is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Ballantine blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Ballantine scores with a shot to the side of McThornbody's head.

McThornbody is rocked!
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Ballantine creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
McThornbody is still on wobbly legs! Can Ballantine finish him?
Ballantine unloads with a big right hand that wobbles McThornbody! He's leaning against the cage trying to keep his feet but Ballantine is unloading with more strikes now! McThornbody drops to his knees and the referee stops the fight for a TKO!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:56 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Johnie Ballantine!
A very excited looking Johnie Ballantine made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.