PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Matthew Hope (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mark John (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Matthew Hope could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Mark John's chin.

Hope
vs
John

193 cm
18
239 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

195 cm
25
270 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Very confident

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 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Matthew Hope!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Mark John!
The judges for this bout are Konstantin Menshow, Sergei Dronov and Aleksandr Martynov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hope shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Hope wants to control from the top but John keeps moving.
Hope missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
John is controlling Hope's posture.
Hope stopping the sweep attempt from John.
John controlling Hope's posture.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now John is on top in guard.

Hope escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. John gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
John postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
John is looking to work some ground and pound but Hope has wrist control.
John is in close to Hope's body, working some short punches and elbows.
John lands a couple of elbows.
John wants to control from the top but Hope keeps moving.
John is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
John with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
John lands a couple of digs.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
John passes easily into side control. Nice work.
John controlling the position.
Hope taking punishment in the form of punches.

Hope is rocked!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
John landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Oh Hope is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!
Hope can't do much from the bottom here.
John wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hope keeps working.
Hope seems to have got his legs back now.
Hope manages to get back to half guard.

Hope makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

John has taken the fight to the clinch.
John lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

Hope has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but John regains guard immediately.

John throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hope prevents John from getting back to his feet.
John controlling the position.

Hope has gone for a leg lock! John slips out almost immediately though and dives into Hope's guard.
John loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

Hope working for a triangle but John defends it easily.
John throws a big elbow that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

John is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
John passes into half guard.
Hope is trying to maintain the position but John is very close to passing his half guard.
Hope blocking the ground and pound attempt from John.
John seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Hope does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Hope tries to get to full guard but John has control of the leg.
John is keen to just control but Hope is a slippery customer.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ground and pound from John.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
John drops an elbow to the side of Hope's head.
Hope is refusing to be controlled, as John sits in half guard.
John works his way into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

John takes the fight into the clinch.

Hope wants the takedown. John is fighting it off but Hope persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in John's guard against the cage.
John manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
John putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
John lands a big shot to the head and Hope winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:54 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Mark John!
Mark John was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.