PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Francisco Morales (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Craig Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Morales comes into the arena with Sheppard- Say Geronimo blaring out of the sound system. Johnson has chosen Blood of Heroes! as his entrance music. On his way into the cage it seems that Francisco Morales has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Francisco Morales seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Morales
vs
Johnson

182 cm
25
198 lbs
10 - 5 - 0

168 cm
35
200 lbs
14 - 13 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Spartan Nutrition
GREEN!160

Bad Man Clothing (Nothing Over $40)

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 10 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Francisco Morales!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 13 - 0, fighting out of New York, Craig Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Gregory Folan, Yves DeLean and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Morales throws a leg kick that misses.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Johnson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Johnson misses with a wild combination.
Johnson has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Morales is landing a low percentage of strikes.
A shot to the liver by Johnson. Beautiful body shot.
Morales doesn't manage to clinch there - Johnson circles away.
Johnson checks a low kick from Morales.
Morales tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Morales tries to clinch
and Johnson counters with a stiff right hand.
Morales throws a lazy right hand but Johnson sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Morales throws a right and a left that both miss.
A nice leg kick lands there from Morales.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Morales misses with a hook.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Morales scoring well with a low kick there.
Johnson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Morales ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Johnson moves away.
Jab from Morales.
A jab from Johnson does it's job there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson misses the body punch
and Morales counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Johnson lands with a shot to the body.
Johnson throws a shot from downtown. Morales moves away and avoids it.
Nice cross by Morales.
Johnson comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Johnson ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Johnson moves out of range of the leg kick from Morales.
Johnson lands a really nice looking cross but Morales seems unphased.
Morales swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Johnson takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Morales looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Morales throws a hook but Johnson blocks it.
Johnson is looking to clinch.
Morales moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Johnson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Morales moves away.
Johnson fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Morales is out of range.
Johnson changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Johnson misses the shot to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morales fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Johnson is out of range.
Morales keeps the fight on the outside.
Johnson lands a jab to Morales's midsection.
Morales tests Johnson's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Johnson throws a shot from downtown. Morales moves away and avoids it.
Johnson throws a series of punches but Morales avoids them all with ease.
A solid leg kick lands there for Morales.
Morales scores with a jab.
Morales scores with a leg kick.
Johnson is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Morales rather than just go for the knockout.
Johnson fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Johnson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Morales.
Johnson scores with a shot to the body.
A nice inside leg kick there by Johnson. That's going to slow Morales down.
Johnson connects with a solid leg kick.
Johnson avoids the body shot from Morales.
Johnson scores with a hook to the body. Morales takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Morales is breathing heavily.
Johnson throws a push kick but Morales slaps the foot to one side.
It looked like Morales was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Johnson.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Morales fails with an attempt to clinch.
Johnson throws a series of punches but Morales moves out of range.
Morales takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Johnson misses the shot to the body.
A shot to the body from Johnson misses
and Morales connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
A looping hook to the body misses from Johnson. Morales does a little dance to reset his feet.
Morales takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Johnson looks to score with a jab to the body but Morales is just out of range.
Morales chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Johnson lands with a shot to the body.
Morales throws the left hand but Johnson avoids the punch easily.
Johnson throws a right hand that Morales ducks under and follows up with a left that Morales also avoids with ease.
It looked like Morales wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Johnson rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Morales moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morales tries to clinch up.
Johnson goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.

Morales gets tackled into the cage by Johnson. Johnson maintains the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson wants to get back to striking at distance but Morales won't allow it.
Morales tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Johnson blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Morales tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
I was talking to Morales's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.

Johnson manages to break the clinch.
Morales is using his height advantage well here, landing a good percentage of his punches.
Morales throws a front kick aimed at Johnson's knee but Johnson avoids it well.
Johnson throws a head kick that misses.

Johnson closes the distance and pushes Morales back into the cage.
Johnson gets through Morales's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Morales lands a right hand that snaps the head of Johnson backwards.

Johnson breaks from the clinch.
Johnson scores with a body shot.
Morales tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Morales gets tackled into the cage by Johnson. Johnson maintains the clinch.
Johnson is trying to push Morales away but Morales has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Morales goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Nice body punch from Johnson.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Craig Johnson dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Morales avoids a punch combination nicely.
Morales tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Johnson was well out of range. Poor timing from Morales.
Nice straight punches there by Morales. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Morales.
Johnson throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Morales lands with a good body shot.
Johnson throws a one two combo.
Johnson throws a mid kick that lands with a slap.
Johnson will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

Oooh a lovely combination from Johnson sends Morales down but not out. Johnson dives into side control looking to finish.

Morales is rocked!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Johnson stands up.
Oh Morales is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Morales tries to work over Johnson's front leg with a kick but Johnson checks it.
Johnson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Morales manages to avoid it.
Morales seems to have got his legs back now.
Morales darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Johnson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Morales has closed the distance and engaged Johnson in a clinch.
A short uppercut from Johnson.
A short body shot lands from Morales as the two fighters clinch.
Johnson managing to block the knees to the body from Morales.
Morales lands a hook to the side of the head.
Johnson prevents a body shot from Morales.
Johnson tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Morales avoids it.
Morales presses Johnson against the cage and delivers a mid-strength body shot.
Johnson is breathing heavily.
Morales tries to throw a body punch but Johnson avoids it by throwing Morales back against the cage.
Morales softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.

It looks like Craig Johnson has been cut.
Johnson landing knees to the head.

Johnson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Johnson keeps the fight on the outside.
Morales is using his reach advantage well here, landing the more effective single shots from range.
Morales lands a jab to the head.

Johnson pushes Morales up against the cage in a clinch.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Johnson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Morales throws a head kick that misses.
Johnson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson tries to clinch up.
It looked like Morales was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Johnson throws a leg kick but Morales moved away.
Morales lands with a hook. Johnson tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Morales avoids the body shot from Johnson.
Morales jabs. That one connects to the head of his opponent.
Morales throws a low kick but Johnson moves out of range easily.
Morales is looking to clinch but Johnson is avoiding it.
Nice body punch from Johnson.
Johnson takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Morales tried to score with a low kick but Johnson checks it.
Morales tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson is looking to slow Morales down with leg kicks.
Johnson throws a body punch but Morales moves out of range.
Johnson throws a series of punches but Morales avoids them all with ease.
Johnson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Morales's jab looks to have found its range, popping Johnson under the eye.
Craig Johnson seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands a body shot.
Johnson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Morales manages to avoid it.
Morales fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Johnson is out of range.
Johnson is trying to avoid his opponent's strikes and get into the clinch.
Morales uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Johnson.
Morales scores with the left hand. Johnson knows he should have avoided that one.
Morales lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
A leg kick checked by Johnson.
Morales keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Johnson looks to score with a jab to the body but Morales is just out of range.
Johnson keeps the fight on the outside.
Morales swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Morales with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Johnson to score with a decent uppercut.
Johnson throws a nice looking combination but Morales bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
An attempted straight right counter from Morales misses the target.
Morales uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Johnson.
Morales lands a body shot.
Johnson throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Morales misses with a looping left.
Johnson fakes with the hands and throws a leg kick but Morales is out of range.
Morales fails with an attempt to clinch.
Johnson looks to score with a jab to the body but Morales is just out of range.
Johnson with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Johnson misses with a body punch
and Morales counters with a nice uppercut.
Morales lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Johnson circles away quickly and effectively.
Johnson just misses with a punch to the body.
Morales doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Morales throws out a powerful jab.
Morales throws a nice inside leg kick.

Johnson rushes Morales and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Morales misses with a hook to the ribs.
Morales scores with a nice hook to the head.
Morales lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

Johnson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Craig Johnson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Craig Johnson's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Morales fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Johnson manages to avoid it.
Morales just misses with a punch to the body.
Morales fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A shot to the liver by Johnson. Beautiful body shot.
Johnson misses with the combination.
Morales misses with a lunging right hand
and Johnson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Johnson lands with a good body shot.
Morales takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Johnson fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Morales looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Johnson lands a nice looking body shot.
Johnson throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Johnson lands a right hook to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Johnson throws a jab but it's blocked by Morales.
Johnson lands a jab.
Johnson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Morales.
Morales cracks Johnson with a good jab.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Johnson. Those never looked like landing.
Morales is looking to counter punch.
Morales misses with a body shot.
Morales throws a big shot that misses.
Morales bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Morales walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Morales swings for the body but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Johnson cracks Morales with an open hand slap.
Johnson swings for the body but Morales moves out of range.
Johnson avoids the body shot from Morales.
Johnson lands with a shot to the body.
Johnson dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Johnson tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Morales was well out of range. Poor timing from Johnson.

Morales forces Johnson back against the cage and clinches.
Johnson trying to stall but Morales improves his position.
A frustrated look appears on Johnson's face as he tries to break the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson prevents a body shot from Morales.
Johnson tries to break the clinch but Morales is controlling the position.
Morales gets through Johnson's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Johnson is looking to break free of the clinch but Morales has double underhooks.
A knee to the head by Morales.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Morales prevents Johnson from breaking the clinch.
Johnson lands a left hand.
Francisco Morales has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Johnson avoiding damage as Morales throws knees to the body.

Johnson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Johnson looks to score with a jab to the body but Morales is just out of range.
Johnson misses with a series of wild punches.
Morales uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Johnson.
Morales scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Johnson lands a body shot.
Johnson looks to score with a jab to the body but Morales is just out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson swats away the attempt to clinch by Morales.
Johnson takes a jab right on the kisser.
Morales keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Johnson throws a right and a left that both miss.
Morales throws a hook but Johnson avoids it easily.
Johnson now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Johnson misses with a wild body shot.
Morales swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Morales scores with a jab to the jaw.

Johnson fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Morales, pushing him back against the cage.
Johnson tries to land a knee to the head but Morales blocks with his arms.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Morales.
Johnson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Morales lands with a right to the head.
Kneeeeees! The crowd are calling for knees to the body. Morales obliges.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morales lands a body shot in the clinch.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Morales misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Morales tries to throw a body punch but Johnson avoids it by throwing Morales back against the cage.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Morales creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Johnson has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Johnson is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Morales lands a hook to the side of the head.
Morales working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Morales doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Johnson wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Morales has him pressed against the cage.
Morales misses with a body punch.

Johnson pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Johnson misses with a body shot.
Craig Johnson is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Morales looks to land a combination but Johnson avoids it well.
Morales feints and then cracks Johnson's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Johnson down.
Morales takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Johnson connects with a single shot there.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Craig Johnson.
I've got Johnson winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Gregory Folan scores the fight 27:30
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Craig Johnson!
Craig Johnson thanked the fans post fight for their support.