PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Carl Johnson (ranked 5628 p4p, 0 weight class) and Harold Lister (ranked 5736 p4p, 226 weight class). 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
Lister

175 cm
24
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

160 cm
24
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Decent elbows
Big heart

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Carl Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Harold Lister!
The judges for this bout are Micheangelo Fripello, Roger Salmon and Chris Saunders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson is looking to clinch but Lister is avoiding it.
Lister swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Johnson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Lister manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
The fight stays on the outside here - Johnson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Johnson closes the distance and pushes Lister back into the cage.
Johnson throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Lister wants a takedown but no success here.
Johnson throws a punch but it's blocked by Lister.
Lister is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Johnson swings wildly with an uppercut but Lister uses good head movement to avoid it.
Johnson doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Lister takes a shot to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Johnson creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Johnson.
Johnson makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Johnson swings wildly with an uppercut but Lister uses good head movement to avoid it.
Lister has had enough of the clinch but Johnson keeps him there for the moment.
Johnson lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Lister backwards.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson scores with a hook to the body.
Johnson scores with a shoulder strike.
Johnson misses with a hook from the clinch.
Lister lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Lister blocking some punches.
Johnson lands an elbow inside that Lister shrugs off.
Johnson throws a punch but it's blocked by Lister.
Johnson prevents a body shot from Lister.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Johnson.
Johnson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Lister takes an elbow to the temple.
Lister lands a right hand.
Johnson lands a left hand that snaps the head of Lister backwards.
Johnson lands with a short shot to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Lister is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Johnson has Lister pressed against the cage, preventing Lister from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Johnson lands a hook that snaps the head of Lister backwards.
Lister tries to circle away but Johnson has him pinned against the cage.
Still in the clinch, Lister scores with a nice short uppercut.
Johnson gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

Lister pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Lister takes a swing at Johnson's ribcage but misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lister throws a combination that misses
letting Johnson counter with a right hand.
Johnson blocks a head kick by Lister.
Lister fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Johnson avoids it really well and circles away.
Johnson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Lister paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Lister moves into range and clinches up with Johnson.
Johnson swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Johnson scores with a shoulder strike.
Johnson keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Lister's efforts to push away.
A head punch on the inside from Johnson fails to land.
Johnson lands an elbow inside that Lister shrugs off.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Johnson just misses with a elbow thrown towards Lister's brow.
Johnson lands a nice uppercut.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Johnson.

Lister's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Johnson is looking to clinch but Lister is avoiding it.
Lister changes levels for a counter takedown but doesn't follow through with his attempt.
Lister misses with a head kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lister throws a head kick that misses.
Lister tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Johnson was well out of range. Poor timing from Lister.
A head kick by Lister misses
and Johnson counters with a stiff right hand.
Johnson tries to clinch up.
Carl Johnson is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Lister avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Johnson fails with an attempt to clinch.
Lister tries to counter by closing the distance.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Johnson pushes Lister up against the cage in a clinch.
Lister tries to break free but Johnson pushes him back against the cage.
Lister is trying to break the clinch but Johnson has him pressed against the cage.
Johnson lands a right hand that snaps the head of Lister backwards.
Johnson comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Lister has had enough of the clinch but Johnson keeps him there for the moment.
Johnson cracks Lister with a nice body shot.
Johnson tries to work over Lister's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Lister has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Johnson avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Carl Johnson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Harold Lister.
A short left from Johnson.
Lister tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Johnson just stands there and leans against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Lister.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands an elbow that stopped Lister in his tracks for a moment.
Johnson is breathing heavily.
Johnson lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
Johnson misses with the head strike.
Johnson softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Lister breaks the clinch.

Johnson has Lister up against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson scores with a shoulder strike.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Johnson.
Nice elbow from Johnson.
Johnson lands an elbow that stopped Lister in his tracks for a moment.

Lister breaks from the clinch.
Johnson moves in looking to clinch but Lister pushes him off.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Lister.
Johnson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Lister manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Johnson slips under a jab from Lister.

Johnson has taken the fight to the clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Carl Johnson dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Lister closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Lister jumps guard but Johnson stands there with Lister around his waist. Lister gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Johnson lands with a short shot to the head.
Johnson lands a left hand that snaps the head of Lister backwards.
Johnson misses with the head strike.
Carl Johnson has scored more points in the clinch so far.
A hook to the body from Lister.

Lister pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Lister throws a body kick that misses.
Johnson is looking to clinch.
Lister tries to work over Johnson's front leg with a kick but Johnson checks it.
Johnson fails in his attempt to clinch.
Lister throws a right and a left that Johnson avoids nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sloppy strikes from Lister. Those never looked like landing.
Harold Lister seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Johnson is looking to clinch.
Sloppy strikes from Lister. Those never looked like landing.
A head kick misses from Lister.
Lister tries to work over Johnson's front leg with a kick but Johnson checks it.
Lister misses with a few strikes there.
Lister is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson moves to clinch but Lister breaks away

and Lister counters with a shoot takedown. Johnson fights it but they end up in guard.
Lister working some strikes from top position.
Lister scoring with some ground and pound.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Lister from controlling successfully.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Lister's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Lister throws a big elbow that misses.
Johnson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Lister on the ground.
Lister slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Lister scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Johnson to see if he's OK.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Johnson is being controlled here.
Lister creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.

Lister has hold of Johnson's arm. He's looking for a kimura. Johnson seems comfortable defending it but Lister has shifted his position slighty and is cranking on the arm! Johnson is real pain and he's forced to tap out! Johnson is disgusted with himself for not defending it better but Lister couldn't care less - he's delighted!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:23 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Harold Lister!
Our winner, Harold Lister, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.