PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Might Lightning (ranked 6267 p4p, 432 weight class) and Bob Johnson (ranked 6471 p4p, 438 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Lightning
vs
Johnson

190 cm
19
242 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

198 cm
25
240 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Good knees
Inexperienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Might Lightning!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Bob Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Anthony Taglia, Joseph Jones and John Roberts.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

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

Lightning turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Lightning is trying to ground and pound but Johnson uses the momentary lack of control by Lightning to regain half guard.
Lightning thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Johnson's head.
Lightning trying to control the pace.
Lightning missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lightning thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Johnson trying to control but Lightning postures up.
Johnson is looking for a sweep. Lightning is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson regains full guard. Nicely done.
Johnson wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Lightning is now in half guard.
Lightning thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johnson trying to control but Lightning postures up.
Lightning passes to side control.
Lightning throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
You can see the frustration on Johnson's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Lightning throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Johnson is looking to reverse the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lightning fails to land a wild elbow strike.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lightning controlling from side mount.
Lightning sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Johnson is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Lightning misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Lightning throwing shots but missing, from side control.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Johnson regains half guard, as Lightning was trying to land strikes.
Lightning not doing much here.
Lightning throwing shots but Johnson is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lightning throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Johnson wants to control but Lightning is keeping busy.
Lightning thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Johnson's head.
Lightning missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Lightning content to control rather than advance.
Lightning throwing shots but Johnson is blocking nicely.
Johnson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Lightning wants to take a breather but Johnson is having none of it.
Johnson trying to control but Lightning postures up.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Lightning not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Lightning sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Johnson defending well though.
Still in half guard, Lightning seems content to control.
Lightning sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Johnson defending well though.
Lightning stalling.
Lightning trying to control from half guard but Johnson is working away.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Lightning rushes Johnson and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Lightning lands with a left to the head.

Lightning decides to pull guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Might Lightning 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.

An inside leg kick from Lightning misses.
Johnson wants to counter with a clinch but Lightning pushes him away.

Lightning bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Johnson defending against the ground and pound.
Lightning in side control, throwing shots but Johnson defends.
Lightning trying to control the position but Johnson is working away.
Lightning working the strikes but Johnson uses the opportunity to regain half guard.
Lightning wants to take a breather but Johnson is having none of it.
Johnson regains full guard. Nicely done.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lightning trying to control the position from guard on top but Johnson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Johnson is on top in guard.

A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Lightning holds on and takes a little breather.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lightning is looking to sweep but instead, Johnson has passed into half guard.
Johnson not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Lightning works his way to full guard. Good work.
Lightning lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Lightning throws an elbow that misses. Johnson uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Lightning's guard. Nice move by Johnson!

Lightning thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Johnson throwing strikes from guard but Lightning blocks nicely.
Lightning wants to improve his position but instead Johnson has moved into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lightning trying to control from the bottom.
Lightning regains full guard. Nicely done.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lightning is on top in guard.

Lightning throwing strikes from guard but Johnson blocks nicely.
Lightning throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Lightning postures up in Johnson's guard and throws a big left but Johnson blocks it.
Lightning loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Lightning postures up in Johnson's guard and throws a big left but Johnson blocks it.
Lightning is looking to work some ground and pound but Johnson has wrist control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lightning stands up over Johnson, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Lightning not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Lightning with a flurry of punches that miss.
Lightning postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Lightning from controlling successfully.

Johnson throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Lightning escapes and throws Johnson's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Lightning throwing shots but missing, from side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lightning working the ground and pound but Johnson is defending the strikes.
Lightning misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Johnson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Lightning.
Lightning looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Johnson is avoiding damage well.
Lightning in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Johnson is not content to let Lightning control the position.
Johnson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Lightning.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lightning working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Might Lightning dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Lightning clinches with his opponent.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Lightning just misses with a elbow thrown towards Johnson's brow.

Lightning gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Lightning wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.
Lightning misses with a head shot. Johnson uses the momentum to regain guard.
Lightning trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Might Lightning overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Johnson is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnson throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Johnson is looking to take a break and control but Lightning is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Lightning has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Lightning gets back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson is looking to work some ground and pound but Lightning has wrist control.
Johnson trying to control but Lightning is working from the bottom.
Lightning is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Lightning working a defensive guard here.
Johnson throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Lightning looking for a sweep. Not yet Lightning, not yet.
Lightning is striking but Johnson is not phased and passes to half guard.
Lightning moves into full guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Lightning trying to punch from his back but it's not doing any damage.
Lightning bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Johnson's guard.

Lightning postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Johnson looking to control.
Lightning wants to control from the top but Johnson keeps moving.
Lightning advances position into side control!
Lightning in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Lightning landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lightning postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
The ground and pound from Lightning seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Johnson parries the strikes from Lightning easily there. Lightning is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Johnson to escape.
Lightning misses with the ground and pound.
Johnson struggling a bit here.
Johnson avoids any damage from the ground and pound of Lightning.
Lightning throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Johnson managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Lightning.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lightning working the head with strikes.
Johnson defending against the ground and pound.
Lightning staying calm.
Lightning wants to lay and pray for a moment but Johnson keeps working.
Lightning throwing shots but missing, from side control.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Lightning fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Might Lightning is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Lightning throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Bob Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Johnson is not content to let Lightning control the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Might Lightning showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Lightning has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Anthony Taglia scores the fight 30:27
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 30:27
Judge John Roberts scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Might Lightning!