PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jesse-James Hopson (ranked 557 p4p, 3577 weight class) and Garon Knightley (ranked 52 p4p, 272 weight class). Hopson comes to the cage accompanied by Home among the gumtrees.. This should be a great matchup!

Hopson
vs
Knightley

182 cm
24
157
11 - 2 - 0

175 cm
23
145
4 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

BJJ Brown Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Shadow Realm Apparel
Kersikov's Vitamin Clinic (160)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jesse-James Hopson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Garon Knightley!
The judges for this bout are Russell Pearce, David Schapiro and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A telegraphed right hand from Hopson misses the target.
Hopson smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Hopson scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A big left from Knightley misses.
Decent striking displayed by Hopson there.

Hopson fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Knightley sprawls well initially but Hopson persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Knightley looks like he's trying to stand up.
Hopson seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Hopson stops Knightley from getting back to his feet.
Hopson looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knightley wants to get back to his feet.
Hopson looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Knightley wants to get back to his feet.
Hopson takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Knightley is in trouble now - Hopson has advanced to mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hopson is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Hopson looking to control and managing it successfully.
Knightley is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hopson content just to control the position here.
Knightley squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.
Hopson connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Hopson controlling from mount.
Hopson lands a heavy elbow.
Hopson looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Hopson raining down shots from the mount!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Knightley's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hopson controlling his opponent.
Knightley is trying to stand up.
Hopson raining down hammerfists from mount.
Hopson controlling from mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
You get the feeling that Knightley really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Hopson landing shots from mount.
Hopson punishing his opponent with strikes.
Knightley squirming around on the bottom, looking to escape.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hopson pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.

Knightley is rocked!
Hopson landing strikes, looking to finish!
Knightley is still in real trouble! Can Hopson finish him?
Hopson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Hopson punishing his opponent with strikes.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Hopson raining down shots from the mount!
Hopson wants to control the pace but Knightley is squirming around nicely.
Hopson controlling the position easily from mount.
Knightley tries to buck Hopson off but he can't manage it.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

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

Hopson misses with a right hand
and Knightley counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Hopson is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Knightley seems to have recovered his senses.
A looping hook to the body misses from Hopson. Knightley does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hopson ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Hopson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Knightley.

Hopson drives through with a takedown into guard.
Knightley wants to stand and escape but Hopson is having none of it.
Hopson working some strikes from top position.
Hopson throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Knightley works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Knightley is wriggling around but Hopson manages to pass to half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hopson controlling the action here.
Ground and pound from Hopson.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Knightley pushes Hopson off looking to stand but Hopson dives back in and keeps control.
Hopson is nestled in close to Knightley, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Hopson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Knightley can do to turn this around?
Hopson prevents Knightley from standing back up.
Knightley is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Hopson performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Knightley on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Hopson is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

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.
Knightley pushes Hopson off looking to stand but Hopson dives back in and keeps control.
Hopson trying to control the pace.
Hopson 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.
Hopson is looking to advance position but Knightley won't allow it.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Hopson swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Hopson takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Garon Knightley is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hopson throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Knightley sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Hopson looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Hopson uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Knightley has time to react.
Hopson slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Hopson slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Knightley throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Knightley keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Hopson drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Knightley keeping moving, preventing Hopson from controlling successfully.
Knightley wants to stand and escape but Hopson is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hopson controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Hopson postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Hopson wants to control from the top but Knightley keeps moving.
Hopson seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Knightley keeping moving, preventing Hopson from controlling successfully.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Knightley throws out a loose jab but Hopson uses good head movement to avoid it.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hopson throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Hopson misses with a hook.
Knightley is looking for the big counter here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Jesse-James Hopson dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Hopson lands with a good body shot.
Jesse-James Hopson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Hopson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hopson lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Knightley at a distance.
Hopson stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Hopson fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Jesse-James Hopson is winning the standup battle so far.
A jab from Knightley misses.
Hopson shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Knightley but Knightley pushes him off and we're back to square one.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The crowd cheers as Hopson lands an impressive looking overhand right. Knightley doesn't seem phased though.
Knightley takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Knightley throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Hopson sees it coming and avoids it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Knightley gets caught napping as Hopson dives in and scores a takedown. Knightley manages to retain guard.
Hopson postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Hopson slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Hopson stands up over Knightley, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Hopson is in close to Knightley's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Hopson won't allow Knightley to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hopson not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Hopson lands a couple of elbows.
Knightley wants to stand up but Hopson is controlling him.
Hopson postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Knightley wants to stand up but Hopson is controlling him.
Hopson seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hopson swings for the body but Knightley moves out of range.
Hopson fails with the takedown.
Knightley throws a counter combo.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jesse-James Hopson. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A head kick misses from Knightley.
A lazy left from Knightley finds it's target.
Hopson shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Knightley defends it nicely.
Hopson scores with a jab. Knightley acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Some wild striking there from Knightley.
Knightley misses with a straight right.
Hopson fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Knightley looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Jesse-James Hopson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Knightley tries to move into range but Hopson moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Knightley misses with a straight right.
Knightley misses with the body kick

and Hopson counters with a shoot takedown. Knightley fights it but they end up in guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Knightley is looking to stand back up but Hopson counters by passing into half guard. Oops... bit sloppy there by Knightley.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hopson is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Garon Knightley has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hopson content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jesse-James Hopson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Hopson 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 Russell Pearce scores the fight 30:26
Judge David Schapiro scores the fight 30:26
Judge Anthony Taglia scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jesse-James Hopson!
An out of breath Jesse-James Hopson thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.