PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Corey Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shunsuke Nakamura (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johnson kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Here Comes the Boom. Shunsuke Nakamura is the more experienced fighter, so let's see if that makes a difference tonight.

Johnson
vs
Nakamura

186 cm
18
150 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

225 cm
25
145 lbs
0 - 10 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Solid chin

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Corey Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shunsuke Nakamura!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Hirohito Nitta and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A head kick misses from Nakamura.
Nakamura looks really tired already! That doesn't bode well for a good, competitive fight!
Nakamura misses with a hook. Johnson ducked under it nicely.
Johnson dips down and scores with a jab to the body.

Johnson moves into the clinch.

Johnson decides to pull guard.
Johnson is adopting a defensive guard.
Johnson manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nakamura manages to get himself to full guard.
Johnson is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Johnson lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Johnson stands and steps away. Nakamura gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.

Johnson scores a takedown into full mount!
The referee warns Nakamura that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Johnson with good strikes from the mount here!
Johnson controlling his opponent.
Johnson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Nakamura's face.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Nakamura really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Johnson. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Johnson is in the full mount, landing strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson controlling from the full mount.
Johnson is landing with some decent strikes but Nakamura is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Nakamura takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Johnson lands a nice shot to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Corey Johnson dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Johnson clinches with his opponent.

Johnson gets control of Nakamura's arms and successfully pulls guard. Johnson will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.

Johnson has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Nakamura off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Nakamura misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.

Nakamura gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Johnson to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Johnson passes into half guard.
Johnson content to control rather than advance.
Nakamura is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Johnson postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Nakamura to stand up.
Shunsuke Nakamura seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Johnson fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Johnson drives through and clinches with Nakamura against the cage.

Johnson drags the fight down to the ground.
Johnson pulls Nakamura in close to prevent any damage.
Johnson manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Nakamura manages to get himself to full guard.
Johnson looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Corey Johnson just wasn't active enough.

Johnson closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Nakamura to the mat! Nakamura manages to get full guard.
Johnson's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Johnson slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
A lull in the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

Johnson stands up and beckons Nakamura to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Corey Johnson dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Johnson scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Johnson passes the guard and advances to mount!
Johnson landing strikes from the mount.
Johnson content just to control the position here.
Nakamura takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Johnson lands with some strikes.
Johnson controlling from mount.
Johnson is landing with some decent strikes but Nakamura is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Nakamura's face.
Johnson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Shunsuke Nakamura has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Johnson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Nakamura can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

Nakamura is flailing around, obviously not happy about being mounted. Johnson locks hold of one of his arms and spins for an armbar. He's got it! Nakamura is forced to tap!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:42 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Corey Johnson!