PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mikael Johansson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tadashi Masaru (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Johansson comes to the cage accompanied by Iron Man - Black Sabbath. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Johansson
vs
Masaru

175 cm
22
167 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

176 cm
22
166 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Great elbows
Very strong

Dangerous GnP
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mikael Johansson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Tadashi Masaru!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Arvi Lind and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Masaru avoids the head kick by Johansson.
Masaru lands a lovely overhand right.

It looks like Mikael Johansson has been cut.
Johansson punishes Masaru's body with a nice straight punch.
Masaru misses with a combination
and Johansson counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Masaru is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Johansson moves out of range of the body kick.
Johansson fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Johansson tries to clinch but Masaru is having none of it.
Tadashi Masaru seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Masaru throws a right and a left that both miss.
Masaru on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Johansson. Johansson obviously looking to wear him down.
Masaru lands a nice looking body shot.
Masaru throws a right and a left that Johansson avoids nicely.
Masaru throws a lazy head kick
and Johansson counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Masaru throws a lazy uppercut
and Johansson counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Masaru rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Johansson counters with a thumping low kick.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Masaru misses with a jab, cross combination.

Johansson drives through and clinches with Masaru against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johansson lands a shot to the body.
Johansson connects with a knee to the head.
Johansson misses with an elbow strike.
Johansson comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
A bit of stalling here from Johansson.
Johansson misses with a short punch on the inside.
Masaru takes an elbow to the temple.
Johansson comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Masaru takes an elbow to the temple.
Johansson misses with a knee strike.
Masaru blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Knees in the clinch landing for Johansson.
Johansson misses with an elbow strike.
Masaru blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Johansson has Masaru pressed against the cage, preventing Masaru from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Masaru takes an elbow to the temple.
Johansson throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Johansson stalling against the cage.
Johansson scores a nice knee to the body.
Johansson tries to throw a body punch but Masaru avoids it by throwing Johansson back against the cage.
Johansson tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Masaru avoids it.
Johansson works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Johansson lands a hook that snaps the head of Masaru backwards.
Johansson is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Masaru blocks the elbow strike.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Johansson lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Tadashi Masaru has been cut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johansson stalling the fight.
Johansson keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Masaru's efforts to push away.
Masaru dodges an elbow strike from Johansson.
Johansson creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Johansson lands an elbow inside that Masaru shrugs off.
Johansson lands a knee to the head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Johansson.
Johansson lands a body punch in the clinch.
Masaru is trying to break the clinch but Johansson has him pressed against the cage.
Johansson stalling in the clinch.
Johansson is working Masaru over against the cage.
Johansson manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johansson tries to land a knee to the head but Masaru blocks with his arms.
Masaru is looking to break free of the clinch but Johansson has double underhooks.
Johansson lands a hook that snaps the head of Masaru backwards.
Masaru blocking some punches.
Masaru blocking some punches.
Johansson is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Johansson.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Johansson misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Johansson scores with a nice hook to the head.
Johansson tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Johansson misses with a knee to the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mikael Johansson dominated that round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Masaru misses with a lunging right hand

and Johansson counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Masaru blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A bit of stalling here from Johansson.
Johansson using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Masaru has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Masaru is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Johansson lands a nice elbow from the clinch.
Masaru avoiding damage as Johansson throws knees to the body.
Johansson gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Johansson throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Johansson misses with a punch to the body.
Johansson swings wildly with an uppercut but Masaru uses good head movement to avoid it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johansson tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Johansson gets through Masaru's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Johansson gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Johansson lands a knee to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johansson trying to land knees to the body.
Masaru blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Johansson tries to land knees in the clinch but Masaru avoids the damage to the body.
Come on Johansson - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Johansson goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Johansson has not gone for a single takedown so far in this fight, which seems like a very strange tactic when you consider that he has the superior wrestling and BJJ.
Johansson has Masaru pressed against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Johansson fails to land.
Masaru prevents a body shot from Johansson.
Johansson tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Johansson dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Masaru's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Masaru is looking to break free of the clinch but Johansson has double underhooks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Johansson stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Johansson trying to land knees to the body.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Masaru as Johansson tries to tie him up.
Johansson pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Johansson is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Masaru is keeping busy.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Mikael Johansson.
Masaru misses with a lunging right hand
and Johansson counters with a solid body kick.
Johansson takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Masaru throws a lazy right hand but Johansson sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.

Johansson moves into the clinch.
Johansson misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Masaru.
Johansson misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Masaru stalls.
Johansson tries to work over Masaru's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Johansson looking to throw knees to the head but Masaru is blocking nicely.
Johansson wants to stall.
Johansson comes over the top with an elbow. That landed flush.
Masaru wants to break free but Johansson has control.
Masaru looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Johansson is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Masaru is defending well for now.
Masaru blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Johansson is trying to maintain a safe position but Masaru gets an underhook and turns Johansson into the cage.
Johansson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Johansson stalling.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Masaru has had enough of the clinch but Johansson keeps him there for the moment.
Masaru is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Masaru blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Johansson tries to land knees in the clinch but Masaru avoids the damage to the body.
Johansson with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
Johansson misses with a knee to the head.
The referee is keeping an eye on Johansson - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

Masaru manages to break the clinch.
Masaru connects with a looping right hand.
Masaru connects with the punch.
Johansson tries to close the distance and clinch but Masaru swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Johansson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Johansson tries to move into range but Masaru moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Johansson tries to score with a low kick but Masaru moves his leg out of the way.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tadashi Masaru showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
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!

Masaru throws a lazy uppercut
and Johansson counters with a nice body shot.
Masaru throws a leg kick
and Johansson counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Masaru is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Johansson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Masaru cracks Johansson with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Johansson blocks a jab.
Masaru takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Masaru keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Johansson rushes Masaru and presses him up against the cage.
Johansson misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Masaru blocks an uppercut.
A frustrated look appears on Masaru's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Johansson stalling in the clinch but Masaru improves position.
Masaru avoids a wild elbow strike from Johansson.
Masaru blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Johansson trying to land knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johansson pushes Masaru back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Johansson lands a nice elbow.
Johansson lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Masaru backwards.
Masaru is trying to break the clinch but Johansson is controlling him.
Johansson missing with knees to the body.
Masaru is trying to break the clinch but Johansson is controlling him.
Masaru is trying to break the clinch but Johansson has him pressed against the cage.
Johansson tries to land knees in the clinch but Masaru avoids the damage to the body.
Johansson pushes off an throws an elbow but Masaru leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Johansson tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Masaru avoids it.
Johansson wants to stall.
Johansson misses with a punch on the inside.
Masaru blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Johansson is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Masaru is defending well for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Masaru wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
With the fighters up against the cage, Johansson throws an elbow but misses.
Johansson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Johansson lands an elbow inside.
Johansson stalling the fight.
Johansson throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Masaru looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Johansson lands a hook that snaps the head of Masaru backwards.
Johansson throws an elbow that misses.
Masaru is looking to break free of the clinch but Johansson has double underhooks.
Masaru takes a knee to the side of the body.
Johansson looking to throw knees to the head but Masaru is blocking nicely.
Johansson lands a body shot in the clinch.
Johansson avoiding damage.
Johansson throws a head punch that misses.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johansson slows down the pace here.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Johansson throws a punch but it's blocked by Masaru.
Johansson misses with a knee to the head.
Johansson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Masaru managing to block the knees to the body from Johansson.
Johansson throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Johansson is stalling here.

Masaru pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Masaru looks to land a left hand but Johansson moved out of range nicely.
Johansson scores with a shot to the body.
Johansson is looking to wear down Masaru with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Masaru misses with a few strikes there.
Masaru throws a left and a right that both miss
and Johansson counters with a head kick. That will keep Masaru thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Masaru misses with an uppercut
and Johansson counters with a nice body kick.
Tadashi Masaru is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Johansson tries to clinch up but Masaru circles away and keeps his distance.
Masaru darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Johansson feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Masaru's calf.
Masaru throws a poor cross that misses
and Johansson counters with a head kick. That will keep Masaru thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Tadashi Masaru seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Masaru misses with a combination

and Johansson counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Masaru dodges an elbow strike from Johansson.
Johansson is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Masaru is defending well for now.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Johansson.

And that's the end of the fight!
Mikael Johansson showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Johansson has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Arvi Lind scores the fight 29:28
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mikael Johansson!