PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Albert Johanson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Johanson might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Cult of Personality. This should be a great matchup!

Johanson
vs
Kohsaka

167 cm
23
138 lbs
0 - 3 - 0

169 cm
25
145 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Good chin

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Granite chin

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 - 3 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Albert Johanson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka!
The judges for this bout are Illya Tyunina, Sergei Dronov and Ivan Kurochkin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Kohsaka gets a double leg takedown into Johanson's guard.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Johanson keeping moving, preventing Kohsaka from controlling successfully.
Johanson not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Kohsaka lands a couple of digs.
Kohsaka is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka wasn't active enough on the ground.
Kohsaka fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Johanson avoids it really well and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Johanson scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Kohsaka can do anything to dispel that myth.
Kohsaka tries to improve position but can't.
Kohsaka prevents Johanson from improving position.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Kohsaka is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Kohsaka sneaks back into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka is looking to improve his position.

Johanson decides to return to a standing position.

Kohsaka dives in and scores a takedown into Johanson's guard.
Johanson looking to hit a scissor sweep but Kohsaka is one step ahead there.
Kohsaka postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Kohsaka is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Kohsaka thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Kohsaka's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Kohsaka stopping the sweep attempt from Johanson.

Johanson escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Kohsaka gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Johanson is breathing heavily.
Kohsaka is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Kohsaka works over Johanson with some ground and pound from guard.
Kohsaka postures up.
Kohsaka with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Kohsaka throwing strikes but missing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kohsaka landing with the ground and pound.
Kohsaka with a nice head shot there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Kohsaka will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Kohsaka has a takedown stuffed.
Kohsaka shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Johanson but Johanson pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Albert Johanson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.

Kohsaka looking to score a takedown here. Johanson is defending well but Kohsaka drives through and ends up in Johanson's guard.
Kohsaka postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Johanson looking for a sweep. Not yet Johanson, not yet.
Kohsaka is fighting to break Johanson's control of his arms but Johanson is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Kohsaka working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Kohsaka stopping the sweep attempt from Johanson.
Johanson keeping moving, preventing Kohsaka from controlling successfully.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Kohsaka accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Kohsaka content to stall in guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka wants to control from the top but Johanson keeps moving.
Kohsaka showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka wasn't active enough on the ground.
Johanson misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Kohsaka.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka fails with the takedown
and Kohsaka takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Kohsaka looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Kohsaka postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Kohsaka is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Kohsaka slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka grinds an elbow into Johanson's temple.
Sloppy strikes there by Kohsaka.
The referee asks Kohsaka politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Kohsaka prefers to stall for the moment though.
Johanson taking punishment in the form of punches.
Johanson taking punishment in the form of punches.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Kohsaka wants to lay and pray for a moment but Johanson keeps working.
Johanson is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Johanson's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Kohsaka shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Johanson pinned against the ropes. Johanson gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Johanson fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Kohsaka closes this distance looking for a takedown but Johanson circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johanson slaps away a takedown attempt from Kohsaka, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Albert Johanson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.
Johanson shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Kohsaka as he jumps to the side.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Kohsaka shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Johanson's guard.
Kohsaka takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Kohsaka trying to control the position from guard on top but Johanson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Kohsaka is in a good position here but he's just trying to control... And he's not even managing to do that successfully.
Kohsaka 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.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Kohsaka working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka throws and elbow that misses. Johanson uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Kohsaka's guard. Nice move by Johanson!
Johanson preventing the sweep.

Johanson is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Kohsaka is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Kohsaka has escaped and now he's on top!
Kohsaka postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka works over Johanson with some ground and pound from guard.
Kohsaka working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Johanson's head.
Johanson keeping moving, preventing Kohsaka from controlling successfully.
Kohsaka slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Johanson preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Kohsaka loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Kohsaka's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Kohsaka postures up in Johanson's guard and throws a big left but Johanson blocks it.
Kohsaka passes Johanson's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Kohsaka in particular looking to stall.
Kohsaka's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Kohsaka connects with a nice short shot to Johanson's temple.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Kohsaka has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Illya Tyunina scores the fight for Tsuyoshi Kohsaka!
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight for Tsuyoshi Kohsaka!
Judge Ivan Kurochkin scores the fight for Tsuyoshi Kohsaka!

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka wins by unanimous decision!
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka decided to thank the fans in attendance for making a great atmosphere. It seemed to go down pretty well.