PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Big John (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Raphael Matthews (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). John comes to the cage accompanied by Roy Jones Jr. Must have forgot.. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

John
vs
Matthews

184 cm
34
199 lbs
26 - 17 - 0

184 cm
25
193 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

Powerful takedowns
Great low kicks
KO power

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Valhalla 160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 26 - 17 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Big John!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Raphael Matthews!
The judges for this bout are Gwen Towbar, Wesley Smith and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Matthews looks to land a combination but John avoids it well.
Good shot there by Matthews.
Nice straight punches there by Matthews. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Matthews.
Matthews waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract John.
Matthews lands a nice leg kick that just misses John's sensitive parts.
John throws a sloppy head kick and Matthews moves out of range easily.
John throws a half hearted mid kick.
John throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Matthews lands with a cross.
Matthews thows a body shot but no joy.
John on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Matthews will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
John takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Matthews moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
John moves out of range of the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
John gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
John lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Matthews circles away quickly and effectively.
John keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Matthews rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and John counters with a single leg into guard. Matthews didn't expect that.
John being controlled here momentarily.
John missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Matthews wants to get back to his feet but John is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
John lands a couple of decent looking shots.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
John stands up over Matthews, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Matthews looking to hit a scissor sweep but John is one step ahead there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matthews manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. John manages to get himself to full guard.
Matthews being controlled here momentarily.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
John can't keep his opponent in guard - Matthews advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Matthews wants to stand but John has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
John wants to get back to his feet.

Matthews decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
John misses with a head kick.
The fighters circling - Matthews throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Matthews thows a body kick. John tries to catch it but that hurt him.
Matthews ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.

John shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Matthews's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matthews wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
John stands up over Matthews, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.

Matthews has his feet on John's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Matthews throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
John slips a jab from Matthews.
Matthews swings and misses with a hook to the body.
John fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Matthews looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
A head kick by John misses
and Matthews counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Matthews ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice uppercut there from Matthews.
John looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! John crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Matthews - the referee stops the clock and John gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Matthews. John manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raphael Matthews dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

John throws a sloppy head kick
and Matthews counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Big John is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Matthews scores with a jab to the body.
John takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
John closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Matthews scores with a shot to the body.
Matthews throws a nice outside leg kick.
Matthews works the jab nicely.
The fighters circle momentarily. Matthews darts into range and connects with a nice straight punch.
John goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Matthews wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
John shoots for a double leg takedown but Matthews sprawls well. He's pushed John's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Matthews lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Matthews scores with a jab. John acknowledges it with a nod of the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
John scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
John throws a head kick but Matthews moves out of range.
Raphael Matthews seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Matthews pushes John away with a front kick.
Raphael Matthews seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
John with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Matthews to score with a decent uppercut.
Matthews lands a head shot.
John doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Matthews connects with the punch.
A bone on bone clash there as Matthews blocks the leg kick.
John lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Matthews circles away quickly and effectively.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Matthews lands with a right hand.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Matthews lands with an overhand left.
Matthews lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Good shot there by Matthews.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Matthews with a nice cross.
John gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Matthews throws a combination but it was largely blocked by John.
John lands a head kick. Matthews smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Matthews tests John's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Matthews throws a jab when John was well out of range.
John takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
John takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
A good leg kick by Matthews.
Matthews takes a swing at John's ribcage but misses.
Matthews misses with a double jab.
Matthews throws a nice looking combination but John bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
John throws a sloppy head kick and Matthews moves out of range easily.
John drops his hands momentarily and Matthews takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
John will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
John takes a body punch but keeps moving.
John uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Matthews.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Matthews.
John walks into a stiff left hand from Matthews.
John shoots in for a takedown but Matthews shows good takedown defense.
Matthews lands a two punch combo.
Matthews thows a body shot but no joy.
Matthews closes the distance and lands a one-two.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Matthews listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
John avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
John throws a shot from downtown. Matthews moves away and avoids it.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Matthews scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
John throws a head kick that misses.
John pulls out of a head kick attempt.
John throws a big shot that misses.
Matthews moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
A slapping leg kick lands for Matthews.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Matthews ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
John tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Raphael Matthews showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Matthews's corner calls for a 1-2. Matthews obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Nice uppercut there from Matthews.
Matthews getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Matthews ducks down and throws a hook to the body but John moves away.
Good shot there by Matthews.
Matthews fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches John on the side of the head.

John lands a big head kick that sends Matthews tumbling to the mat! John takes a step backwards and waves Matthews back to his feet - he wants the finish!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Matthews connects with a good right hand that stumbles John. John circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Matthews scores with a jab to the jaw.
Matthews connects with a body shot.
Good shot there by Matthews.
John throws a hook to the side of Matthews's head but Matthews sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Matthews scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. John doesn't seem bothered though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Matthews throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
John tries to move into range but Matthews moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.

John shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Matthews is trying to defend but John finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Matthews keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Matthews on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Matthews is rocked!
Matthews trying to control here.
Matthews is still in real trouble! Can John finish him?
John lands a massive shot from half guard that has rocked Matthews! More strikes land and this one is all over! John jumps to his feet and is applauded loudly by the crowd!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Big John!
A very excited looking Big John made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.