PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Zoe Washburn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). On his way into the cage it seems that Zoe Washburn has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Zoe Washburn seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Washburn
vs
Johnson

180 cm
25
177 lbs
13 - 9 - 0

186 cm
33
174 lbs
27 - 12 - 0

BJJ Red Belt
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Great elbows
Powerful

RMC - $ 11 Shorts!

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 13 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Zoe Washburn!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, John Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Mauricio Rocha and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Johnson gets caught napping as Washburn dives in and scores a takedown. Johnson manages to retain guard.
Washburn forces his way into half guard.
Washburn is looking to pass Johnson's guard but actually Johnson recovers to full guard.
Washburn throws a big elbow that misses.
Washburn tries to free his leg and advance position but Johnson is retaining full guard.
Washburn throws a big elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Washburn from controlling successfully.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Washburn is looking to work some ground and pound but Johnson has wrist control.
Washburn throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Washburn advances position into side control!
Washburn throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
Washburn wants to control for a moment but Johnson uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Washburn is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Washburn tries to pass to full mount but Johnson defends it.
Washburn thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Johnson's head.
Johnson is looking for a sweep. Washburn is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Washburn lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Washburn throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Washburn is trying to control the action in half guard but Johnson is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Washburn throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Washburn seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Johnson does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Johnson moves into full guard.
Washburn wants to control from the top but Johnson keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Washburn postures up in Johnson's guard and throws a big left but Johnson blocks it.
Washburn postures up in Johnson's guard and throws a big left but Johnson blocks it.
Washburn missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Washburn throwing strikes from guard but Johnson blocks nicely.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Johnson wants to sweep here but Washburn controlling him for the moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Johnson has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zoe Washburn 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 throws a series of punches but Washburn moves out of range.
Johnson throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Nice body punch from Washburn.

Washburn darts in and clinches Johnson up against the cage.
Johnson throws an elbow but it's blocked.
Washburn looking for a takedown.
Johnson lands a knee to the head.
Washburn is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Johnson to keep the fight standing.
Washburn dodges an elbow strike from Johnson.
Washburn lands a nice uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Washburn blocks an elbow strike.
Johnson tries to stall but Washburn uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Washburn wants a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zoe Washburn. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Washburn lands a hook to the side of the head.
Washburn has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Johnson avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Washburn tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Johnson lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Washburn fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Johnson's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
A right handed body shot lands from Washburn.
A head punch on the inside from Washburn fails to land.
Johnson lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.

It looks like Zoe Washburn has been cut.
Washburn drops down looking for an ankle pick but Johnson pulls his leg out and moves away.
Washburn misses with a takedown attempt - Johnson sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Johnson enables Washburn to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Johnson manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Washburn throws an elbow that misses. Johnson uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Washburn's guard. Nice move by Johnson!
Washburn looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Johnson puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Washburn wants to get back to full guard.
Johnson is trying to control the action in half guard but Washburn is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Johnson missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Johnson drops an elbow to the side of Washburn's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Washburn trying to control from the bottom.
Washburn works his way to full guard. Good work.
Johnson throwing strikes from guard but Washburn blocks nicely.
Washburn lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Johnson!
Washburn tries to control but Johnson wriggling away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Washburn putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Poor strikes thrown by Washburn there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Washburn working some short elbows here. He postures up to throw some more ground and pound but Johnson slips a leg through to get back to half guard. Nice work.
Johnson is staying active underneath Washburn, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zoe Washburn dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Zoe Washburn's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Washburn shoots in but no luck this time.

Johnson has taken the fight to the clinch.
Washburn managing to block the knees to the body from Johnson.
Washburn just leaning against Johnson, taking a breather.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Washburn is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.
Washburn tries to work over Johnson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Washburn blocks an elbow strike from Johnson.
Washburn jumps guard but Johnson turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zoe Washburn. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Washburn is trying to drag Johnson to the mat but Johnson just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Johnson throws an elbow that misses.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Washburn blocks an elbow strike from Johnson.
Johnson lands a nice elbow.
Washburn wants a takedown but no success here.
Johnson blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Washburn is struggling to control the position.
Johnson pushes off an throws an elbow but Washburn leans to the side and avoids it. We're back to clinching against the cage.
Washburn tries to pull guard but Johnson holds him up against the cage and eventually Washburn drops back down to his feet.
With the fighters up against the cage, Johnson throws an elbow but misses.
Washburn is trying to pull guard but Johnson has him pressed against the cage.
With the fighters up against the cage, Johnson throws an elbow but misses.
Johnson avoiding damage as Washburn throws knees to the body.
Washburn blocks an elbow strike from Johnson.
Washburn tries to pull guard but Johnson won't allow it.

Washburn jumps guard.
Johnson pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Washburn is keeping the position for now.
Washburn looking for a sweep. Not yet Washburn, not yet.
Washburn 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.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Washburn utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Washburn trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Washburn is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Washburn trying to pass the guard but Johnson defending well.
Washburn looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Washburn missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Washburn slows the pace down in half guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Johnson moves into range and clinches up with Washburn.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Washburn slows down the pace here.
Washburn is looking for a takedown.
Johnson lands an elbow inside that Washburn shrugs off.

Washburn has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Johnson is trying to keep an underhook but Washburn manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Washburn missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Zoe Washburn is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Johnson regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Washburn.
John Johnson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Johnson looking for a sweep. Not yet Johnson, not yet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Washburn works a leg free and moves into half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Zoe Washburn showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Washburn, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Daniel Cesar scores the fight 30:27
Judge Mauricio Rocha scores the fight 30:27
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Zoe Washburn!
A victorious Zoe Washburn thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.