PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Aaron Gardner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jhogo Ko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Gardner's entrance music is Stavesacre - Minuteman. A fine choice. Ko has chosen DJ Khaled - All I do is win as his entrance music. Jhogo Ko told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Gardner
vs
Ko

163 cm
31
161 lbs
12 - 6 - 0

173 cm
32
157 lbs
14 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

Good takedowns
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the lightweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Aaron Gardner!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Jhogo Ko!
The judges for this bout are Reed Andrews, Bruno Lombardi and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ko swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Gardner throws a shot from downtown. Ko moves away and avoids it.
Gardner fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Ko manages to avoid it.
Gardner tries to clinch there but Ko circles away.
Jab, jab by Gardner - just one landing.
No joy there for Gardner, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Gardner bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Ko's head backwards.
Ko looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Ko pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Ko darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Gardner lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Ko backs up against the cage.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gardner waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Ko.
Ko throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Ko misses with an uppercut

and Gardner counters with a combination of strikes to the head and body that crumple Ko!

Ko is rocked!

It looks like Jhogo Ko has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gardner is nestled in close to Ko, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Ko is still in real trouble! Can Gardner finish him?

Gardner decides to stand up.
Ko ducks under a wild hook from Gardner.
Gardner scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Jhogo Ko seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Ko with a lazy takedown attempt
and Gardner counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Gardner throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Ko tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Gardner is in Ko's guard.
Gardner lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Gardner sitting in guard, not really doing much.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ko is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Ko looking for a sweep. Not yet Ko, not yet.
Gardner lands a couple of elbows.
Ko seems to have recovered his senses.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ko looking to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gardner is in close to Ko's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Gardner stands up over Ko, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Gardner keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Ko's head.
Gardner wants to control from the top but Ko keeps moving.
Gardner stays in close to Ko's body and controls the position.
Gardner preventing the sweep.

Ko is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Gardner defends well.
Gardner controls from within his opponent's guard.

Ko looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Gardner passes into half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ko trying to get back to full guard but Gardner takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Gardner cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Ko is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Gardner lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Gardner controlling from the full mount.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Gardner punishing his opponent with strikes.
Gardner in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A nice elbow there by Gardner.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gardner takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Gardner with the ground and pound from mount.
Gardner with good strikes from the mount here!
Gardner controlling the pace for now.
Ko tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Gardner in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Gardner sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ko is in all sorts of trouble here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ko is in a horrible position here. Gardner smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Ko wants to hold on but Gardner pushes him away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Aaron Gardner dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Jhogo Ko's cut.
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.

Gardner misses with the combination.
Gardner takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.

It looks like Aaron Gardner has been cut.
Ko throws a big shot that misses.
Ko misses with a hook
and Gardner counters with a one-two to the body.
Gardner throws a series of punches but Ko avoids them all with ease.
Aaron Gardner is winning the standup battle so far.

Gardner shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Ko manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Gardner is posturing up here but Ko has hold of an arm and he's gone for an armbar! Gardner tries to roll out but it's too tight and Gardner has to tap! Slick submission there by Ko!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:52 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Jhogo Ko!
Jhogo Ko is the new lightweight champion!
Jhogo Ko very nearly forgot to thank BioPharm Nutrition amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.