PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Joules Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ruslan Guloev (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Johnson
vs
Guloev

190 cm
21
205 lbs
3 - 4 - 0

179 cm
25
209 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Joules Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ruslan Guloev!
The judges for this bout are Ivan Kurochkin, Illya Tyunina and Dmitry Maklakov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Guloev closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Johnson quickly recovers to half guard.
Johnson is trying to stand.
Johnson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Guloev.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Guloev lands with a punch from half guard.
Johnson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Guloev.
Guloev is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Guloev is keen to just control but Johnson is a slippery customer.
Guloev throwing shots but Johnson is blocking nicely.
Guloev thows a huge punch but Johnson dodges it nicely.
Guloev scoring with strikes to the body and head.
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!
Guloev thows a huge punch but Johnson dodges it nicely.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.
Guloev keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Guloev throwing shots but Johnson is blocking nicely.
Guloev missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Guloev with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Guloev throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Guloev sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Johnson defending well though.
Guloev thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Johnson's head.
Johnson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Guloev.
Johnson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Guloev.
Guloev landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.

Guloev is working for a kimura but Johnson is defending it quite comfortably.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson trying to control from the bottom.
Johnson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Guloev is trying to advance to mount but he's lost his balance and Johnson reverses the position - he's now on top in Guloev's guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Johnson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Johnson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Guloev on the ground.
Johnson works over Guloev with some ground and pound from guard.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Guloev is on top in guard.
Guloev looking to sit in guard and control but Johnson gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Guloev pushes Johnson off and scrambles back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Johnson shoots and misses

and Guloev counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Johnson!
Guloev looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Guloev with the ground and pound from mount.
BOOM! Guloev connects with a massive shot to the dome!
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!
Johnson is squirming around, avoiding Guloev's attempts to control the action.
Guloev punishing his opponent with strikes.
Guloev connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Guloev lands a big shot there that rocks Johnson but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Guloev looking to control but Johnson is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Guloev scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Johnson?
Guloev in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Guloev putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Guloev controlling from mount.
Guloev raining down shots from the mount!
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Guloev in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ruslan Guloev dominated that round.
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.

Guloev shoots in for a takedown but Johnson shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Guloev displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Johnson.
Joules Johnson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Johnson stuffs the takedown.
Johnson misses with a takedown

and Guloev counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Guloev is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Guloev sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Johnson defending well though.
Guloev prevents Johnson from improving his position.
Guloev throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Guloev lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Guloev throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Johnson is looking to improve his position.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Johnson is in trouble now - Guloev has advanced to mount!
Guloev in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Guloev postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Johnson looks a forlorn figure.
Guloev postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Johnson looks a forlorn figure.
Guloev scoring with strikes but Johnson is staying in there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Guloev controlling the position easily from mount.
Johnson is looking to get to half guard.
Guloev postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Johnson looks a forlorn figure.
Guloev landing strikes from the mount and Johnson is in trouble!
Johnson is bucking up trying to escape but Guloev cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Guloev has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Guloev lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Johnson hang on?
Johnson is trying to escape the mount.
Guloev landing strikes from the mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
BOOM! Guloev connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Guloev raining down hammerfists from mount.
Johnson is in a horrible position here. Guloev smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Johnson is rocked!
A big strike lands for Guloev! That's really hurt Johnson and he's turned his back - Guloev keeps firing away and the ref dives in to stop the fight! Guloev jumps to his feet to celebrate the victory!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:40 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ruslan Guloev!