PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Justin Payne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lion El Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Justin Payne has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Payne
vs
El Johnson

186 cm
25
163 lbs
5 - 2 - 0

172 cm
22
162 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Experienced

Good wrestler
Good kicks
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, Justin Payne!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Lion El Johnson!
The judges for this bout are William Gold, Sam Margolis and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Left hook, right uppercut from El Johnson.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts El Johnson, as that shot connected.
Payne moves out of range of the leg kick from El Johnson.
El Johnson tries to check the leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Payne on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
El Johnson throws a left and a right that both miss
and Payne cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
El Johnson throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Payne misses with a straight left.
El Johnson lands with a nice body kick.
Payne tests El Johnson's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Good work by Payne as he checks the leg kick.
Payne misses with a looping left.

That's one minute gone in the round.
El Johnson lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.
El Johnson defending well as Payne loads up on a big left hand.
El Johnson shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Payne lands a really nice looking cross but El Johnson seems unphased.
El Johnson dips to his left and cracks Payne with an uppercut!
Justin Payne seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Payne lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but El Johnson circles away quickly and effectively.
El Johnson jabs Payne to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Payne blocks a jab.
El Johnson tries to score with a low kick but Payne moves his leg out of the way.
El Johnson digs a good body shot into Payne's ribs.
El Johnson uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Payne.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
El Johnson misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Payne.
Payne slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Jab, jab by Payne - just one landing.
El Johnson lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Payne at a distance.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
El Johnson ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from El Johnson lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Payne has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Payne and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
El Johnson does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
El Johnson moves out of range as Payne strikes.
A solid body kick from El Johnson.
El Johnson shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Payne as he jumps to the side.
Payne takes a shot to the body in his stride.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Johnson tests Payne's chin there with a solid looking shot.
El Johnson lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
A thudding body kick lands there by El Johnson!
Good standup being displayed there by El Johnson as he connects with a hook.
El Johnson lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
El Johnson avoids a punch combination nicely.
El Johnson lands with a hook. Payne tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
El Johnson takes a swing at Payne's ribcage but misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Payne misses with an uppercut. El Johnson saw that one coming.
El Johnson lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Payne at a distance.
El Johnson dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Payne. That did some damage!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Excellent takedown into side control there by El Johnson.
El Johnson in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
El Johnson landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
Payne is looking to reverse the position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
El Johnson throws an elbow but Payne slips to the side and avoids it well.
Payne tries to bench press El Johnson off him but El Johnson keeps the position.
El Johnson cracks Payne with a big elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lion El Johnson dominated that round.
That's time! Payne's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Payne swings for the body but El Johnson moves out of range.
El Johnson dodges the punch combination from Payne.
A head kick misses from Payne.
El Johnson misses with a leg kick.
El Johnson steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Payne.
Payne takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Payne misses with a hook.
Payne will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Payne checks a low kick from El Johnson.
El Johnson lands with a good body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
El Johnson feints and then cracks Payne's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Payne down.
Payne misses with an uppercut.
El Johnson looks to land a combination but Payne avoids it well.
El Johnson lands a nice shot to the body.
El Johnson lands with a kick to the ribs.
Payne is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Payne takes a push kick to the midsection and stumbles backwards.
El Johnson slips a jab and a cross from Payne.
Lion El Johnson seems to be getting the better of the standup.
El Johnson lands with an uppercut that bounces Payne off the cage and back into range.
El Johnson thows a body shot but no joy.
Payne fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Payne misses with a double jab
and El Johnson counters with a right hand to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A looping hook to the body misses from Payne. El Johnson does a little dance to reset his feet.
El Johnson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
El Johnson looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Justin Payne is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Payne throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and El Johnson counters with a nice uppercut.
El Johnson moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
No joy there for Payne, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
El Johnson looks to land a combination. Payne sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Payne throws an ugly left hook that misses
and El Johnson counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Johnson connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
El Johnson walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Payne checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.
El Johnson throws a push kick but Payne slaps the foot to one side.
Payne throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
El Johnson lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
El Johnson connects with the punch.
El Johnson misses with a low kick.
El Johnson lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.
Payne throws an uppercut from half a mile away. El Johnson sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Payne will be looking to protect his midsection after taking some solid kicks to the body.
El Johnson takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
El Johnson lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!

That's four minutes gone in the round.

El Johnson closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
El Johnson working the head and body with strikes.
El Johnson in side control, throwing shots but Payne defends.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Payne tries to buck El Johnson off but El Johnson is having none of it.
El Johnson working away.
El Johnson lands a few punches from side control.
The ground and pound from El Johnson seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
El Johnson working the body and head with strikes.
El Johnson cracks Payne with a big right hand but Payne just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Payne takes a big shot right to the temple there but he's taken it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Lion El Johnson 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Payne avoids a punch combination nicely.
Payne throws a series of punches but El Johnson avoids them all with ease.
Payne throws a hook but El Johnson avoids it easily.
El Johnson moves away from the strike by Payne.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Payne.
Payne throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Payne walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Payne misses with a lunging right hand
and El Johnson counters with a head kick.

Payne is rocked!
El Johnson misses with a wild combination.
Payne takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
El Johnson misses with a hook. Payne ducked under it nicely.
El Johnson is looking to land body kicks.
Payne connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Payne throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
El Johnson has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Payne throws a right hand that misses
and El Johnson counters with a nice uppercut.
Payne has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from El Johnson.
El Johnson looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
El Johnson misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Payne misses with a kick to the body.
El Johnson takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
El Johnson connects with a single shot there.
El Johnson takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Payne throws a right hand that El Johnson ducks under and follows up with a left that El Johnson also avoids with ease.
Payne blocks a leg kick.
El Johnson lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
No joy there for El Johnson, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
El Johnson closes this distance looking for a takedown but Payne circles away.
Justin Payne has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Lion El Johnson.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
El Johnson tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Payne was well out of range. Poor timing from El Johnson.
El Johnson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
El Johnson scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
El Johnson throws a series of punches but Payne moves out of range.

El Johnson shoots in and gets a takedown into Payne's guard.
Payne trying to control the position.
Justin Payne has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
El Johnson has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

Payne working for a triangle but El Johnson defends it easily.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
El Johnson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
El Johnson throwing strikes but missing.
El Johnson in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Payne manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. El Johnson manages to get himself to full guard.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as El Johnson holds on and takes a little breather.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
El Johnson wants to sweep but no luck.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lion El Johnson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well El Johnson 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 William Gold scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 27:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lion El Johnson!