PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Julian Assange (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Johan Nickson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Assange comes to the cage accompanied by Date Rape. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Assange
vs
Nickson

188 cm
21
195 lbs
8 - 6 - 0

190 cm
23
190 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

Good wrestling
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

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 8 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Julian Assange!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Johan Nickson!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, and Frank Antenori.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Nickson shoots in for a double leg but Assange sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Nickson avoids the head kick by Assange.
Assange jabs at Nickson's body.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Nickson tries to close the distance and clinch but Assange swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Assange avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Nickson clinches up with Assange and pushes him back against the cage.

Assange gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Nickson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Assange is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Assange trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Assange slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Assange working some strikes from top position.
Nickson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Nickson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Assange. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Assange wants to control from the top but Nickson keeps moving.
Assange seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

Assange avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Assange preventing the sweep.
Assange controls from within his opponent's guard.
Assange 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.

Nickson has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Assange off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Assange is looking to chop away at Nickson's legs.
Nickson misses with a double jab.
Assange misses the jab.
Assange throws a leg kick that is checked
and Nickson finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Assange throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Assange swings for the body but Nickson moves out of range.
Some bone on bone action there as Nickson checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
Assange misses with a looping right.
Julian Assange seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Assange feints a jab promting Nickson to slip. Assange then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Nickson slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Assange circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nickson doesn't manage to clinch there - Assange circles away.
Assange tries for a takedown but Nickson sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.

Nickson gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Assange misses with a punch to the body.
Nickson connects with a nasty looking knee right to Assange's face.

It looks like Julian Assange has been cut.
Assange takes a knee to the side of the body.
Assange is breathing heavily.
Nickson lands a nice shot to the body.
Nickson is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Nickson is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Nickson tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Assange avoids it.
Nickson lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Knees in the clinch landing for Nickson.
Nickson misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Assange.
A nice right hand lands inside from Nickson.
Assange lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
Nickson trying to land knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Assange tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Nice body punch from Nickson.
Assange takes a knee to the side of the body.

Nickson breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Nickson fails with an attempt to clinch.
Nickson checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.

Nickson rushes Assange and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.

Nickson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Assange throws a hook but Nickson avoids it easily.

Nickson closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Nickson stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Assange scores with a body shot.
Assange circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nickson moves out of range of the body kick.
Assange throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Nickson wants to clinch.
Nickson is looking to clinch but Assange is avoiding it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Assange swats away the attempt to clinch by Nickson.

Assange shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Nickson manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Nickson controls Assange momentarily but Assange frees himself.
Nickson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Assange postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Nickson wants to stand and escape but Assange is having none of it.
Assange working some strikes from top position.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Assange prevents Nickson from getting back to his feet.
Nickson is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Nickson avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Johan Nickson dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Julian Assange's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Nickson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nickson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Assange paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Assange keeps the fight on the outside.
Nickson fails in his attempt to clinch.
Assange swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Nickson moves out of range of the leg kick from Assange.
Assange circles away from the clinch attempt.
Nickson shakes his hands off, looking to compose himself, but takes a jab to the jaw whilst he does it.
Assange throws a low kick but Nickson moves out of range easily.
Assange attempts a leg kick but it's missed by a good margin.
Nickson tries to clinch up.
Assange throws the left hand but Nickson avoids the punch easily.
A kick lands to the mid section there for Nickson.
Nickson fails with the takedown.
Assange connects with the punch.
Assange circles away from the clinch attempt.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Assange throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Nickson's waist but Nickson gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Assange off to one side.
Nickson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Assange paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Assange closes the distance and clinches up with Nickson, looking for a takedown. Assange pushes Nickson against the cage but Nickson circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Johan Nickson is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nickson keeping at a good range here, avoiding a leg kick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nickson tries to clinch but Assange is having none of it.
Nickson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Nickson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Nickson misses with a few strikes there.
Assange misses with a takedown attempt - Nickson sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Julian Assange. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Nickson throws a series of punches but Assange avoids them all with ease.

Nickson clinches up against the cage.

Nickson jumps guard and drags Assange to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Nickson looking to control but Assange passes into half guard.
Nickson keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Assange seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Assange trying to control from half guard but Nickson is working away.
Nickson is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nickson is looking to escape.
Assange is trying to control the action in half guard but Nickson is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Assange is nestled in close to Nickson, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Assange is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Nickson is looking to improve his position but Assange isn't that keen on the idea.
Assange landing punches.
Nickson is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Assange landing strikes from the mount.
Assange prevents Nickson from getting the reversal.
Julian Assange overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Assange looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Assange fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Assange with the ground and pound from mount.
Assange working the ground and pound effectively.
Nickson in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Assange raining down shots from the mount!
Assange breaks from Nickson's wrist control and lands an elbow.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
You get the feeling that Nickson really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Assange lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Assange tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
A nice elbow there by Assange.
Assange prevents Nickson from getting the reversal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Assange is in the full mount, landing strikes.
A nice elbow there by Assange.

Nickson is rocked!
Oooooh, big shot lands for Assange! Nickson is hurt baaadly! Assange is firing away with more strikes - Nickson is covering up... the ref is warning him to do something. He's just covering up though still and the ref has to step in to end the fight! This one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Julian Assange!
Julian Assange 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.