PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Junior Johns (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Christian Birchmont (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Johns might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Welcome to the jungle. 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?

Johns
vs
Birchmont

178 cm
28
160 lbs
15 - 6 - 0

177 cm
27
147 lbs
14 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
Insanely flexible

BJJ Brown Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

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 15 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Junior Johns!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 14 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Christian Birchmont!
The judges for this bout are Steve Erwin, Eliza Hachem and Skip Squint.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Birchmont throws a jab but it's blocked by Johns.
Johns walks into a stiff left hand from Birchmont.
Birchmont jabs at Johns's body.
Birchmont rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Johns moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Johns looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
A leg kick checked by Birchmont.
Johns looks to score with a jab to the body but Birchmont is just out of range.
Johns is looking to score with low kicks.

Johns closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Johns lands in his opponent's guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.
Johns lands a couple of digs.
Birchmont preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Birchmont is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Johns defends well.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Birchmont is looking for a triangle but Johns pushes his legs off easily.
Johns is looking to work some ground and pound but Birchmont has wrist control.

Birchmont had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Johns defends it easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Birchmont avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Birchmont keeping full guard, as Johns tries to pass.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Johns working some strikes from top position.
Johns is looking to work some ground and pound but Birchmont has wrist control.
Johns wants to control from the top but Birchmont keeps moving.
Birchmont is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Birchmont preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Johns avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Johns thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

Birchmont working for a triangle but Johns defends it easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Johns throws a big right hand that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johns wants to control from the top but Birchmont keeps moving.
Johns lands a couple of digs.

Birchmont working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Johns doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Johns manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Birchmont keeping moving, preventing Johns from controlling successfully.
Johns lands a couple of digs.
Johns trying to control but Birchmont is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Birchmont has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Johns can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Birchmont utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Johns scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Johns tries to free his leg and advance position but Birchmont is retaining full guard.
Johns loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Birchmont keeping moving, preventing Johns from controlling successfully.
Johns with a flurry of punches that miss.
Johns working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

Birchmont looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Johns trying to control the position from guard on top but Birchmont is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Birchmont is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Birchmont is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Birchmont keeping moving, preventing Johns from controlling successfully.
Birchmont has momentary wrist control but Johns slips an elbow through the middle.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Birchmont is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Johns with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Birchmont tries to land a sweep but no joy.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Birchmont is on top in guard.

Johns looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Birchmont stopping the sweep attempt from Johns.

Johns is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Junior Johns will probably get the nod.
That's time! Johns's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

A low kick from Johns is predictable there
and Birchmont cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Birchmont swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Nice cross by Birchmont.
Johns throws a chopping leg kick but Birchmont manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
A low kick from Johns misses
and Birchmont counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Birchmont tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Johns tries to score a power double leg takedown but Birchmont sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Johns somewhat.
Johns misses with a leg kick.
Johns throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Birchmont's waist but Birchmont gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Johns off to one side.
Johns moves away from the strike by Birchmont.
Birchmont throws a nice looking combination but Johns bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Birchmont keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Johns.
Johns will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
A clash of legs there as Birchmont blocks the low kick.
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!
Johns throws a solid leg kick but Birchmont takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Johns.

Johns looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Johns stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Birchmont swivels though and keeps the full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johns throws a big right hand that misses.
Johns lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

Birchmont working for a triangle but Johns defends it easily.
Junior Johns overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Birchmont throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Birchmont utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Johns is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Johns stops Birchmont from standing up.
Johns wants to control from the top but Birchmont keeps moving.
Birchmont looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johns trying to control but Birchmont is working from the bottom.

Birchmont working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Johns doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Johns manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Johns trying to control the position from guard on top but Birchmont is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Johns is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Birchmont is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Johns is looking to work some ground and pound but Birchmont has wrist control.
Birchmont looking to control.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Johns preventing the sweep.
Birchmont looking to control.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Christian Birchmont hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Sloppy strikes from Birchmont. Those never looked like landing.
Johns pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Birchmont staying out of range there.
Birchmont misses with a body shot.
Birchmont throws a jab but it's blocked by Johns.
Johns tries to work over Birchmont's front leg with a kick but Birchmont checks it.
Johns dodges the punch combination from Birchmont.
Johns has a takedown stuffed.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Junior Johns. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Johns throws a lazy right hand but Birchmont sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Johns 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 Birchmont has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Birchmont and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Birchmont pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Johns misses with a leg kick
and Johns takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Johns tries a low kick but Birchmont avoids it.
Johns swats away the attempt to clinch by Birchmont.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Johns circles away from the clinch attempt
enabling Johns to counter with a crisp jab.

Johns looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Birchmont!
Johns looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Birchmont is in all sorts of trouble here.
Johns raining down hammerfists from mount.
Johns lands a big shot there that rocks Birchmont but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Johns dominating with strikes here.
Johns breaks from Birchmont's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Johns working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Johns landing punches.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Johns cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Birchmont is looking to get to half guard.
The referee warns Birchmont that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Johns is trying to control here but Birchmont has managed to regain half guard.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Johns is working for a kimura but Birchmont is defending it quite comfortably.
Birchmont blocking the ground and pound attempt from Johns.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junior Johns dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

Johns shoots in for a takedown but Birchmont shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Birchmont clinches.
Birchmont is trying to pull guard but Johns has him pressed against the cage.
Birchmont working aggressively here.
Birchmont lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Johns backwards.

Johns is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Birchmont can't fight it off and eventually Johns manages to take the fight to the floor. Birchmont looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Johns throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Birchmont has his foot on Johns's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Johns works his way back into a safe position though.

Johns got a little sloppy there for a moment and Birchmont has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Johns has managed to get both his arms back between Birchmont's legs - danger averted.
Johns loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Johns with a flurry of punches that miss.
Birchmont keeping moving, preventing Johns from controlling successfully.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Johns with a nice head shot there.
Johns forces his way into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johns is trying to control the action in half guard but Birchmont is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Birchmont tries to roll over but Johns keeps him under control.

Birchmont looking for submissions off his back.

Birchmont looking for submissions off his back.
Birchmont takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Birchmont taking some punishment here, with Johns in his half guard.
Birchmont is trying to maintain the position but Johns is very close to passing his half guard.
Ground and pound from Johns.
Johns performing his best blanket impression for a moment.
Johns lands with a punch from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johns is trying to control. Birchmont wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Johns lands strikes from half guard.
Johns lands with a punch from half guard.

Birchmont is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Johns pulls his head out easily.
Birchmont tries to get to full guard but Johns has control of the leg.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Johns wants to work for an arm triangle but Birchmont is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Johns lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

Birchmont is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Johns pulls his head out easily.
Johns throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Johns moves into full mount! Birchmont won't be happy about that!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johns tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Johns prevents Birchmont from getting the reversal.
Johns cracks Birchmont with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Johns landing strikes from the mount and Birchmont is in trouble!
Birchmont really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Johns putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Johns punishing his opponent with strikes.

Birchmont is rocked!
Johns cracks Birchmont with a big head shot that has him covering up instantly! He's rolled onto his side and the referee has seen enough - this one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:55 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Junior Johns!
A less than humble Junior Johns misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.