PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jerome Powers (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mia St John (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Powers might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to We Run This - Missy Elliot. The crowd seem to be enjoying St John's choice of entrance music: The Bitch is back. Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Powers
vs
St John

184 cm
42
147 lbs
23 - 18 - 0

168 cm
34
140 lbs
9 - 9 - 0

Good takedowns
Solid boxing
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Knockout power

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 18 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Jerome Powers!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Mia St John!
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, George Francis and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Powers shoots in and drives through. St John sprawls well.

Powers closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
St John wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
St John tries to bench press Powers off him but Powers keeps the position.
Powers staying calm.
Powers will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
St John is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Powers asserts his dominance and retains side control.
St John told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
St John is looking for a sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on St John's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
St John is trying to buck Powers off.

Powers looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
St John tries to escape but Powers is in control.
St John is trying to get back to half guard.
St John tries to escape but Powers is in control.

Powers looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
St John is pushing Powers's head away, looking to escape. Powers manages to hold on to the position though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St John manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
Powers moves nicely into side control.
Powers wants to control but St John is keeping him busy.
Powers landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
St John is looking to reverse the position.

St John throws Powers to one side and escapes!
St John tries to clinch up but Powers circles away and keeps his distance.
Powers changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Powers dives in for a single leg takedown but St John sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Mia St John seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Powers has a takedown stuffed.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jerome Powers. That's going to take a lot out of him.

St John gets a takedown into half guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. St John connects with a nice short shot to Powers's temple.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St John has decided to stand back up but his arm is trapped. Whilst he's worrying about his arm, Powers works to full guard.
St John wanted to stand there but Powers had control of the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Powers tries to land a sweep but no joy.
St John wants to stand and escape but instead Powers has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

St John isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Powers stacks St John on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Powers!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
St John is looking for a sweep.

Powers wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by St John, who protects the arm well.

Powers looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
St John wants to get back to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Powers wants to lay and pray for a moment but St John keeps working.
St John tries to escape but Powers is in control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jerome Powers dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

St John moves into the clinch.
St John can't break the clinch.

St John manages to break the clinch.

St John pushes Powers up against the cage in a clinch.
St John is looking to break free of the clinch but Powers has double underhooks.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Powers tries to stall but St John uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Powers can't seem to implement his control oriented gameplan at the moment. That's no bad thing of course, for those of us who want to see a good fight.

St John pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
St John tries to close the distance and clinch up but Powers swats him away and circles back towards the center.
The fight stays on the outside here - St John looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
St John tries to close the distance and clinch but Powers swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Powers connects with a single shot there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
St John tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Powers manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Powers misses with a jab, cross combination.
A left lands for Powers.

Powers gets tackled into the cage by St John. St John maintains the clinch.

St John manages to break the clinch.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!

Powers drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St John tries to escape but Powers is in control.
Powers really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Powers scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at St John to see if he's OK.
Powers is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that St John can do to turn this around?
St John taking a bit of punishment here - Powers scoring with strikes.
Jerome Powers overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
St John is trying to control Powers's posture but Powers avoids it.

Powers wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by St John, who protects the arm well.

Powers is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but St John is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
St John wants to get back to his feet.
Powers trying to control the position but St John is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
St John wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
St John manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.
St John is staying active underneath Powers, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

St John looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
St John blocking the ground and pound attempt from Powers.
Nice strikes from Powers there.

Powers is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, St John has managed to free his arm - good work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
St John is trying to stand up here but Powers is controlling him well.

St John looking for submissions off his back.

St John looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Powers tries to pass to full mount but St John defends it.
St John is refusing to be controlled, as Powers sits in half guard.
St John tries to kick Powers off but Powers keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

Powers is sneakily working for an arm triangle but St John sees it coming and defends easily.
St John looks like he's trying to stand up.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

St John looking for submissions off his back.
St John is looking to get back to is feet but Powers passes into side control.
Powers wants to control but St John is keeping him busy.
Powers working the ground and pound.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Powers is trying to get an arm triangle but St John is defending well.

Powers is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, St John has escaped the position, nice work there.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Powers tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but St John swivels and escapes.
St John shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Powers as he jumps to the side.
St John is looking to clinch but Powers is avoiding it.
St John tries for a takedown but Powers sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Powers lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
St John displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Powers.
Powers closes this distance looking for a takedown but St John circles away.
And St John tries to counter it with a takedown but Powers pushes his down on his head and steps out.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jerome Powers. That's going to take a lot out of him.
No joy there for St John, who threw a few shots but didn't land.

Powers feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

St John is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Powers advances to half guard.
St John is trying to stand back up but Powers is controlling him
Powers keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's one minute gone in the round.
St John is in trouble now - Powers has advanced to mount!
St John is desperately trying to improve his position but Powers has a good base and remains in mount.

Powers has control of St John's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and St John regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Powers trying to control but he's not successful this time.
St John is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Powers trying to control but he's not successful this time.
St John wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

St John tries to control Powers's head but Powers pushes him back down and moves quickly to lock up an arm here - he's swung around for an armbar! Will he get it??? Yes! St John is tapping out! Lovely Jiu Jitsu there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:27 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (armbar). Jerome Powers!
Our winner, Jerome Powers, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.