PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Ante Gotovina (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Anthony Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ante Gotovina had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 186.1lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Anthony Johnson has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Gotovina
vs
Johnson

185 cm
24
203 lbs
11 - 7 - 0

188 cm
25
202 lbs
7 - 6 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Very quick

BJJ White Belt
World class boxer
Granite chin

Sin City Allstars

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 11 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Ante Gotovina!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 6 - 0, fighting out of New York, Anthony Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Matheus Silva, Thiago Cunha and Felipe Paraventi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gotovina swings for the body but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson looking to land some kicks to the body here.

Gotovina shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Johnson is trying to defend but Gotovina finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Johnson pushes Gotovina off looking to stand but Gotovina dives back in and keeps control.
Johnson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Gotovina scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Johnson wants to control but Gotovina is keeping busy.
Gotovina missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice strikes from Gotovina there.
Gotovina missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Gotovina looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Johnson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Gotovina landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Gotovina wants to lay and pray for a moment but Johnson keeps working.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson keeping control of the position.
Gotovina not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Gotovina is looking to take a break and control but Johnson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Gotovina is thwarting Johnson's attempts to control the position.
Johnson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gotovina.
Johnson felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Johnson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Gotovina.
Gotovina is looking to advance position but Johnson won't allow it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Gotovina working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.

Gotovina wants to work for an arm triangle but Johnson is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Gotovina scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Gotovina lands a nice short elbow.
Johnson is trying to stand.
Johnson is trying to maintain the position but Gotovina is very close to passing his half guard.
Johnson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Gotovina.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Johnson avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Gotovina.
Gotovina lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Johnson tries to kick Gotovina off but Gotovina keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gotovina looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Johnson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Johnson is trying to get back to full guard.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.

Gotovina is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Johnson can do anything to dispel that myth.
Ground and pound from Gotovina.
Gotovina drops an elbow to the side of Johnson's head.
Gotovina missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Gotovina thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Gotovina 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.
Gotovina lands with a punch from half guard.
Gotovina trying to control from half guard but Johnson is working away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gotovina working over Johnson with some ground and pound. Johnson looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Gotovina is trying to control. Johnson wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Gotovina working the head and body with strikes.
Gotovina lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Gotovina lands strikes from half guard.
Gotovina lands strikes from half guard.
Gotovina is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Gotovina lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Johnson has his hands clasped together around Gotovina's back. He's all about the action.
Johnson is not content to let Gotovina control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ante Gotovina dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Johnson is looking to land body kicks.
Johnson throws a shot from downtown. Gotovina moves away and avoids it.
Gotovina throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Gotovina throws a predictable looking body shot
and Johnson counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Gotovina drives through with a takedown into Johnson's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Gotovina working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Gotovina working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Gotovina trying to control the position from guard on top but Johnson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Gotovina lands a couple of elbows.
Gotovina with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Johnson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Gotovina loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Ante Gotovina overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gotovina scoring with some ground and pound.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Gotovina keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Johnson's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Gotovina content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Johnson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Gotovina. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Gotovina throwing strikes from guard but Johnson blocks nicely.
Johnson is pulling down on Gotovina's head to control his posture.
Gotovina is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Johnson can do to turn this around?
Gotovina working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.

Gotovina 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.

Gotovina thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Gotovina wants to control from the top but Johnson keeps moving.
Gotovina is working Johnson over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gotovina working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Johnson controls Gotovina momentarily but Gotovina frees himself.

Gotovina thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Gotovina from controlling successfully.
Gotovina cracks Johnson with a solid left hand.
Johnson is trying to control the position but Gotovina postures up.
Gotovina content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Gotovina trying to control but Johnson is working from the bottom.
Johnson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gotovina chips away with some ground and pound.
Gotovina throwing strikes from guard but Johnson blocks nicely.
Gotovina is in close to Johnson's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Gotovina scoring with punches to the head and body.
Gotovina throws a big elbow that misses.
Gotovina slips nicely into half guard.
Gotovina wants to lay and pray for a moment but Johnson keeps working.
Johnson is trying to control but can't.
Johnson regains full guard. Nicely done.
Gotovina scoring with some ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Gotovina lands a couple of digs.
Johnson is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Gotovina makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Gotovina tries to free his leg and advance position but Johnson is retaining full guard.
Johnson is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Gotovina scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Gotovina slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Gotovina cracks Johnson with an elbow. That is naaassty.

Gotovina is in a dominant position here, looking for a kimura. Johnson looks calm but he's in trouble here. Gotovina gets his leg over his opponent's head and yanks on the arm. Johnson is tapping like a morse code operator on the titanic! SOS! SOS! Gotovina lets go of the hold and Johnson can pop his arm back in it's socket.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Ante Gotovina!
During a confident post fight interview, Ante Gotovina thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.