PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Oleg Liguy (ranked 20758 p4p, 0 weight class) and Mike Johnson (ranked 3762 p4p, 418 weight class). On his way into the cage it seems that Oleg Liguy has been attacked by a crazed fan! It looks like it might have been the just bleed guy! Luckily Oleg Liguy seems to be OK! I thought that lunatic was in prison!?

Liguy
vs
Johnson

170 cm
33
185 lbs
5 - 9 - 0

185 cm
26
200 lbs
7 - 4 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Good chin

Dangerous GnP
Brawler
Determined

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 5 - 9 - 0, fighting out of New York, Oleg Liguy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Mike Johnson!
The judges for this bout are John Roberts, Russell Pearce and Columbo Gatti.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Liguy throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Johnson on the side of the head.

Liguy closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Liguy scoring with punches and elbows.
Liguy misses with the ground and pound.
Liguy working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Liguy trying to control the position but Johnson is working away.
Johnson tries to improve position but can't.
Liguy sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Johnson is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Liguy working the head with strikes.
Johnson struggling a bit here.
Liguy landing strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Liguy misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Johnson taking punishment in the form of punches.
Johnson is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Liguy missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Liguy stalling away here and it's allowed Johnson to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Liguy trying to control but Johnson is working from the bottom.
Liguy throws a strike but Johnson rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johnson is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands a couple of elbows.
Liguy 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.
Liguy working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Johnson.
Liguy tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Johnson working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Johnson throws a strike but Liguy rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Johnson looking to control.
Liguy postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Liguy throws an elbow that misses. Johnson uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Liguy's guard. Nice move by Johnson!

The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Johnson is in close to Liguy's body, working some short punches and elbows.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson landing with the ground and pound.
Liguy managing to control the position.
Johnson trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Liguy manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Liguy stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Johnson swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Liguy from controlling successfully.
Liguy cracks Johnson with a solid left hand.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Liguy throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Johnson works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Johnson is pulling down on Liguy's head. It's preventing any offense from Liguy, at least for the moment.
Johnson bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Liguy's guard.

Johnson looking to sit in guard and control but Liguy gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

Liguy scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Johnson is trying to control the position but Liguy postures up.
Liguy postures up in Johnson's guard and throws a big left but Johnson blocks it.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Liguy accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Liguy sitting in guard, not really doing much.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Oleg Liguy dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Liguy throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Johnson was covering up waiting for the punch and Liguy finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Liguy postures up.
Liguy not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Liguy is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Johnson can do to turn this around?
Liguy throwing strikes but missing.
Liguy stopping the sweep attempt from Johnson.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Liguy is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Johnson throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Liguy landing some decent shots from guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Liguy scoring with some ground and pound.
Johnson wants to sweep but no luck.
Liguy lands a couple of elbows.
Liguy landing with the ground and pound.
Liguy throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Johnson works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Liguy with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Liguy pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Johnson is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Liguy stands up over his opponent, looking to dive in with a big punch. Here he comes, superman style! Oh, the punch misses and Johnson has got him in a triangle choke for good measure! Oh no! Liguy manages to get his head free but now Johnson has transitioned to an armbar! Liguy grimaces and is forced to tap! Beautiful Jiu Jitsu from Johnson! I'd be surprised if that didn't end up as submission of the night!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:29 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Mike Johnson!
After winning the bout, Mike Johnson thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.