PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Danny Johnston (ranked 24350 p4p, 0 weight class) and Titus Ladd (ranked 6804 p4p, 0 weight class). Titus Ladd will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Johnston
vs
Ladd

215 cm
18
278 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

190 cm
21
245 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Tends to cut

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Danny Johnston!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Titus Ladd!
The judges for this bout are Gregory Folan, William Peck and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ladd tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Johnston paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Ladd tries to clinch but Johnston moves out of range.
Ladd will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ladd fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Johnston throws a big counter combination but Ladd scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

Johnston clinches up against the cage.
Ladd has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Johnston avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Danny Johnston has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Titus Ladd.
Johnston is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Ladd to keep the fight standing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ladd fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Ladd fails to pull guard.
Ladd is pressed up against the cage. Johnston has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Ladd down to the mat. Ladd avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Ladd throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Johnston counters with a takedown into side control.
Ladd wants to get back to his feet but Johnston is dominant here and he's now got Ladd's back!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ladd rolls and manages to get back to half guard. Nicely done.
Ladd looks winded!
Johnston is thwarting Ladd's attempts to control the position.
Johnston missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Ladd tries to get to full guard but Johnston has control of the leg.
Ladd trying to control from the bottom.
Johnston stalling.
Johnston seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Ladd for as long as he can get away with.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ladd has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Johnston is working away from the top position though.
Johnston wants to stand up but Ladd has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Well, if Johnston is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

Ladd looking for submissions off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnston lands strikes from half guard.
Johnston is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Ladd regains full guard. Nicely done.
Johnston wants to stand but Ladd has a closed guard, so he can't escape.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Ladd fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Johnston tries to counter with a takedown but Ladd is quick to defend against it.
Ladd scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.

Johnston closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

Johnston pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ladd swats away the attempt to clinch by Johnston.
Ladd should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Ladd throws a right and a left that both miss.

Johnston scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Ladd kicks Johnston off and gets back to his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Johnston closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
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 Danny Johnston will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Ladd shoots in but no luck this time.
Johnston seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.

Johnston clinches up with Ladd and pushes him back against the cage.
Ladd wants to break the clinch but can't.
Johnston is trying to pull guard but Ladd turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Johnston tries to pull guard but Ladd won't allow it.
Johnston stalling.
Ladd tries to break free but Johnston pushes him back against the cage.
Johnston is trying to drag Ladd to the mat but Ladd just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Danny Johnston. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Come on Johnston - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Johnston looking for a takedown.

Johnston pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ladd throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Johnston's waist but Johnston gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Ladd off to one side.
Ladd closes the distance and clinches up with Johnston, looking for a takedown. Ladd pushes Johnston against the cage but Johnston circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Ladd is breathing heavily.
Ladd shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Johnston but Johnston pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Ladd tries for a takedown but Johnston circles away easily

and Johnston counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Ladd is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Johnston dives into side control.

Ladd is letting Johnston control him for a moment.

Johnston decides to stand up, so the ref orders Ladd to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Johnston.

Johnston 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.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Johnston chips away with some ground and pound.
Johnston is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Johnston lands a couple of digs.
Johnston tries to stand but Ladd is controlling from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnston is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Johnston is in close to Ladd's body, working some short punches and elbows.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Johnston content to stall in guard here.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Ladd fails with a takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Johnston tries to clinch there but Ladd circles away.
A head kick by Ladd misses

and Johnston counters with a single leg into guard. Ladd didn't expect that.
Johnston lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Ladd is trying to control the position but Johnston postures up.
Ladd wants to control but Johnston passes easily into half guard.
Johnston working over Ladd with some ground and pound. Ladd looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ladd tries to roll over but Johnston keeps him under control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ladd tries to kick Johnston off but Johnston keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Danny Johnston dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Johnston clinches up against the cage.

Johnston decides to pull guard.

Johnston throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Ladd escapes and throws Johnston's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Johnston is pushing Ladd's head away, looking to escape. Ladd manages to hold on to the position though.
Johnston regains half guard.
Johnston keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ladd seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Johnston does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Ladd takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

Johnston actively working from the bottom here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnston punching from the bottom.

Johnston is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ladd pulls his head out easily.

Johnston is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Ladd pulls his head out easily.
Johnston is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Ladd can do to turn this around?
Ladd thows a huge punch but Johnston dodges it nicely.

Ladd stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Ladd closes this distance looking for a takedown but Johnston circles away.

Ladd takes the fight into the clinch.

Johnston ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Johnston no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

Johnston looks to be working for a triangle here. Oh, it looks like he might have it! Ladd has picked Johnston up and slammed him! Johnston can't keep hold of the triangle and Ladd manages to pass to side control!
Johnston manages to get back to half guard.

Johnston looking for submissions off his back.
Ladd not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ladd missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Ladd is looking to take a break and control but Johnston is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Johnston missing with punches from the bottom.
Ladd is keen to just control but Johnston is a slippery customer.
Johnston gets back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

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

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Johnston looking for a guillotine here but Ladd defends easily.
Ladd throwing strikes but missing.

Johnston is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Ladd defends well.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Johnston tries to clinch up but Ladd circles away and keeps his distance.
Titus Ladd has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Danny Johnston is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Ladd is defended easily by Johnston.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Danny Johnston.
Well Johnston has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 30:27
Judge William Peck scores the fight 30:27
Judge Elvis Blanc scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Danny Johnston!