PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Thom Ruff (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matt Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Ruff comes to the ring accompanied by Tougher than Leather. Johnson has chosen The Maple Leaf Forever as his entrance music. I can't wait for this one - let's get the fighter introductions out of the way and get this one started!

Ruff
vs
Johnson

207 cm
19
260 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

200 cm
23
250 lbs
8 - 11 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Very strong

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Thom Ruff!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Matt Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Elvis Blanc and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ruff dodges the punch combination from Johnson.
Johnson throws a sloppy head kick and Ruff moves out of range easily.
Left hook, right uppercut from Johnson.
Matt Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Nice elbow from Ruff.
Ruff landing knees to the head.

Ruff's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Ruff lands a head kick. Johnson smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Ruff moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Johnson throws a right and a left that both miss.

Ruff lands a big head kick that sends Johnson tumbling to the mat! Ruff takes a step backwards and waves Johnson back to his feet - he wants the finish!

Johnson is rocked!
Johnson throws a right and a left that both miss.
Johnson tries a head kick but it misses.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Ruff.
Johnson looks gassed!

Ruff fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Johnson, pushing him back against the ropes.
Ruff lands a good knee to the midsection. Johnson won't want to take too many of those.

Ruff jumps guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruff has Johnson pulled in close to control his posture.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Ruff is on top in guard.
Ruff sitting in guard here, content to control.
Johnson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Ruff content to stall in guard here.
Ruff 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.

Thom Ruff has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.
A nice leg kick lands there from Ruff.

Ruff instigates a clinch.
Ruff is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Knees in the clinch landing for Ruff.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Ruff putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Johnson in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Ruff working Johnson over with knees to the body.
Good body shot from Ruff.

Johnson is fighting off a takedown attempt but Ruff is just too persistent for him and manages to trip Johnson to the mat. Johnson regains guard as soon as the fighters hit the mat.

Ruff gets to his feet - Johnson follows without any prompting.
Johnson keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Ruff lands a nice looking kick to the body. Johnson takes a step back to recover.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Ruff lands a big head kick that sends Johnson tumbling to the mat! Ruff takes a step backwards and waves Johnson back to his feet - he wants the finish!

It looks like Matt Johnson has been cut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Ruff chopping away at his opponent's legs.

Ruff drops Johnson with a beautiful combination! Johnson stares up at his opponent, who ushers him back to his feet - Ruff is looking for the KO!
Johnson is still on wobbly legs! Can Ruff finish him?

Ruff darts in and clinches Johnson up against the ropes.

Ruff has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Johnson is trying to keep an underhook but Ruff manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Ruff missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Johnson seems to have recovered his senses.
Ruff is figuring out what he wants to do next.

Ruff is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Ruff takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ruff tries to stand but can't do so whilst Johnson controls his leg.
Ruff is looking to take a break and control but Johnson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Thom Ruff just wasn't active enough.

Ruff darts in and clinches Johnson up against the ropes.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ruff unloads a knee to the mid-section. Johnson lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

Ruff manages to break the clinch.
Ruff throws a front kick that sends Johnson stumbling back into the ropes.

Ruff clinches.
Ruff gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Thom Ruff dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Matt Johnson's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ruff lands a head kick!
Ruff tries to close the distance and clinch but Johnson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Thom Ruff is winning the standup battle so far.

Ruff clinches up with Johnson and pushes him back against the ropes.

Ruff pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Ruff is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Johnson can do to turn this around?

Ruff moves into the clinch.
Ruff lands an elbow inside.
Ruff lands a left hand that snaps the head of Johnson backwards.
Johnson is trying to force a seperation but Ruff has the dominant position.
Ruff has Johnson pushed against the ropes.
Ruff stops a takedown attempt from Johnson.

Ruff drops Johnson with a big knee straight up the middle! Johnson is covering up against the ropes but manages to escape and gets back to his feet!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Johnson will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Ruff throws a nice inside leg kick.
Johnson misses with a series of wild punches.
Johnson is breathing heavily.

Ruff pushes Johnson up against the ropes in a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ruff lands a knee to the head.
Ruff lands a shoulder strike.
Ruff throws 2 knees - Johnson can't escape Ruff's clinch. As Johnson tries to escape again Ruff whips his head left to meet with another knee! That's knocked out Johnson's gum shield and as Johnson falls to the floor, the referee steps in to end the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:21 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Knee). Thom Ruff!
Thom Ruff got down on his knees post fight and begged the management for a title shot. 'Please, I want that title shot so bad! Give it to me!'