PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Marcus Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and DJ Penn (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Penn has chosen Til I Collapse as his entrance music. Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Johnson
vs
Penn

173 cm
24
162 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

176 cm
27
162 lbs
9 - 5 - 2

Decent wrestler
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Marcus Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 2, fighting out of Tokyo, DJ Penn!
The judges for this bout are Shigeki Sano, Kenichi Hosakawa and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Penn moves away from the strike by Johnson.
Nice defenses there by Penn.
Johnson thuds his right hand into Penn's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Penn gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Marcus Johnson seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Penn is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Johnson's half guard.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Johnson is trying to stand.
Johnson on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Johnson tries to get out of the position.
Penn wants to pass to mount but Johnson is defending the position.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet.
Penn frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Johnson tries to buck Penn off but he can't manage it.
Penn is looking to work his way around to Johnson's back. He needs to be careful though, as he's in danger of losing this dominant position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Penn is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Penn trying to control but Johnson is having none of it.

Penn has control of Johnson's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Johnson regains control of the situation pretty easily.

Penn wants to finish this one by submission but Johnson is holding onto his waist, trying to prevent any attacks from Penn.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johnson is looking to get to half guard.
Johnson sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Penn is keen to just control but Johnson is a slippery customer.
Johnson is controlling Penn's position as best he can from this difficult position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Penn is thwarting Johnson's attempts to control the position.
Penn wants to free his trapped foot but Johnson is holding on for dear life with his legs.

Penn seems to be working for a kimura but Johnson defends the submission attempt.
Johnson won't allow Penn to pass to mount.
Penn passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Johnson!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Penn is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Johnson has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Johnson!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Penn has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Johnson can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Johnson controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Johnson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Penn on the ground.

Penn escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Johnson gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.

Penn looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Johnson has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Penn trying to control the position.

Penn looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Johnson would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Johnson is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Penn escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Johnson gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Penn wants to sweep but no luck.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Penn trying to control the position.
Penn keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.

Penn has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Johnson can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Penn had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Johnson defends it easily.
Penn keeping moving, preventing Johnson from controlling successfully.

That's six minutes gone in the round.
Penn wants to sweep but no luck.
Johnson tries to stand but Penn is controlling from the bottom.
Johnson trying to control but Penn is working from the bottom.
Johnson stays in close to Penn's body and controls the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Marcus Johnson wasn't doing enough on the ground.
A right-left combo lands from Johnson.
A big left from Johnson misses.
Johnson throws a right hand that misses
and Penn counters with a straight right hand.
Penn showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Johnson.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Johnson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Penn moves away.
Johnson swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Johnson throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Penn cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Penn fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
Johnson misses with a lunging right hand
and Penn cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Johnson misses with a hook
letting Penn counter with a right hand.
Penn looks to score with a jab to the body but Johnson is just out of range.
A big right from Johnson misses.
Penn slips a jab and a cross from Johnson.
Some wild striking there from Johnson.
A jab from Johnson finds it's way through Penn's defenses.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Johnson throws a right hand that Penn ducks under and follows up with a left that Penn also avoids with ease.
Johnson swings widly with a right hand
and Penn counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Johnson misses with a body shot.
Johnson missing with a left hand there. Penn was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Johnson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Johnson throws an off balance right hand
and Johnson takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Johnson fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Johnson misses with a left hand
enabling Penn to counter with a crisp jab.
Penn avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Johnson scores with a jab to the jaw.
Johnson uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Penn.
Marcus Johnson is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Johnson throws out a powerful jab.
Johnson misses with an uppercut. Penn saw that one coming.
Johnson fails to land with a series of punches.
Penn lands with a nice body punch.
Penn thows a body shot but no joy.
Johnson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Penn.
Penn is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Johnson had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into pâté.
Johnson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Penn manages to avoid it.
Johnson misses with a wild combination.
Penn fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Johnson manages to avoid it.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Johnson wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Penn ducks under a wild hook from Johnson.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but DJ Penn will probably get the nod.
That's time! Johnson's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. And we move into the final round!

Johnson lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Johnson misses with a double jab.
Johnson throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Nice uppercut there from Johnson.
Johnson swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Johnson throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
No joy there for Johnson, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Johnson misses with an uppercut. Penn saw that one coming.
Penn blocks a jab.
Johnson misses with a hook
and Penn counters with a left and a right that stings Johnson.
Johnson dips to his left and cracks Penn with an uppercut!
Marcus Johnson is winning the standup battle so far.
Penn shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Johnson but Johnson pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Johnson throws a left and a right that both miss

and Penn counters with a nice double leg into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Penn is trying to work for a kimura but Johnson is defending well.
Penn moves nicely into side control.
Penn moves into full mount!
Johnson is controlling an arm, preventing Penn from taking his back. Although keeping him in mount is no better to be honest.

Penn is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Johnson can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Penn tries to push Johnson's head away but Johnson is holding on tight.
Penn wants to control the pace but Johnson is squirming around nicely.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Penn trying to control but Johnson is having none of it.
Penn mounts Johnson! Really nice guard pass there!

Penn looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Johnson tries to buck Penn off but he can't manage it.
Penn thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Penn with some aggressive grappling here, looking for the finish.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Johnson has given up his back.

Johnson preventing the rear naked choke attempt from Penn.
Johnson has his hands over his head blocking the strikes from Penn.

Penn is looking to finish the fight by rear naked choke. Johnson knows exactly what he's got planned though, so he's defending well. Maybe a few strikes would soften Johnson for a finish.

Penn looking for the choke from the back.
Johnson is trying to stand back up.

Johnson fending off the submission attempt from Penn.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Penn has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Johnson has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!

Johnson is trying to defend against the choke here but Penn has an arm under his chin. This one might not last much longer. Penn Tightens the hold and Johnson taps out furiously! Penn displays superior BJJ to win the fight.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:35 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). DJ Penn!
DJ Penn seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.