PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Katorious Johnson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Nikola Nishi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Johnson
vs
Nishi

187 cm
19
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

183 cm
18
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Katorious Johnson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nikola Nishi !
The judges for this bout are Frank Dennis, George Francis and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Johnson misses with a takedown attempt - Nishi sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Nishi pushes Johnson up against the cage in a clinch.

Nishi escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Johnson shoots and misses

and Nishi counters with a takedown into side control.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.

Nishi tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Nishi has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Nishi tries to move into full mount but can't pass Johnson's legs.
Nishi wants to lay and pray for a moment but Johnson keeps working.
Nishi tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson wants to get back to his feet but Nishi drags him back down.
Nishi controls the position.
Nishi tries to stand but Johnson is controlling his head.
Johnson is trying to control Nishi 's posture but Nishi avoids it.
Johnson tries to buck Nishi off but Nishi is having none of it.
A bit of a lull in the action. I'm sure it will pick up again soon... even if the ref has to physically pick them up and put them back on their feet.
Nishi wants to stand but Johnson is controlling his arm.
Johnson is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nishi wants to lay and pray for a moment but Johnson keeps working.
Johnson is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Nishi 's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Nishi is thwarting Johnson's attempts to control the position.
Johnson wants to stand back up but Nishi manages to pass into side control.
Nishi happy to just control the position for now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Nishi wants to stand but Johnson is controlling his arm.
Nishi landing a few strikes.
Nishi wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.
Nishi working away.

Nishi goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Johnson rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Nishi 's guard! Nice work there by Johnson!
Nishi looks winded!
Nishi looking for a sweep. Not yet Nishi , not yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson looking to sit in guard and control but Nishi gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Nishi sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Johnson looking to control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Johnson looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Nishi won't allow Johnson to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikola Nishi dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Good work by Johnson as he checks the leg kick.
Johnson doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Nishi counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Nishi from controlling successfully.

Johnson looking for submissions from the bottom but instead Nishi passes into side control.
Nishi working away.
Nishi wants to control but Johnson is keeping him busy.
Nishi scores with a couple of short elbows.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Nishi asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Nishi is looking to take a break and control but Johnson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Johnson tries to bench press Nishi off him but Nishi keeps the position.
Nishi in side control lands a decent elbow.
Nishi remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nishi trying to control the action but Johnson is working from the bottom.

Nishi is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Johnson is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Johnson struggling a bit here.
Johnson manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Johnson is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Nishi defends it well.
Johnson is keen to just control but Nishi is a slippery customer.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Nishi can do anything to dispel that myth.
Nishi misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Johnson trying to control from half guard but Nishi is working away.
Nishi has a hand on Johnson's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Johnson takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!

Johnson has hold of Nishi 's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Nishi manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Johnson lands a heavy elbow.
Johnson is trying to stand up but he's being controlled by his opponent.
Nishi is squirming around, avoiding Johnson's attempts to control the action.
Nishi tries to hold on but Johnson pushes him away.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Nishi is desperately trying to improve his position but Johnson has a good base and remains in mount.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Nikola Nishi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

Nishi swats away the attempt to clinch by Johnson.
Johnson misses with a head kick.
Johnson tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Nishi counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Nishi .
Johnson is trying to keep Nishi in close.
Johnson keeping moving, preventing Nishi from controlling successfully.
Nishi cracks Johnson with a solid left hand.
Nishi wants to control from the top but Johnson keeps moving.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Nishi working some strikes from top position.

Johnson throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Nishi postures up and lands a big shot to Johnson's brow.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Johnson wants to control the position but Nishi says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Johnson trying to hold on to Nishi 's head to control him but Nishi postures up.
Johnson tries to kick Nishi off but Nishi keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nishi wants to stand up but Johnson has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Nikola Nishi has got the better of the ground game so far.
Nishi moves nicely into side control.
Nishi gets to mount! Johnson was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Nishi . He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.
Nishi tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

Nishi jumps to the side looking to secure the arm triangle…. Ooooh, that looks tight… Johnson is gargling but he's managed to escape! Nice work there by Johnson and Nishi has given up the dominant position trying to land that submission.
Nishi slows the pace down.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Nishi tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Nishi wants to stand but Johnson is controlling his arm.
The ground and pound from Nishi seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Johnson struggling a bit here.
Johnson tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Johnson is trying to get back to half guard. He's pushing on Nishi 's leg. He's managed it. Nice work.
Nishi is keen to just control but Johnson is a slippery customer.
Johnson trying to control but Nishi postures up.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

And that's the end of the fight!
Nikola Nishi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Nishi winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Frank Dennis scores the fight for Nikola Nishi !
Judge George Francis scores the fight for Nikola Nishi !
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight for Nikola Nishi !

Nikola Nishi wins by unanimous decision!