PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Shom Harnick (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Franky Johnson (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.

Harnick
vs
Johnson

174 cm
20
162 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

170 cm
18
165 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Shom Harnick!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Franky Johnson!
The judges for this bout are Paulsen Ambrosius, Albert Achterberg and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Harnick darts in and clinches Johnson up against the cage.
Harnick misses with an elbow strike.

Harnick's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Harnick is looking to clinch but Johnson is avoiding it.
Harnick lands with a kick to the ribs.
Harnick moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.

Harnick gets a clinch.
Harnick throws an elbow but it misses.
Harnick tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Johnson takes a knee right on the jaw!
Johnson avoiding damage as Harnick throws knees to the body.
Harnick is trying to maintain a safe position but Johnson gets an underhook and turns Harnick into the cage.
Johnson tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Harnick throws a knee to the head but misses.
Harnick trying to land knees to the body.
Harnick tries a knee to the head but Johnson blocks it.

Harnick breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Harnick tries to clinch but Johnson is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The fight stays on the outside here - Harnick looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
A nice leg kick lands there from Harnick.
Johnson keeps the fight on the outside.
Harnick dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Johnson. That did some damage!
Harnick closes this distance looking for a takedown but Johnson circles away.
Johnson shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Harnick pinned against the cage. Harnick gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Harnick tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Harnick doesn't manage to clinch there - Johnson circles away.
Johnson changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Harnick tries to avoid it but Johnson manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Harnick to the ground. Harnick escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Shom Harnick has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Franky Johnson.
Harnick wants to clinch up but Johnson keeps it at a distance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harnick is looking to clinch but Johnson is avoiding it.
Harnick tries to clinch up but Johnson circles away and keeps his distance.
Harnick tries to clinch up.
Harnick doesn't manage to clinch there - Johnson circles away.
Harnick is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Harnick leaves Johnson with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Harnick is looking to clinch.
Harnick throws a nice outside leg kick.
Harnick wants to clinch.
Horrible takedown by Johnson or perhaps it was just good defense by Harnick which made him look bad.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harnick pivots, looking for a leg kick but Johnson is out of range and Harnick settles back down.
Harnick throws a head kick but Johnson moves out of range.
Harnick tries to clinch up.
Harnick misses with a low kick.
Harnick tries to close the distance and clinch but Johnson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Harnick tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Johnson paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Harnick rushes Johnson and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Johnson tries to pull guard but Harnick won't allow it.
Harnick tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Johnson avoids it.

Johnson successfully pulls guard.

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 working for a triangle but Harnick defends it easily.
Harnick has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Johnson is proving hard to escape from.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Johnson looking for a guillotine here but Harnick defends easily.

Johnson looking for a guillotine here but Harnick defends easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shom Harnick dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Johnson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Harnick tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Harnick tries to close the distance and clinch but Johnson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Harnick tries to clinch but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Johnson misses with a takedown attempt - Harnick sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Harnick doesn't manage to clinch there - Johnson circles away.
Johnson moves out of range as Harnick throws a body kick.
Harnick dives in and grabs Johnson's left leg, looking for a takedown. Johnson pushes down on Harnick's head and hops out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Harnick defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Johnson.
Johnson shoots in but no luck this time.
Shom Harnick has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Franky Johnson.
Harnick throws a head kick but Johnson moves out of range.
Harnick throws a leg kick but Johnson moved away.

Harnick moves into the clinch.
A nice glancing elbow lands by Harnick.
Johnson tries to pull guard but Harnick holds him up against the cage and eventually Johnson drops back down to his feet.
Harnick is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Harnick utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.
Harnick crunches a lovely knee into Johnson's ribcage.
Harnick landing knees to the head.
Harnick misses with a knee strike.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Johnson fails to pull guard.
Harnick has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Johnson avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Johnson tries to pull guard but Harnick holds him up against the cage and eventually Johnson drops back down to his feet.
Harnick tries to land a knee to the head but Johnson blocks with his arms.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Harnick looking to slow down the pace here.
Johnson tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Harnick smiles and moves away.
Johnson with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Harnick to score with a decent uppercut.
Harnick stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Harnick wants it to stay on the feet.
Harnick tries a head kick but it misses.
Johnson fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

Harnick moves into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harnick goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Harnick misses with a knee to the head.
Johnson fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Knees to the body from Harnick.
Johnson fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Johnson is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.
Johnson tries to pull guard but Harnick won't allow it.
Harnick looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Johnson blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Harnick is trying to break the clinch but Johnson has him pressed against the cage.
Johnson tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Harnick throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Johnson blocks it with crossed arms.
Harnick wants to break free but Johnson has control.
Harnick with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Harnick tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Harnick trying to land knees to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Johnson fails to pull guard.
Johnson jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Harnick walks away with a smile on his face. Johnson gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Harnick misses with a kick to the body.
Harnick tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Harnick moves in looking to clinch but Johnson pushes him off.
Johnson with a lazy takedown attempt
and Harnick makes the exchange count by landing a cracking kick to the body. Johnson really felt that one!

Harnick closes the distance and clinches.
Harnick tries a knee to the head but he's missed.

Johnson has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Harnick uses from the top position.
Johnson manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Harnick manages to get himself to full guard.
Johnson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Harnick swivels though and keeps the full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Johnson drops back, looking for a kneebar! Harnick looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Harnick looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Harnick!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shom Harnick 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. This is the final round!

Harnick throws out a leg kick but Johnson moves out of range and Harnick only half commits.
Harnick is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Johnson is trying hard to land a takedown here. Harnick sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Johnson fails with the takedown
and Harnick counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Johnson moves out of range of the body kick.
Harnick tries to close the distance and clinch up but Johnson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Johnson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Johnson keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Harnick.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Johnson displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Harnick throws out the jab.
Harnick doesn't manage to clinch there - Johnson circles away.
Johnson shoots in for a double leg but Harnick sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Shom Harnick has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Franky Johnson.
Johnson misses with a takedown attempt - Harnick sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Johnson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Harnick tries to clinch but Johnson is having none of it.
Nice takedown defense from Harnick. No joy for Johnson on that attempt.

Johnson shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Harnick napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Harnick is pushing Johnson's head away, looking to escape. Johnson manages to hold on to the position though.

Johnson goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Harnick has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Johnson but great work by Harnick.
Harnick tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Johnson tries to improve position but can't.
Johnson is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Harnick knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Johnson on the ground.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Harnick wants to clinch.

Harnick pushes Johnson up against the cage in a clinch.
Johnson tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Harnick smiles and moves away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harnick throws a head kick but Johnson moves out of range.
Johnson swats away the attempt to clinch by Harnick.
Harnick is looking to clinch but Johnson is avoiding it.
Shom Harnick is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Harnick fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Johnson avoids it really well and circles away.
Johnson shoots for a takedown but Harnick saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Harnick wants to clinch.

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.
Johnson fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Johnson avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Harnick tries to clinch up but Johnson circles away and keeps his distance.
Harnick throws a big shot that misses.
Harnick fails with an attempt to clinch.
Johnson shoots in for a double leg but Harnick sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Harnick wants to clinch.
Shom Harnick is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Nice sprawl there from Harnick as Johnson shoots in.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shom Harnick showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Harnick, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Paulsen Ambrosius scores the fight 30:27
Judge Albert Achterberg scores the fight 30:27
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shom Harnick!