PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Francesco Clemenza (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Roland Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Roland Harrison will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Clemenza
vs
Harrison

184 cm
22
197 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

180 cm
21
186 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of New York, Francesco Clemenza!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Roland Harrison!
The judges for this bout are Eddie Farnsworth, Russell Pearce and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Clemenza tries to close the distance and clinch up but Harrison swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Clemenza fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Clemenza closes the distance and clinches up with Harrison, looking for a takedown. Clemenza pushes Harrison against the ropes but Harrison circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Francesco Clemenza seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Clemenza swings for the body but Harrison moves out of range.
Clemenza changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Harrison tries to avoid it but Clemenza manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Harrison to the ground. Harrison escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Francesco Clemenza. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Harrison stuffs the takedown attempt from Clemenza. Clemenza gets slowly back to his feet.
Harrison closes the distance and clinches up with Clemenza, looking for a takedown. Harrison pushes Clemenza against the ropes but Clemenza circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Harrison moves out of range of the strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Clemenza misses with a few strikes there.
Clemenza with a lazy takedown attempt
and Harrison counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Clemenza thinking.
Clemenza is breathing heavily.
Nice takedown defense from Harrison. No joy for Clemenza on that attempt.
Clemenza has his takedown stuffed
and Harrison connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Harrison misses with the combination.
Clemenza misses with a hook
letting Harrison counter with a right hand.
Clemenza will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Harrison uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Clemenza.
Clemenza fails with an attempt to clinch.
Clemenza tries to close the distance and clinch but Harrison swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Harrison throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Clemenza.
Harrison throws a series of punches but Clemenza avoids them all with ease.
Harrison moves out of range of the strikes.
Harrison misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Clemenza misses with a combination
and Harrison counters with a series of strikes. Clemenza will be more careful next time no doubt.
Horrible takedown by Clemenza or perhaps it was just good defense by Harrison which made him look bad.
Some wild striking there from Harrison.
Harrison fails to land with a series of punches.
Harrison swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
The fighters circling - Harrison throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Clemenza throws a hook but Harrison avoids it easily.
Harrison misses with a jab, cross combination.
Clemenza fails with a takedown attempt from distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison misses with a wild combination.
Clemenza tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Clemenza tries to clinch up
and Clemenza takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Clemenza tries to clinch but Harrison moves out of range.
Clemenza throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Harrison sees it coming and avoids it easily.

Clemenza darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Clemenza looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Clemenza lands a nice short elbow.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Clemenza winds up and cracks Harrison with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Clemenza working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Clemenza lands with a punch from half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Harrison manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Clemenza postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.

Harrison has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Clemenza can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Clemenza looking to pass the guard.
Clemenza throwing strikes but missing.

Clemenza avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Clemenza throws a strike but Harrison rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Roland Harrison dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Harrison stuffs the takedown.
Clemenza thows a body shot but no joy.
Clemenza shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Harrison but Harrison pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Harrison misses with a double jab

and Clemenza decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Harrison's guard.

Clemenza drops back, looking for a kneebar! Harrison looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Harrison looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Harrison!

Harrison tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Clemenza tries to strike from the bottom but misses.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison moves into full mount!
Clemenza is trying desperately to improve position.
Clemenza slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Harrison is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Harrison working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Clemenza works his way to full guard. Good work.
Clemenza lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Harrison!
Clemenza looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clemenza postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Harrison looks a forlorn figure.
Clemenza prevents Harrison from getting the reversal.
Clemenza looking to ground and pound but Harrison is blocking nicely.
Clemenza is landing with some decent strikes but Harrison is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Harrison slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.

Harrison is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Clemenza pulls his head out easily.
Harrison regains full guard. Nicely done.
Clemenza throws a strike but Harrison rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Clemenza is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Clemenza looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.

Harrison drops back looking for a leg! Clemenza is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Clemenza manages to kick Harrison off! Harrison jumps back into Clemenza's guard.
Clemenza is looking to sweep but instead, Harrison has passed into half guard.
Clemenza is looking for a sweep. Harrison is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Clemenza misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Clemenza missing with punches from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Harrison misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Clemenza misses with a body shot.
Clemenza showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Harrison.
Harrison fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

Harrison scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
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.
Clemenza is trying to get back to half guard.

Harrison decides to stand back up.
Harrison throws a body kick that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Francesco Clemenza will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Clemenza has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Clemenza rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Harrison moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Clemenza looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Clemenza shoots in for a double leg but Harrison sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Harrison misses with a few strikes there.
Harrison throws a series of punches but Clemenza moves out of range.
Clemenza fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Clemenza takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Clemenza misses with an uppercut
and Harrison counters with a stiff right hand.
Harrison takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Clemenza fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Harrison manages to avoid it.
Clemenza is looking to take this fight into the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
No joy there for Clemenza, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Some wild striking there from Clemenza.
Clemenza steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Harrison.
The fighters circling - Clemenza throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Clemenza dodges the punch combination from Harrison.
Clemenza swings widly with a right hand

and Harrison counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Harrison.
Clemenza lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Harrison!
Clemenza connects with a couple of good shots from mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Clemenza is in the full mount, landing strikes.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Clemenza pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Clemenza thowing shots but they're missing.
Harrison swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Harrison keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Clemenza connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Clemenza scores with a couple of good head shots there.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Harrison bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Harrison slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Harrison working the ground and pound from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Harrison tries for a kimura but Clemenza is defending well.

Harrison looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Clemenza manages to work his way to half guard, despite Harrison's best efforts.
Harrison slips a nice elbow through Clemenza's hands, connecting with Clemenza's forehead.

Harrison is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Clemenza is trying to get back to full guard.
Harrison lands with a punch from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Harrison is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Clemenza moves into full guard.
Clemenza wants to sweep here but Harrison controlling him for the moment.

Clemenza is looking for a triangle but Harrison pushes his legs off easily.
Harrison passes Clemenza's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Clemenza tries to get to full guard but Harrison has control of the leg.
Clemenza throws a strike from the bottom that misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
Roland Harrison comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Harrison has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Eddie Farnsworth scores the fight 28:29
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 28:29
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Roland Harrison!