PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Maximus Merceli (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Harris (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Merceli
vs
Harris

180 cm
19
185 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

185 cm
28
195 lbs
4 - 6 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Determined

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 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Maximus Merceli!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Chris Harris!
The judges for this bout are Trevor Gratis, Yves DeLean and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Merceli fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Harris avoids it really well and circles away.
Merceli throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Harris showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Merceli.
Harris fails with the takedown.

Merceli darts in and clinches Harris up against the cage.
Merceli wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Merceli tries to break the clinch but Harris is controlling the position.
Harris keeps control of Merceli as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Harris fails to pull guard.
Merceli tries to circle away but Harris has him pinned against the cage.
Merceli is trying to break the clinch but Harris is controlling him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merceli has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Merceli pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Merceli shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Harris manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.

Merceli decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Harris, up you get!
Maximus Merceli seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Harris moves into the clinch.
Merceli is trying to force a seperation but Harris has the dominant position.
Merceli has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
A frustrated look appears on Merceli's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Harris is trying to slow down the pace in the clinch, to catch his breath.
Merceli is trying to break free.
Merceli prevents a takedown attempt there.
Maximus Merceli has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Chris Harris.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Harris jumps guard.
Merceli throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Harris is looking for a triangle but Merceli pushes his legs off easily.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Merceli from controlling successfully.

Merceli gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Merceli misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Merceli lands a two punch combo.

It looks like Chris Harris has been cut.
Harris tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Merceli manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Merceli will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Merceli misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Merceli misses with a double jab.
Harris fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Harris looks gassed!
Merceli throws a combination that misses
and Harris counters with a nice body shot.

Merceli darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.

Merceli is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
It looks like Merceli is going to stand back up.

Harris actively working from the bottom here.
Merceli wants to stand up but Harris is controlling the position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Merceli gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Merceli throws a nice looking combination but Harris bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Sloppy strikes from Merceli. Those never looked like landing.
Merceli connects with a crisp jab.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Merceli tries to close the distance and clinch up but Harris swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Harris fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Harris slips a jab and a cross from Merceli.

Merceli shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Harris manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maximus Merceli dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Chris Harris's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Nice defenses there by Harris.
Merceli throws a right hand that Harris ducks under and follows up with a left that Harris also avoids with ease.
Merceli misses with a jab to the body

so Harris counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

Merceli is edging up against the cage. He's using the cage to get back to his feet. Nice work there - the fighters are clinched.
Harris has Merceli pressed against the cage, preventing Merceli from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Merceli is trying to break the clinch but Harris is controlling him.
Nice elbow from Merceli.

Merceli breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Merceli misses with a few strikes there.
A swing and a miss from Merceli.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merceli throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Harris sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Merceli is looking to clinch.
Harris dives in and grabs Merceli's left leg, looking for a takedown. Merceli pushes down on Harris's head and hops out.
Harris is breathing heavily.
Harris swinging wildly here.
Merceli dives in and grabs Harris's left leg, looking for a takedown. Harris pushes down on Merceli's head and hops out.
Merceli misses with a two punch combination.
Merceli lands with a nice combination. Harris backs away looking to recover.
Merceli throws a combination that misses
and Harris cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Maximus Merceli is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Horrible takedown by Merceli or perhaps it was just good defense by Harris which made him look bad.

Merceli dives in and scores a takedown into Harris's guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Merceli trying to control the position from guard on top but Harris is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Merceli decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Harris, up you get!
Merceli throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Harris.

Merceli feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.

Merceli drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Merceli jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

Harris is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Merceli is looking to stand up but Harris won't let him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Merceli passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Merceli advances to full mount.
Merceli content just to control the position here.
Harris is bucking up trying to escape but Merceli cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Merceli controlling from mount.
Harris is squirming around, avoiding Merceli's attempts to control the action.
Harris taking shots to the head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harris wants to hold on but Merceli pushes him away.
Merceli looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Maximus Merceli overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
The referee warns Harris that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Merceli looking to control and managing it successfully.
Merceli scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Merceli breaks from Harris's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Harris is in a horrible position here. Merceli smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That has opened up Chris Harris's cut even more.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Merceli sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Maximus Merceli dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Chris Harris's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Merceli misses with a double jab.
Maximus Merceli is winning the standup battle so far.
Merceli misses with a double jab

and Harris counters by clinching up.
Merceli is looking to break free of the clinch but Harris has double underhooks.

Harris manages to pull guard.
Merceli wants to get up but he can't break Harris's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Harris is looking for a triangle but Merceli pushes his legs off easily.
Harris has a closed guard, preventing Merceli from standing up.
Harris takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Harris looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Merceli gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Merceli swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Harris counters with a head kick.
Merceli throws a poor cross that misses
and Harris counters with a head kick. That will keep Merceli thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!

Merceli fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Harris sprawls well initially but Merceli persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Harris is looking for a sweep. Merceli is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Merceli winds up and cracks Harris with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Merceli working over Harris with some ground and pound. Harris looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Ground and pound from Merceli.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Merceli is thwarting Harris's attempts to control the position.
Merceli lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Maximus Merceli is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Merceli controlling the pace.
Merceli passes the guard and advances to mount!
Merceli looking to control and managing it successfully.
Merceli seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Harris for as long as he can get away with.
Merceli is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Harris can do to turn this around?

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Maximus Merceli has forced the referee to step in and bring the fight back to the feet.

Merceli gets the takedown into side control.
Harris is not content to let Merceli control the position.
Merceli moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Merceli stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Merceli thows a left - swing and a miss!
Harris ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Harris showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Merceli.
Merceli works over Harris's head and body with a nice combination.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Merceli throws a chopping leg kick but Harris manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Chris Harris has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Merceli swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Harris counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

And that's the end of the fight!
Maximus Merceli showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Merceli has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:27
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Maximus Merceli!