PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Junior Vascasquez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jake Harper (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.

Vascasquez
vs
Harper

199 cm
25
222 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

194 cm
18
225 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Junior Vascasquez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Jake Harper!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Cesar, Felipe Paraventi and Paulo Santos.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harper displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Vascasquez.
Vascasquez moves in looking to clinch but Harper pushes him off.
Jake Harper seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Harper throws a looping overhand right but Vascasquez ducks down to avoid it.
Harper misses with a double jab

and Vascasquez counters with a shoot takedown. Harper fights it but they end up in guard.
Harper wants to stand up but Vascasquez is controlling him.
Vascasquez trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Vascasquez is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

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

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vascasquez trying to control the position from guard on top but Harper is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harper is looking to stand back up... there's a bit of a scramble and Vascasquez dives into side control.

Vascasquez decides to stand back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Harper. Those never looked like landing.

Harper has Vascasquez up against the cage in a clinch.

Harper breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Vascasquez shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Harper defends it nicely.
Harper throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Vascasquez counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Vascasquez trying to control from half guard but Harper is working away.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Harper can do anything to dispel that myth.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

We're going to have a standup here because Junior Vascasquez wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.
Vascasquez wants to clinch up but Harper keeps it at a distance.
Harper lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Harper stuffs the takedown attempt from Vascasquez. Vascasquez gets slowly back to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Junior Vascasquez. That's going to take a lot out of him.
No luck for Vascasquez with that takedown attempt.
Vascasquez is breathing heavily.
Harper jabs at Vascasquez's body.
Harper is looking to clinch.
Vascasquez dives in and grabs Harper's left leg, looking for a takedown. Harper pushes down on Vascasquez's head and hops out.
Harper scores with a crisp jab that stopped Vascasquez in his tracks.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harper throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Vascasquez on the side of the head.
A jab from Vascasquez misses.
Harper misses with a wild combination.
Vascasquez walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
This has been an exciting period of action!

Harper closes the distance and clinches.

Harper escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Harper tries to clinch there but Vascasquez circles away.
Harper lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Harper.

It looks like Junior Vascasquez has been cut.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Vascasquez on the wrong end of a nice jab.

Vascasquez is rocked!
Vascasquez blocks a jab.
Oh Vascasquez is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
No joy there for Harper, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Some wild striking there from Harper.
Harper fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Jake Harper will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Junior Vascasquez's cut.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Harper throws a combination that misses

and Vascasquez counters with a nice double leg into guard.

Vascasquez decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Harper falls off balance throwing a combination
and Vascasquez counters with a lovely shot to the body.
A nice leg kick lands there from Vascasquez.
Vascasquez shoots for a takedown but Harper saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.

Vascasquez shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Vascasquez lands a big shot there that rocks Harper but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Vascasquez seems to have got his legs back now.
Vascasquez trying to control but Harper is having none of it.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vascasquez unloads with some shots from mount but Harper bucks and avoids them well.
Vascasquez wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Vascasquez cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Vascasquez is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Harper can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
Harper is squirming around, avoiding Vascasquez's attempts to control the action.
Harper wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Vascasquez.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Vascasquez looking for an armbar but decides to keep the dominant position instead.
Harper is trying to stand up.
Vascasquez takes Harper's back. Could be looking for a rear naked choke here - either way, Harper is in trouble.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harper has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.
Vascasquez is punishing Harper with some ground and pound.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Harper won't enjoy being in this position. Vascasquez looking for the choke. Oh... he's slipped the arm under the neck - Harper is tapping - it's over boys! Vascasquez picks up the submission victory!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Junior Vascasquez!
Junior Vascasquez took to the mic after the fight and begged the organizational hierarchy for a shot at the title.