PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between John Swift (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Harmon Darrell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Harmon Darrell will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Swift
vs
Darrell

176 cm
21
155 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

170 cm
25
150 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, John Swift!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Harmon Darrell!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Matti Vanhoillinen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A big right from Darrell misses.
Swift fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Darrell avoids it really well and circles away.
Swift takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Harmon Darrell seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Swift keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Swift walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Darrell ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Swift moves away.
Darrell takes a swing at Swift's ribcage but misses.
Swift uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Darrell.
Darrell ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Swift slips a straight right by Darrell.
Swift takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Darrell misses the shot to the body.
Darrell getting the better of the striking in that exchange.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Swift goes for a double leg but Darrell avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Darrell continues to drive forward.

Swift wants the takedown. Darrell is fighting it off but Swift persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Darrell's guard against the cage.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Swift engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Darrell is trying to control the position from the bottom.

Darrell has an active guard here but Swift has managed to pass into half guard.
Swift seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Swift looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Darrell with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Swift has improved his flexibility recently so we will have to see if he can use that to his advantage.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!

Darrell is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Swift pulls his head out easily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Darrell is trying to control but can't.

Swift is working for a kimura but Darrell is defending it quite comfortably.

Swift seems to be working for a kimura but Darrell defends the submission attempt.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Swift lands a nice short elbow.
Swift 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.
Swift is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.

Darrell is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Swift pulls his head out easily.
Darrell trying to hold on to Swift's head to control him but Swift postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Still in half guard, Swift seems content to control.
Swift scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Swift is thwarting Darrell's attempts to control the position.

The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Swift is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Darrell defends it well.
Darrell tries to roll over but Swift keeps him under control.
Swift scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Darrell wants to control but Swift is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Swift scoring with strikes to the body and head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Darrell actively working from the bottom here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Swift looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Swift working over Darrell with some ground and pound. Darrell looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Swift working over Darrell with some ground and pound. Darrell looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Swift is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Swift lands strikes from half guard.
Swift scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Swift winds up and cracks Darrell with a swinging punch to the side of the head.

Darrell looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Swift controlling the action here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Swift dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Swift staying out of range there.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Darrell escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Darrell misses with a straight left.
Darrell has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.
Sloppy strikes from Darrell. Those never looked like landing.

Swift shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Swift was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Darrell is looking to reverse the position.
Swift moves into full mount!
Swift lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
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.
Swift scoring with strikes but Darrell is staying in there.
Swift with a couple of short strikes.

Darrell is rocked!
Swift lands with some strikes.
Darrell is still in real trouble! Can Swift finish him?
John Swift overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Swift loads up on a couple of big shots to the head that have Darrell scrambling to escape. He can't get free though and several more unanswered shots from Swift land to the head. The referee has no choice but to stop the fight. Swift stands and salutes the crowd.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:33 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Swift!
John Swift is the new featherweight champion!