PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Darwin Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alex Mercer (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Alex Mercer has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Darwin Harrison's chin.

Harrison
vs
Mercer

213 cm
18
278 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

182 cm
18
245 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Darwin Harrison!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Alex Mercer!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Bishop, Donald Grub and Paul Tew.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Harrison is defended easily by Mercer.
A head kick misses from Mercer.
Harrison fails with a takedown attempt.
Harrison shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Mercer but Mercer pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Darwin Harrison. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Harrison closes this distance looking for a takedown but Mercer circles away.
Mercer stuffs the takedown.
Harrison takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

Mercer looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

Mercer is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Harrison sees it coming and defends easily.
Harrison trying to control here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mercer not doing much here.
Harrison gets back to full guard.
Harrison is trying to control the position but Mercer postures up.
Harrison wants to control but instead he gets his guard passed and Mercer is now in half guard.
Harrison has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Mercer is working away from the top position though.
Harrison is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mercer missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Mercer throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Harrison blocking the ground and pound attempt from Mercer.
Mercer not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Mercer is thwarting Harrison's attempts to control the position.
Mercer trying to control from half guard but Harrison is working away.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Harrison flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Mercer tries to pass to full mount but Harrison defends it.

Mercer is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Harrison sees it coming and defends easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison won't allow Mercer to pass to mount.
Harrison flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Harrison trying to control from the bottom.

Mercer gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
We're hearing some news coming in from back stage. It's official - Mercer has eaten all the pies!
Mercer throws a right and a left that Harrison avoids nicely.

Mercer 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.
Harrison bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Mercer's guard.
Mercer is wriggling around but Harrison manages to pass to half guard.
Mercer looks winded!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mercer is looking to get back to is feet but Harrison passes into side control.

Harrison tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Harrison tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Harrison has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Mercer tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alex Mercer dominated that 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.

Harrison is trying hard to land a takedown here. Mercer sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Mercer clinches with his opponent.

Mercer works for the underhooks and manages to get a trip takedown into guard.
Harrison trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!

Mercer gets to his feet. Harrison looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Harrison fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Harrison throws a series of punches but Mercer moves out of range.
Harrison connects with a jab.
Harrison looks for a takedown but Mercer sprawls well.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Darwin Harrison. That's going to take a lot out of him.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Harrison enables Mercer to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Harrison manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mercer tries to stand but Harrison is controlling from the bottom.
Mercer postures up.
Mercer tries to stand but Harrison is controlling from the bottom.
Harrison pulls Mercer in close to prevent any damage.
Mercer trying to control the position from guard on top but Harrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.

Mercer darts in and clinches Harrison up against the cage.
Mercer gets underhooks to prevent Harrison's takedown attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Mercer has had enough of the clinch but Harrison keeps him there for the moment.
Harrison is trying to pull guard but Mercer has him pressed against the cage.

Mercer has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Harrison uses from the top position.
Mercer trying to keep a closed guard but Harrison is proving a slippery customer.
Harrison will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Mercer throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Harrison stopping the sweep attempt from Mercer.
Alex Mercer has got the better of the ground game so far.
Harrison working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mercer is looking for a triangle but Harrison pushes his legs off easily.
Mercer is breathing heavily.
Harrison scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Harrison accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Harrison keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Mercer's head.
Harrison lands a couple of decent looking shots.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Harrison accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Harrison throwing strikes from guard but Mercer blocks nicely.
Harrison with a nice head shot there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harrison postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Harrison loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Harrison stopping the sweep attempt from Mercer.
Mercer is still trying to improve position.
Harrison throwing strikes from guard but Mercer blocks nicely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Harrison is in close to Mercer's body, working some short punches and elbows.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Alex Mercer will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

No luck for Harrison with that takedown attempt.
Mercer throws a sloppy head kick and Harrison moves out of range easily.

Mercer gets a double leg takedown into Harrison's guard.
Harrison working a defensive guard here.
Mercer sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Harrison's guard.
Mercer trying to control the action but Harrison is working from the bottom.
Harrison works his way to full guard. Good work.
Mercer throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Harrison works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Harrison avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
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.
Harrison pulls Mercer in close to prevent any damage.
Mercer won't allow Harrison to sweep him here.
Mercer loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Harrison throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.
Mercer trying to control the position from guard on top but Harrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harrison working a defensive guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Alex Mercer wasn't active enough on the ground.

Mercer closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Mercer takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Harrison manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

Mercer looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
The step up in weight doesn't seem to be a problem for Mercer. He's performing admirably here against the bigger man.

Harrison is working for a kimura but Mercer is defending it quite comfortably.
Harrison working the head and body with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Mercer's head.
Mercer wants to get back to full guard.

Harrison is looking for a kimura but Mercer is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Harrison to get the leverage.
Mercer is trying to get back to full guard.
Harrison winds up and cracks Mercer with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Mercer taking some punishment here, with Harrison in his half guard.

Harrison is working for a submission of some sort.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mercer wants to improve his position but Harrison is controlling well.
Harrison looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Harrison thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Mercer's head.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Mercer wants to get back to his feet.
Darwin Harrison has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Alex Mercer is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

Harrison is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Mercer has managed to free his arm - good work.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Darwin Harrison.
Well Mercer has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Daniel Bishop scores the fight 28:30
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 28:29
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 28:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alex Mercer!