PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Grant Duncan (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dwayne Harden (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Duncan
vs
Harden

190 cm
20
214 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
25
214 lbs
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Likes musicals

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Grant Duncan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dwayne Harden!
The judges for this bout are Chris Downing, Wesley Smith and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harden will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Harden shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Duncan defends it nicely.
Harden walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Harden throws a hook to the side of Duncan's head but Duncan sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Harden fails with the takedown.
Harden shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Grant Duncan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dwayne Harden.
Harden swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Duncan avoids the head kick by Harden.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harden changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Duncan tries to avoid it but Harden manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Duncan to the ground. Duncan escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Harden looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Harden throws a body kick, spinning off balance
and Duncan counters with a nice leg kick.
Harden doesn't manage to clinch there - Duncan circles away.
A head kick by Harden misses
and Duncan counters with a low kick, right behind Harden 's knee.
Harden looks winded!
Harden throws a body punch but Duncan moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Duncan gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Duncan decides to pull guard.

Duncan is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Harden is aware though and is defending well.
Duncan has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Harden throwing strikes but missing.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Duncan looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Harden stopping the sweep attempt from Duncan.
Duncan is pulling down on Harden's head. It's preventing any offense from Harden, at least for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Duncan's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Harden accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Harden pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Duncan is keeping the position for now.
Duncan is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Duncan seems to be working for a kimura but Harden defends the submission attempt.
Duncan looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Duncan is working for a kimura but Harden is defending it quite comfortably.
Duncan prevents Harden from improving his position.
Duncan works his way into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Duncan advances to mount.
Harden is squirming around, avoiding Duncan's attempts to control the action.
Harden is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Duncan landing strikes from the mount and Harden is in trouble!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Duncan controlling the pace for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Grant Duncan dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Duncan goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Duncan stuffs the takedown.
Duncan tries to clinch but Harden moves out of range.

Harden looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Duncan trying to control here.
Duncan is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Harden can do to turn this around?
Duncan slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harden trying to control the position from guard on top but Duncan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harden trying to move into half guard but instead Duncan has managed to sweep!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harden being controlled here, momentarily.
Harden really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Duncan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Duncan decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Harden wants to clinch.
Harden throws a push kick but Duncan slaps the foot to one side.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Duncan fails to land with a series of punches.
Harden is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Duncan.
Harden looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Duncan looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Duncan drives through with a takedown into guard.
Duncan controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Duncan trying to control the position from guard on top but Harden is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

Harden had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Duncan defends it easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Duncan controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Duncan is looking to work some ground and pound but Harden has wrist control.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Harden gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Duncan managing to block the knees to the body from Harden.

Duncan jumps guard and drags Harden to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.

Duncan is looking for a triangle but Harden pushes his legs off easily.
Grant Duncan overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Duncan tries to strike from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Duncan pulls Harden in close to his closed guard and prevents Harden from doing any damage or advancing position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Duncan is on top in guard.

And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Grant Duncan dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Duncan scores with a head kick.
Harden fails to land with a series of punches.
Harden ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Duncan moves away.
Harden shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Duncan as he jumps to the side.
Harden is looking to clinch but Duncan is avoiding it.
Duncan has a takedown stuffed.
Harden throws a head kick that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harden tries to score a power double leg takedown but Duncan sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Harden somewhat.
Dwayne Harden seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Duncan stalks Harden and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Harden's face. Harden staggers backwards, shaken.

Harden is rocked!
Duncan keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Grant Duncan has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dwayne Harden.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harden gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Duncan.
Harden is still on wobbly legs! Can Duncan finish him?
Duncan throws a series of punches but Harden avoids them all with ease.
Duncan shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Harden sprawls well. Harden wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Duncan gets slowly back to his feet.
Duncan looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Harden is fending him off so far but Duncan persists. Nope, Harden circles away and we're back to standing.
Nice takedown defense from Harden. No joy for Duncan on that attempt.
Harden seems to have recovered his senses.
Duncan shoots in but Harden avoids the takedown attempt easily.

Harden shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Harden was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Duncan tries to buck Harden off but Harden is having none of it.
You can see the frustration on Duncan's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Who's going to make the next move?

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Harden is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Duncan has escaped the position, nice work there.
Harden throws a strike aimed at the side of Duncan's head but Duncan avoids it well.
What's Duncan going to do here then? He's in a bit of a pickle.
Duncan tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Harden wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Harden tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Duncan is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.

Duncan makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Harden tries for a takedown but Duncan sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Grant Duncan is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Duncan clinches with his opponent.
Duncan stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
The crowd are getting pretty annoyed with Duncan for his constant stalling in the clinch and are voicing their displeasure.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harden working hard to break the clinch.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Harden is trying to break the clinch but Duncan is controlling him.

Duncan breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Harden tries to clinch but Duncan moves away
and Duncan counters with a nice body kick.
Harden tries to score a power double leg takedown but Duncan sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Harden somewhat.
Dwayne Harden has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Harden takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Duncan scores with a kick to the midsection.
Grant Duncan is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

Duncan rushes Harden and presses him up against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Grant Duncan showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Duncan 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 Chris Downing scores the fight 30:27
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:27
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Grant Duncan!
Dwayne Harden was interviewed post fight and said 'It difficult to lose, but live and learn....The only thing to do with a loss is to learn from it and get better'.