PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Harbor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rufus Soderberg (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Harbor
vs
Soderberg

184 cm
31
193 lbs
21 - 20 - 1

179 cm
36
186 lbs
24 - 16 - 0

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Excellent grappler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Spartan Nutrition

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 21 - 20 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, James Harbor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 24 - 16 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Rufus Soderberg!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Gregory Folan and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harbor takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Soderberg shoots for a double leg takedown but Harbor sprawls well. He's pushed Soderberg's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harbor lands a glancing blow to the side of Soderberg's head.
Harbor checks the leg kick nicely there.
Soderberg throws the kick towards the body but Harbor avoids it.

Soderberg looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Harbor!
Harbor managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Soderberg.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Soderberg working away.
Soderberg wants to control but Harbor is keeping him busy.
Soderberg creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Harbor sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Soderberg laying and praying for a moment but Harbor takes advantage and regains half guard.
Harbor wants to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harbor trying to hold on to Soderberg's head to control him but Soderberg postures up.
Harbor definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.

Soderberg wants to work for an arm triangle but Harbor is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Harbor slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Soderberg is in close to Harbor's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Harbor preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Harbor is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.

Harbor looking for a guillotine here but Soderberg defends easily.
Soderberg trying to control but Harbor is working from the bottom.
Harbor is trying to hold Soderberg in close to prevent damage but Soderberg has managed to pass into half guard.
Soderberg prevents Harbor from improving his position.
Soderberg is trying to control. Harbor wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soderberg trying to control from Harbor's half guard. Harbor has other ideas though and has regained full guard.
Harbor utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Soderberg with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Soderberg throwing strikes from guard but Harbor blocks nicely.
Soderberg stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Harbor swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Soderberg trying to control but Harbor is working from the bottom.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Soderberg's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Harbor looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Harbor utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Soderberg postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.

Harbor is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Soderberg trying to control the position from guard on top but Harbor is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Harbor is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Soderberg is aware though and is defending well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Soderberg fails with the takedown.
Soderberg swinging wildly here.
Harbor connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

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

Harbor is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Soderberg sees it coming and defends easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harbor trying to pass the guard but Soderberg defending well.
Harbor is trying to control. Soderberg wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Soderberg is trying to get back to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Soderberg looking for submissions off his back.
Soderberg trying to control from the bottom.
Soderberg is refusing to be controlled, as Harbor sits in half guard.
Harbor working Soderberg over with strikes.
Soderberg trying to hold on to Harbor's head to control him but Harbor postures up.

Soderberg looking for submissions off his back.
Harbor wants to pass the guard but Soderberg is defending well.

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.
Soderberg is looking to improve his position.
Soderberg trying to hold on to Harbor's head to control him but Harbor postures up.
Soderberg tries to roll over but Harbor keeps him under control.
Soderberg is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Harbor scores with a couple of nice shots.

Soderberg looking for submissions off his back.
Soderberg felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Rufus Soderberg has got the better of the ground game so far.
Soderberg trying to control from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soderberg wants to get back to full guard but Harbor has mounted him!
Soderberg has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Harbor can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Soderberg is looking to escape.
Harbor lands a big shot there that rocks Soderberg but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Soderberg is desperately trying to improve his position but Harbor has a good base and remains in mount.
The referee warns Soderberg that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Soderberg tries to control Harbor's body but Harbor pushes him off. Soderberg squirms to his side and now Harbor has his back!
Soderberg is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Soderberg keeps trying to improve his position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harbor really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Soderberg.
Soderberg tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Soderberg takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Soderberg tries to reverse the position but Harbor maintains control.
Soderberg slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Harbor not landing any meaningful shots this time.
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!

Soderberg is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Harbor pulls his head out easily.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Soderberg slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Harbor keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Soderberg's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Harbor dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Harbor misses with a double jab.
Soderberg throws a jab but it's blocked by Harbor.
Soderberg misses with a wild body shot.
Harbor appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Harbor moves away from the strike by Soderberg.
Soderberg slips under a jab.

Harbor drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.

Harbor avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Soderberg is trying to control the position but Harbor postures up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harbor trying to control the position from guard on top but Soderberg is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Soderberg working a defensive guard here.
Soderberg managing to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Soderberg looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Harbor working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Soderberg's head.
Harbor is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Soderberg can do to turn this around?
Soderberg wants to sweep but no luck.

Soderberg isolates an arm and boxes in a triangle. Harbor stacks Soderberg on his neck as he steps over and passes to the side. He's now in a much more dominant position where he can look to do some serious damage. Nice move by Harbor!
Harbor working the body and head with strikes.
Harbor trying to control the action but Soderberg is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Soderberg is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Soderberg is looking for a sweep.

Harbor is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Soderberg is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Harbor working the ground and pound from side control.

Harbor is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Soderberg knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Harbor is looking to take a break and control but Soderberg is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Soderberg is trying to improve his position.

Soderberg wants to improve his position, back to half guard but Harbor has ideas of his own. He's got hold of Soderberg's far side arm and it looks like he's got an Americana. Ohh! Ohhhh! OOOOOOOOOH! A human being's arm is not meant to bend like that! Soderberg is tapping like a morse code operator on the Titanic! SOS SOS! He's out of here! Great win for Harbor!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:38 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). James Harbor!
After winning the bout, James Harbor thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.
Rufus Soderberg was interviewed post fight and said 'I'm not done. I'm not done. '.