PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Harbor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Haji Muakbar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Muakbar has chosen That Punjabi Jay-Z song as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Harbor
vs
Muakbar

184 cm
31
193 lbs
23 - 20 - 1

171 cm
38
192 lbs
31 - 20 - 2

Great wrestler
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
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 23 - 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 31 - 20 - 2, fighting out of New York, Haji Muakbar!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Robert Douchet and Dillan Fox.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A cross from Harbor lands.
Harbor fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Muakbar avoids it really well and circles away.
Harbor throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Muakbar's waist but Muakbar gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Harbor off to one side.
Muakbar has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Muakbar throws a big shot that misses.
Harbor scores with a hook to the body. Muakbar takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Harbor connects with a jab.
Muakbar tries to bum rush Harbor with a series of wild strikes but Harbor uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Muakbar throws a wild body kick that Harbor sees coming a mile off.

Muakbar throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Harbor was covering up waiting for the punch and Muakbar finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Muakbar scoring with some ground and pound.
Harbor is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Harbor has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Muakbar can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muakbar postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Muakbar is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Muakbar working some strikes from top position.
Muakbar landing some decent shots from guard.
Muakbar lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Harbor looking for a sweep. Not yet Harbor, not yet.
Harbor trying to control the position.
Muakbar trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

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.
Muakbar throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Harbor works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Muakbar throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Harbor looking for a sweep. Not yet Harbor, not yet.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Harbor avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Muakbar lands a nice looking body shot.
Harbor shoots for a takedown but Muakbar saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for James Harbor. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Muakbar pushes Harbor up against the cage in a clinch.
Harbor blocks an uppercut.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Harbor misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Harbor has been working on his balance at Den of Tears (22 coaches, $625 fee), so perhaps that has help him stuff some of the takedown attempts by Muakbar.
Muakbar tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Harbor.
Harbor lands an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harbor working aggressively here.
Muakbar fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Muakbar blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Harbor tries to work over Muakbar's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Muakbar lands a shoulder strike.
Muakbar leaning against his opponent.
Muakbar lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Muakbar is trying to stall.
Harbor stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Muakbar tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Muakbar tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Muakbar keeps control of Harbor as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Harbor misses with a hook to the ribs.

Harbor's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Muakbar misses with a wild body shot.
Harbor scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Muakbar throws a good cross that connects.
Harbor throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Muakbar takes a swing at Harbor's ribcage but misses.
Muakbar throws a body shot but no joy.
Muakbar throws a hook but Harbor blocks it.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Harbor drives through with a takedown into Muakbar's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Muakbar is pulling down on Harbor's head. It's preventing any offense from Harbor, at least for the moment.
Harbor wants to control from the top but Muakbar keeps moving.
Harbor will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Harbor seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Haji Muakbar dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

A swing and a miss from Muakbar.
Harbor takes one to the side of the head.
Muakbar misses the shot to the body.
Muakbar wants to land a leg kick but Harbor is out of range.
Muakbar scores with a nice head shot.
Haji Muakbar seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Muakbar throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Harbor sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Harbor shoots in but no luck this time.

Muakbar darts in and clinches Harbor up against the cage.
Muakbar blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Muakbar throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Harbor tries to break the clinch but Muakbar is controlling the position.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Muakbar stalling in the clinch but Harbor improves position.
Muakbar tries to break free but Harbor pushes him back against the cage.
Muakbar swings wildly with an uppercut but Harbor uses good head movement to avoid it.
Muakbar lands a right hand.

Harbor manages to break the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muakbar fails to land with a series of punches.
Harbor appears to be looking for a counter takedown.
Haji Muakbar seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Harbor throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Muakbar throws a big shot that misses.
Haji Muakbar is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Sloppy strikes from Muakbar. Those never looked like landing.
Muakbar gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Muakbar throws a hook but Harbor avoids it easily.
Muakbar throws a left and a right that both miss

and Harbor counters with a nice double leg into side control. Muakbar won't be happy with that.
Harbor is looking to take a break and control but Muakbar is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Muakbar tries to buck Harbor off but Harbor is having none of it.
Harbor trying to control the position but Muakbar is working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harbor works to advance to full mount. Muakbar defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Harbor in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Muakbar is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Harbor is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Muakbar can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Harbor avoids the attempt from Muakbar to control.
Harbor tries to control but Muakbar wriggling away.
Muakbar tries to hold on but Harbor pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Muakbar has worked his way to half guard, taking advantage of Harbor's lack of action.
Harbor wants to control but Muakbar is keeping him busy.
Harbor wants to pass the guard but Muakbar is defending well.
James Harbor overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Muakbar is trying to escape back to his feet but Harbor uses the scramble to pass into side control.

Harbor is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Muakbar is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

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 wants to control for a moment but Muakbar uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Muakbar is staying active underneath Harbor, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Muakbar controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Harbor throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that James Harbor will probably get the nod.
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!

A punch lands to the side of Harbor 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Muakbar throws a body kick that misses.
Muakbar takes one to the chin there.
Harbor moves out of range of the strikes.
Harbor tries to counter with a takedown but Muakbar is quick to defend against it.
Muakbar throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Muakbar misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Harbor moves out of range of the strikes.
Muakbar misses with a looping left.
Harbor avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Harbor lands a glancing blow to the side of Muakbar's head.
Muakbar throws a quick inside leg kick.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harbor ducks under a wild hook from Muakbar.
Harbor half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Muakbar with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Harbor to score with a decent uppercut.
Harbor is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
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!
Harbor defending well as Muakbar loads up on a big left hand.
Muakbar looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Muakbar moves in looking to clinch but Harbor pushes him off.
Muakbar misses with a two punch combination.
Harbor half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Harbor throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Muakbar on the side of the head.
The crowd cheers as Harbor lands an impressive looking overhand right. Muakbar doesn't seem phased though.
Muakbar takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
A looping hook to the body misses from Muakbar. Harbor does a little dance to reset his feet.
Harbor feinted with a counter takedown.
Muakbar misses with the combination.
Muakbar misses with a straight left.
Harbor moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Muakbar loads up on a big right hand but Harbor slips the punch.
Harbor scores with a punch to the head.

Muakbar moves into the clinch successfully.

Muakbar manages to break the clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Muakbar connects with a body shot that sends Harbor's belly button to the back.
Muakbar ducks under a wild hook from Harbor.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Muakbar. Harbor does a little dance to reset his feet.
Harbor feinted with a counter takedown.
Harbor closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Muakbar throws an overhand right that lands on Harbor's shoulder, as Harbor tries to avoid the shot.
Harbor is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

Harbor scores with a takedown into Muakbar's guard.
Harbor trying to control the position from guard on top but Muakbar is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Muakbar looking to control.
Muakbar wants to sweep but no luck.
Harbor wants to control from the top but Muakbar keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harbor seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Muakbar lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Harbor looking for subs off his back but Muakbar has passed one foot through into half guard.
Muakbar wants to pass the guard but Harbor is defending well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harbor tries to roll over but Muakbar keeps him under control.
Muakbar thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Muakbar throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Muakbar missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Muakbar thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Harbor's head.
Muakbar throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Haji Muakbar.
I think Muakbar has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 28:29
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 28:29
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Haji Muakbar!
Haji Muakbar decided to hype himself up post fight. It was going well but he went on about it a bit too long and the crowd turned on him a little.