PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between John Lord (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Zander Harland (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Zander Harland is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Lord
vs
Harland

167 cm
27
150 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

165 cm
21
152 lbs
5 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Counter fighter
Granite chin

Spartan Nutrition

Machiavelli Boutique
Instinct

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, John Lord!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Zander Harland!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Sam Margolis and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Lord throws a good cross that connects.
We can't be sure of the tactics at this early stage but we have heard that Harland has been working on his takedowns a lot in the buildup to the fight and we can only assume he's going to look to take this to the mat.

Harland closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Lord quickly recovers to half guard.
Harland not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Harland prevents Lord from standing back up.
Lord tries to get to full guard but Harland has control of the leg.
Harland trying to control from half guard but Lord is working away.
Lord wants to get back to his feet.
Lord is looking for a sweep. Harland is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Lord blocking the ground and pound attempt from Harland.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Harland scores with a nice strike.

Harland clinches.
Lord trying to control the position but instead, Harland has worked for underhooks and has pushed Lord into the cage.
Harland avoiding damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harland throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Lord tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Lord has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Lord avoids a wild elbow strike from Harland.
Lord misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A head punch on the inside from Lord fails to land.
Harland lands a nice elbow from the clinch.

It looks like John Lord has been cut.
Lord has a couple of punches blocked by Harland.

Harland gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Lord avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Lord keeping moving, preventing Harland from controlling successfully.
Harland loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lord wants to get back to his feet but Harland is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lord avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Lord holds on and takes a little breather.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Lord working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Harland.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Harland moves out of range of the strikes.
A left lands for Lord.
Lord moves away from the strike by Harland.
A telegraphed right hand from Harland misses the target.
A big left from Lord misses.
Harland takes one to the side of the head.

Harland 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.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Harland trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lord is on top in guard.
Lord stopping the sweep attempt from Harland.
Harland has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Lord not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Harland wants to sweep but no luck.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Harland bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Lord's head.
Nice body punch from Lord.
Lord definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Lord uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Harland.

Harland has taken the fight to the clinch.
Lord misses with a short punch on the inside.
Lord is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Harland struggles to land a body shot inside as Lord controls his hands.
Lord can't find room to land a body shot as Harland controls the action.
Lord scores with a shoulder strike.
Lord has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Harland scores with a hook to the body.
The fighters are starting to get sweaty, which will make takedowns a bit more tricky.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Harland.

Harland has clasped his hands together around Lord's back... aaand, he's got a takedown into side control. Nicely done.
Lord can't do much from the bottom here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zander Harland dominated that round.
The cut man is working on John Lord's cut.
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.

Lord throws a left and a right that both miss

and Harland counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Harland working the head and body with strikes.
Harland not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Lord tries to roll over but Harland keeps him under control.
Lord is trying to control but can't.
Harland is looking to take a break and control but Lord is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Lord tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Harland manages to move to mount!
Lord is in all sorts of trouble here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harland working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Harland has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Harland in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Harland lands with some strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Lord is looking to get to half guard.
Lord is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Lord wants to control but Harland is having none of it.
Lord is trying to get back to his feet but can't.
Harland with the ground and pound from mount.
Harland with good strikes from the mount here!
Harland lands a big shot to the head and Lord winces in pain. He's tapped out due to strikes!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Zander Harland!
A very excited looking Zander Harland made sure he remembered to thank all the fans both in the arena and on the internet. He said all the coolest people spend all day on MMA websites, which got a big reaction.
John Lord was interviewed post fight and said 'With God's guidance, I will come back stronger and better. May the Lord be with you all.'.