PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between J Palermo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Martin Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Palermo is coming into this fight with a significant injury, which will no doubt have an effect on his cardio. J Palermo looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Palermo
vs
Harrison

164 cm
18
148 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

185 cm
18
154 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Big heart

BJJ White Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of London, J Palermo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Martin Harrison!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, James Atkins and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harrison fakes the leg kick and cracks Palermo in the body.
Palermo looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Harrison lands with a nice body kick.
A chopping leg kick lands by Harrison.
Harrison buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.

Harrison scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Harrison with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Palermo wants to improve his position but Harrison is controlling well.
Harrison not doing much here.
Harrison tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Palermo.
Harrison content to control rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Harrison is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harrison sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Harrison really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Palermo. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Harrison trying to control but Palermo is having none of it.
Harrison controlling the pace for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Let's hope that Harrison has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

Despite being in the dominant position, Martin Harrison just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Harrison throws a quick inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palermo takes a body kick right on the floating rib. Ouchie.
Harrison scoring well with a low kick there.
Harrison is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Harrison feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to Palermo's calf.

Harrison takes the fight into the clinch.

Harrison breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Palermo misses with a takedown
and Harrison counters with a low kick, right behind Palermo 's knee.
Palermo takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Palermo stuffs the takedown.

Harrison shoots in and bounces Palermo off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Harrison postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Harrison decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Harrison digs a good body shot into Palermo's ribs.
Harrison throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Palermo's waist but Palermo gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Harrison off to one side.
Palermo tries to clinch but Harrison moves away

and Harrison counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Palermo's guard now.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for leaving it all in the cage!
Palermo punching from the bottom.
Palermo not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Harrison must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Harrison trying to control but Palermo is working from the bottom.
Harrison sitting in guard here, content to control.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Harrison trying to control the position from guard on top but Palermo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harrison wants to pass the guard but Palermo is keeping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Martin Harrison dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Harrison shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Harrison was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Harrison landing strikes from the mount.
Harrison wants to control the pace but Palermo is squirming around nicely.
Harrison controlling from mount.
Palermo might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Palermo defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Harrison.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Harrison controlling from mount.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Palermo tries to reverse the position but Harrison maintains control.
Harrison looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Harrison controlling the position easily from mount.
Palermo keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Harrison can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Palermo is looking to escape.

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.

Despite being in the dominant position, Martin Harrison just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Harrison tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Palermo swivels and escapes.

Harrison closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Harrison lands in his opponent's guard.

Palermo throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Harrison escapes and throws Palermo's legs to the side, diving into side control!

Harrison stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palermo misses with a double jab

so Harrison counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Harrison would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Harrison tries to free his leg and advance position but Palermo is retaining full guard.
Harrison trying to control but Palermo is working from the bottom.

Harrison decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Harrison closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Harrison lands in his opponent's guard.
Harrison pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Palermo is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Palermo is trying to keep Harrison in close.
Harrison controls from within his opponent's guard.
Palermo looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Harrison 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.
Harrison throws a big right hand that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Martin Harrison showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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!

Harrison lands with a cross to side of his opponent's head.
Harrison looks for a takedown but Palermo sprawls well.
Palermo misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Harrison counters with a nice body kick.

Harrison shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Palermo's guard.
Palermo trying to keep a closed guard but Harrison is proving a slippery customer.
Harrison won't allow Palermo to sweep him here.
Harrison has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Palermo is proving hard to escape from.
Palermo not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Harrison trying to stand up but can't free himself from Palermo's guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Palermo manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Harrison manages to get himself to full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Harrison trying to control the position here.
Palermo passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Harrison is trying to improve his position.
Palermo taking a break here but Harrison is having none of it and regains half guard.
Harrison trying to hold on to Palermo's head to control him but Palermo postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Palermo prevents Harrison from improving his position.
Harrison is pressing down on Palermo's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Palermo working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Harrison is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Palermo is controlling him.
Harrison avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Palermo trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Martin Harrison has got the better of the ground game so far.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Harrison scores with a spinning back kick!
Nice sprawl there from Palermo as Harrison shoots in.
Palermo fails with the takedown
and Harrison counters with a right hand to the body.
Palermo stuffs the takedown.
J Palermo has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Martin Harrison.

Harrison drives through and clinches with Palermo against the cage.
Harrison tries to pull guard but Palermo won't allow it.
Harrison drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Palermo gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Palermo stops a takedown attempt from Harrison.

Harrison wants the takedown. Palermo is fighting it off but Harrison persists and manages to bring the fight to the ground, ending up in Palermo's guard against the cage.
Palermo throws some sloppy strikes off his back.
Harrison is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

Palermo working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Harrison doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Harrison manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harrison postures up.
Palermo can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Harrison controls the pace.

Harrison wants to stand up, so he's looking to wriggle free of Palermo's closed guard. He's half up but Palermo has locked on to an arm! Uh oh! Palermo pivots and extends the arm, Harrison falls face first to the mat and taps??... does he?? YES! He's tapping! Excellent counter grappling there by Palermo! Well done that man!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:51 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). J Palermo!