PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Phil Harrass (ranked 946 p4p, 52 weight class) and Yuri Sorokov (ranked 1427 p4p, 67 weight class). Harrass comes into the arena with Tomorrow blaring out of the sound system. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Harrass
vs
Sorokov

171 cm
30
148 lbs
7 - 9 - 0

178 cm
33
146 lbs
19 - 16 - 0

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Olympic wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

RAGS of a RONIN

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Phil Harrass!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 19 - 16 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Yuri Sorokov!
The judges for this bout are Stewart Dunkirk, Robert Twigg and George Francis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sorokov has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Harrass.
Phil Harrass seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Sorokov walks into a straight right hand from Harrass.
Harrass throws a lazy right hand but Sorokov sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Harrass throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Sorokov on the side of the head.
Sorokov jabs Harrass right on the nose. Harrass blinks but takes it well.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Harrass enables Sorokov to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Harrass manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Sorokov throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Sorokov controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Harrass is trying to keep Sorokov in close.
Sorokov has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Harrass managing to control the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Harrass preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrass controlling the position.
Sorokov slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Harrass wants to control but Sorokov postures up.
Sorokov scoring with punches and elbows.

Sorokov tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Sorokov has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Sorokov lands a decent elbow from side control.
Harrass wants to control but Sorokov postures up.
Harrass is trying to improve his position.
Sorokov postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harrass can't do much from the bottom here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harrass manages to work his way to half guard, despite Sorokov's best efforts.
Sorokov working over Harrass with some ground and pound. Harrass looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Sorokov winds up and cracks Harrass with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Sorokov connects with a nice short shot to Harrass's temple.
Sorokov wants to free his trapped foot but Harrass is holding on for dear life with his legs.
Harrass controlling the position for now.
Sorokov is thwarting Harrass's attempts to control the position.

Harrass is defending against the submission attempts here by Sorokov.
Sorokov prevents Harrass from improving his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sorokov missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Harrass blocking the ground and pound attempt from Sorokov.

Sorokov is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Harrass sees it coming and defends easily.
Harrass is trying to get back to full guard.
Sorokov is thwarting Harrass's attempts to control the position.
Harrass keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Sorokov scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sorokov throwing shots but Harrass is blocking nicely.
Sorokov throws a strike but Harrass avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Harrass is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Sorokov throws a big right hand that misses.
Sorokov cracks Harrass with a solid left hand.
Sorokov is pushing down on Harrass's leg trying to pass to half guard. Harrass is fighting to maintain full guard but Sorokov has managed to sneak the leg through.
Sorokov throwing shots but Harrass is blocking nicely.
Harrass is looking for a sweep. Sorokov is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Sorokov wants to free his trapped foot but Harrass is holding on for dear life with his legs.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Sorokov keeps trying to improve his position.
Harrass makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Harrass.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yuri Sorokov dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Sorokov tries to clinch there but Harrass circles away.
Sorokov chopped to the floor by a nice leg kick but he springs right back up before Harrass can pounce on him.
Horrible takedown attempt by Harrass or perhaps it was just good defense by Sorokov, which made it look bad.
Sorokov dodges the punch combination from Harrass.

Sorokov clinches with his opponent.
The referee calls for Harrass to work.

Harrass has double underhooks and is working for a body lock takedown. He's got it. The fighters land in half guard but Sorokov regains guard immediately.
Sorokov looking for a sweep. Not yet Sorokov, not yet.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sorokov trying to keep a closed guard but Harrass is proving a slippery customer.
Harrass preventing the sweep.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrass trying to control but Sorokov is working from the bottom.
Sorokov is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Sorokov wants to sweep but no luck.
Harrass wants to control from the top but Sorokov keeps moving.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.

Sorokov is looking for a triangle but Harrass pushes his legs off easily.

Harrass got a little sloppy there for a moment and Sorokov has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Harrass has managed to get both his arms back between Sorokov's legs - danger averted.
Sorokov wants to sweep here but Harrass controlling him for the moment.
Harrass chips away with some ground and pound.

That's two 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.
Harrass trying to control but Sorokov is working from the bottom.
Sorokov looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Harrass puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Harrass slows the pace down in half guard.
Sorokov is trying to get back to full guard.
Sorokov wants to control the action here but instead Harrass manages to pass to full mount!
Sorokov is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sorokov keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Harrass lands a heavy elbow.
Harrass is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Sorokov can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Harrass raining down shots from the mount!
Harrass working Sorokov over with strikes here.
Harrass lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sorokov is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Harrass looking to finish Sorokov with some ground and pound. This is bad for Sorokov!
Harrass looking to control but Sorokov is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harrass looking to finish Sorokov with some ground and pound. This is bad for Sorokov!
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Harrass avoids the attempt from Sorokov to control.
Harrass trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Harrass has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Sorokov's face.
Sorokov is trying desperately to improve position.
Harrass cracks Sorokov with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Harrass controlling the position easily from mount.
Harrass with good strikes from the mount here!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Phil Harrass dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Harrass misses with a right hand
and Sorokov counters with a nice uppercut.
Sorokov uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Harrass.
A countering left hand to the body from Sorokov misses.
Harrass attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Harrass lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Harrass throws a hook but Sorokov blocks it.
Sorokov throws a right and a left that both miss.
Harrass connects with a nice looking jab.

Sorokov is rocked!
Harrass swinging wildly here.
Sorokov is still on wobbly legs! Can Harrass finish him?
Sorokov looks to throw the jab but Harrass is out of range.
Harrass drops Sorokov with a big left hand! Sorokov is injured, injured bad! Harrass jumps in and finished him with strikes! The fight is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:36 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Phil Harrass!
After the fight, Phil Harrass was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.