PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Harbor (ranked 3092 p4p, 382 weight class) and Pertti Silsa (ranked 4766 p4p, 525 weight class). Silsa has chosen Candy by Robbie Williams as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Harbor
vs
Silsa

184 cm
42
203 lbs
39 - 36 - 2

186 cm
45
197 lbs
36 - 25 - 2

Great wrestler
World class boxer
Very quick

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Zenith Nutrition (160q/225$)

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 39 - 36 - 2, fighting out of Montreal, James Harbor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 36 - 25 - 2, fighting out of Montreal, Pertti Silsa!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Steve Smith and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harbor fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Silsa on the side of the head.
Harbor looks to throw the jab but Silsa is out of range.
Harbor misses the jab.
Harbor thuds a left hand into Silsa's body.
Silsa throws a body shot but no joy.
Silsa throws a jab when Harbor was well out of range.
Harbor lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Silsa is looking to clinch but Harbor is avoiding it.
Silsa misses with a looping left.
Harbor tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Silsa was well out of range. Poor timing from Harbor.
Harbor throws a hook but Silsa blocks it.
Silsa looks like he wants to counter punch here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Silsa defending well as Harbor loads up on a big left hand.
Harbor throws a combination. Silsa tries to block but a couple of punches get through.
Silsa ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Harbor slips a straight right by Silsa.
Harbor changes levels looking for a counter takedown but doesn't commit.
Harbor lands a body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Silsa throws a big shot that misses.
Silsa avoids a punch combination nicely.
Silsa scores with a hook.
Jab by Harbor.
Harbor connects with a nice looking jab.
Harbor lands with an uppercut that bounces Silsa off the cage and back into range.

Silsa gets caught flat footed, as Harbor shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Silsa trying to keep a closed guard but Harbor is proving a slippery customer.
Harbor trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Silsa is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Silsa is pulling down on Harbor's head. It's preventing any offense from Harbor, at least for the moment.
Harbor works over Silsa with some ground and pound from guard.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Harbor scoring with punches to the head and body.

Harbor drops back, looking for a kneebar! Silsa looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Silsa looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Silsa!

Harbor sneaks back into half guard.
Harbor is trying is best to control the position here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Silsa wants to control but Harbor is keeping him busy.
Silsa is looking to stall here but Harbor recovers full guard.
Harbor has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Silsa working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Silsa must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Silsa passes Harbor's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Harbor blocking the ground and pound attempt from Silsa.
Silsa is thwarting Harbor's attempts to control the position.
Silsa is trying to control the action in half guard but Harbor is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

Harbor looking for submissions from an awkward position here.

Silsa is looking for a kimura but Harbor is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Silsa to get the leverage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harbor is trying to control but Silsa passes into side control!

Silsa swings around for an armbar but Harbor sees it coming a mile off and turns beautifully into Silsa's guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harbor in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Harbor scoring with some ground and pound.
Harbor throws a big right hand that misses.
Silsa is trying to control the position but Harbor postures up.
Harbor preventing the sweep.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Harbor passes Silsa's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Harbor is looking for the mount but instead finds himself back in full guard.
Harbor looking to pass the guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Harbor dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Silsa misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Harbor seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
James Harbor is winning the standup battle so far.
Harbor avoids the body shot from Silsa.
A right-left combo lands from Harbor.
Harbor misses with a body shot.
Silsa throws a hook to the side of Harbor's head but Harbor sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Harbor doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Silsa connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Harbor throws a series of strikes that have Silsa backpedaling.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harbor lands with a shot to the body.
Harbor is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Silsa can do to turn this around?
Silsa is looking to clinch but Harbor is avoiding it.
Silsa throws a low kick but Harbor moves out of range easily.
Harbor swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Silsa steps in looking to clinch after the strikes miss from Harbor.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harbor fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Silsa manages to avoid it.
Silsa looks like he wants to counter punch here.
Harbor takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
The fighters circling - Harbor throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Silsa throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Harbor moves out of range as Silsa strikes.
Harbor slips under a jab.
Silsa waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Harbor.
Harbor digs a good hook to Silsa's body.
Harbor dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Silsa throws a lazy uppercut
and Harbor counters with a straight right hand.
Harbor uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Silsa.
Silsa takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Silsa shoots in for a double leg but Harbor sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Harbor. Silsa does a little dance to reset his feet.
Harbor moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Silsa throws a sloppy body shot

and Harbor counters by moving into the clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Harbor.
Harbor stalling in the clinch.
Silsa takes a shot to the head.

Harbor drags the fight down to the ground.
Silsa looking to pass the guard.
Harbor trying to keep a closed guard but Silsa is proving a slippery customer.
Harbor throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
Harbor keeping moving, preventing Silsa from controlling successfully.
Silsa might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Harbor haven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harbor not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Silsa trying to control but Harbor is working from the bottom.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Harbor manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Silsa manages to get himself to full guard.

Harbor working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Harbor is looking to work some ground and pound but Silsa has wrist control.
Harbor trying to control the position from guard on top but Silsa is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harbor loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harbor trying to control but Silsa is working from the bottom.
Harbor is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Harbor looking to pass the guard.
Harbor landing with the ground and pound.
Harbor stopping the sweep attempt from Silsa.
Silsa is trying to control the position but Harbor postures up.
Harbor wants to control from the top but Silsa keeps moving.
Silsa is trying to control the position from the bottom.
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!

Silsa is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Harbor works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.

Silsa gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Harbor throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Silsa works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Harbor postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Harbor cracks Silsa with a solid left hand.
Harbor throws a big right hand that misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harbor connects with a couple of short punches.
Harbor looking to sit in guard and control but Silsa gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.

James Harbor overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Silsa lying in Harbor's guard like a wet fish here, stalling away. Harbor decides he's had enough of all that nonsense - he escapes his hips and locks up an armbar! Wow, that was slick! Silsa taps! This one is aaaaaaaaaaall over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:59 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). James Harbor!
An out of breath James Harbor thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.