PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Braven Harris (ranked 2000 p4p, 267 weight class) and Dave Beast (ranked 1798 p4p, 242 weight class). Harris comes to the cage accompanied by Karma Chameleon . This should be fireworks!

Harris
vs
Beast

186 cm
23
190 lbs
8 - 3 - 0

190 cm
23
196 lbs
11 - 6 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Freebok (85% Laundry)

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 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Braven Harris!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dave Beast!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Tatsuya Matsuyama and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Beast doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Harris counters with a straight right hand.
A jab from Harris misses.
Beast staying out of range there.
Beast uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Harris.
Beast misses with a left hand
and Harris counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Beast thinking.
Harris connects with a nice looking jab.

It looks like Dave Beast has been cut.

Harris closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
I was talking to Harris's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
Beast has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Harris after a bit of a struggle.

Harris breaks from the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harris swings widly with a right hand
and Beast cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Beast throws a big shot that misses.
Harris throws a jab but it's blocked by Beast.
Harris fails in his attempt to clinch.
Beast feints the counter takedown.
Beast scores with a hook.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris with a hook.
Harris lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Harris ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Beast moves away.
Braven Harris seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Beast throws a jab but it's blocked by Harris.
Harris looks to throw the jab but Beast is out of range.
Beast is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Harris fails to land with a series of punches.
Beast throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Harris counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Harris rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Beast counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Beast postures up in Harris's guard and throws a big left but Harris blocks it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Beast throwing strikes but missing.
Beast working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Harris seems keen to control Beast's posture.
Harris wants to stand up but Beast is controlling him.
Harris looking for a sweep. Not yet Harris, not yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Harris is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Harris wants to sweep but no luck.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Beast from controlling successfully.
Harris pulls Beast in close to his closed guard and prevents Beast from doing any damage or advancing position.
Harris looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Beast puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Harris tries to roll over but Beast keeps him under control.
Beast wants to control but Harris is keeping him busy.
Beast tries to pass the half guard into mount. Harris knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beast with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Beast scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Beast prevents Harris from improving his position.
Harris is controlling Beast's position as best he can from this difficult position.
Beast is nestled in close to Harris, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Harris gets full guard.
In the pre-fight buildup videos we saw Beast working his ground and pound in the gym.
Harris looking for a sweep. Not yet Harris, not yet.
Beast scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Harris holds on and takes a little breather.
Beast stops Harris from standing up.
Harris has his hands on Beast's head, controlling the position.
Harris has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beast with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Beast scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Beast won't allow Harris to sweep him here.
Beast sitting in guard here, content to control.
Harris is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Harris wants to sweep but no luck.
Beast cracks Harris with a solid left hand.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Beast from controlling successfully.
Harris pulls Beast in close to his closed guard and prevents Beast from doing any damage or advancing position.
Harris looking for a sweep. Not yet Harris, not yet.
Beast working some strikes from top position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Braven Harris will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Dave Beast's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Beast misses with an uppercut.
Harris leaves Beast with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Harris lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
Beast takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

Beast looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Harris!

Harris throws Beast to one side and escapes!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
A swing and a miss from Beast.
Beast uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Harris.
Harris throws a right and a left that Beast avoids nicely.
Harris is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Beast.
Harris throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Beast.
Braven Harris is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris tries to bum rush Beast with a series of wild strikes but Beast uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Beast keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Harris.
Beast misses with an uppercut.

Beast gets the takedown into side control.
Harris is not content to let Beast control the position.
Harris is looking to reverse the position.
Harris manages to get back to half guard.
Beast wants to take a breather but Harris is having none of it.
Beast looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Harris is looking to control Beast's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Harris avoid being mounted?
Beast working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Beast is thwarting Harris's attempts to control the position.
Harris is staying active underneath Beast, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harris tries to roll over but Beast keeps him under control.
Harris is working hard here to advance position.
Harris has hold of Beast's hands but Beast slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Harris tries to roll over but Beast keeps him under control.
Harris is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Beast can do to turn this around?
Beast thows a huge punch but Harris dodges it nicely.
Harris is trying to get back to full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Harris wants to control but Beast is keeping busy.
Harris is trying to stand back up but Beast is controlling him

Beast is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris trying to control but Beast postures up.

Beast looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Harris is refusing to be controlled, as Beast sits in half guard.
Beast lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

Beast is looking for a kimura but Harris is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Beast to get the leverage.
Harris preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Beast prevents Harris from improving his position.

That's four 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.
Harris blocking the ground and pound attempt from Beast.
Beast is keen to just control but Harris is a slippery customer.
Harris is looking to improve his position.
Beast is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Harris trying to control from the bottom.
Beast thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Harris's head.
Beast not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Harris trying to control here.
Harris is trying to get back to full guard.
Harris keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Beast working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Harris slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Beast throwing strikes but missing.
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 Braven Harris will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Dave Beast's cut.
That's time! Harris's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Harris dodges the punch combination from Beast.
Beast works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Beast tries to work over Harris's front leg with a kick but Harris checks it.
Beast looks to land a right hand but Harris moved out of range.
Beast avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Beast feints the counter takedown.
Harris throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Beast sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Beast throws a looping overhand right but Harris ducks down to avoid it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harris moves out of range of the strikes.
Harris throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Beast lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Beast shoots in looking for a takedown but Harris manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Beast's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Nice cross by Harris.
Beast throws a lazy right hand but Harris sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
A telegraphed right hand from Beast misses the target.
Harris has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Beast finds it's way round the side to connect with Harris's head.
Beast fails with a takedown attempt.
The fighters circling - Harris throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Harris throws the left hand but Beast avoids the punch easily.
Braven Harris is winning the standup battle so far.
Beast fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Braven Harris has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dave Beast.

Harris has taken the fight to the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Beast is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Harris can't fight it off and eventually Beast manages to take the fight to the floor. Harris looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Harris 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.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Beast stops Harris from standing up.
Harris seems keen to control Beast's posture.
Dave Beast has got the better of the ground game so far.
Harris looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Beast landing some decent shots from guard.
Beast throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Harris works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Harris lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

Harris wants to get up but he can't break Beast's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beast thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.

Beast is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Harris defends well.
Harris won't allow Beast to sweep him here.
Harris is looking to stand up but Beast won't let him.
Beast wants to sweep but no luck.
Beast bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Harris's guard.

Harris wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
Beast postures up.
Beast stops Harris from standing up.
Beast content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Beast is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Harris pulls Beast in close to prevent any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beast keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Harris's head.
Harris looking for a sweep. Not yet Harris, not yet.
Harris is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Harris wants to stand and escape but Beast is having none of it.
Beast working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Beast makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Beast throwing strikes but missing.
Beast postures up.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Beast trying to control the position from guard on top but Harris is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Beast trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dave Beast comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Harris has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 29:28
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Braven Harris!
Braven Harris managed to slip a mention for his sponsors, IniTech Nutrition , into his post fight interview.