PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Raymond Donde (ranked 1743 p4p, 202 weight class) and Akira Harada (ranked 1300 p4p, 152 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Donde
vs
Harada

180 cm
27
155 lbs
15 - 8 - 0

169 cm
26
166 lbs
17 - 11 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

Sportivité

Sportivité
UnderGround Supplements

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 15 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Raymond Donde!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 17 - 11 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Akira Harada!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Dean Styles and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harada getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Harada swings widly with a right hand

and Donde counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

Harada is scooting his butt against the cage and has managed to get back to his feet. Donde presses him back against the cage, presumably looking to take the fight back to the mat.
Harada wants to break the clinch but can't.

Donde lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Donde sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Harada wants to get back to his feet.
Harada is trying to maintain the position but Donde is very close to passing his half guard.
Donde stops Harada from getting back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Harada kicks off Donde and gets to his feet.
A decent looking cross lands there for Harada.
Donde fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Harada tries to clinch but Donde moves out of range.
Harada tests Donde's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Harada pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Donde works Harada's body with a nice hook.
Harada moves to clinch but Donde breaks away

and Donde counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Harada is wriggling around but Donde manages to pass to half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Harada trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harada's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Donde will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Donde tries to control but Harada wriggling away.
Harada is really trying hard to get back to his feet.
Harada is trying to escape the mount.
Harada felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Harada wants to control but Donde is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Donde controlling from mount.
Harada working to try and regain half guard.
Donde controlling his opponent.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Harada tries to hold on but Donde pushes him away.
Harada swinging wildly from the bottom but he's not landing.
Donde content just to control the position here.
Harada working to try and regain half guard.
Donde controlling the position easily from mount.
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 Raymond Donde will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Harada swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Donde half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Harada misses with an uppercut. Donde saw that one coming.
Donde closes this distance looking for a takedown but Harada circles away.
Harada throws a low kick but Donde avoids it.
Harada lands a jab to the head.
Donde shoots for a double leg takedown but Harada sprawls well. He's pushed Donde's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harada scores with a jab to the head.
Donde ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Donde tries to counter with a takedown but Harada is quick to defend against it.
Harada scores with a nice right hand.

Oooooh!!! Harada has knocked Donde down with a huge combo! Harada steps away and waves a wobbly Donde back to his feet! This one might not go much longer!

Donde is rocked!

It looks like Raymond Donde has been cut.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Donde throws a wild body kick that Harada sees coming a mile off.
It seemed like Harada was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Oh Donde is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Akira Harada seems to be getting the better of the standup.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Harada crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Donde - the referee stops the clock and Harada gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Donde. Harada manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Donde seems to have got his legs back now.
Donde blocks the body kick.
Donde fails with the takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Raymond Donde. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harada throws a big shot that misses.
Nice body punch from Harada.
Donde is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Donde looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Harada is fending him off so far but Donde persists. Nope, Harada circles away and we're back to standing.
Harada might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Harada tried to score with a low kick but Donde checks it.
Harada lands a nice shot to the body.
Donde takes one on the chin but keeps coming.

Harada forces Donde back against the cage and clinches.
Harada has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Harada wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Harada wants to get back to striking at distance but Donde won't allow it.

Donde gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Harada regains guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Harada is looking to sweep but instead, Donde has passed into half guard.
Donde is looking to take a break and control but Harada is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harada trying to control from the bottom.
Harada is trying to get back to full guard.
Raymond Donde overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Harada looks like he's trying to stand up.
Donde is taking a breather. Harada says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
Harada trying to control here but he's found himself mounted! Oh no!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Donde looking to control but Harada is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Harada is desperately trying to improve his position but Donde has a good base and remains in mount.
Harada wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Donde controlling from mount.

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.
Harada bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Harada wants to control from the top but Donde keeps moving.

Donde working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Harada doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Harada manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Harada working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Harada lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

Donde is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Donde wants to sweep but no luck.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Akira Harada showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Raymond Donde's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Decent striking displayed by Harada there.
Harada lands a glancing blow to the side of Donde's head.
Harada tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Donde manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Donde feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Harada throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Donde on the side of the head.
Donde scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Harada throws a hook but Donde blocks it.
Harada gets off balance looking for a body kick

and Donde counters with a shoot takedown. Harada fights it but they end up in guard.
Harada looking to hit a scissor sweep but Donde is one step ahead there.
Harada wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Donde prevents Harada from getting back to his feet.
Harada trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Harada is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Donde is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Harada controls Donde momentarily but Donde frees himself.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Harada misses the jab.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Donde keeps Harada at a distance using the push kick.
Donde slips under a jab.
Donde moves out of range of the leg kick from Harada.
Harada throws a leg kick

and Donde counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Harada wants to get back to his feet but Donde passes into half guard.

Harada is looking for a sweep. Donde is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Harada is trying to stand.
Harada is concentrating on defense, preventing Donde from advancing position.
Well, if Donde is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harada pushes Donde off but Donde dives into side control.
Harada is trying to control Donde's posture but Donde avoids it.
Harada bucks up and tries to throw Donde off but instead Donde has got his back!

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.
Good control from Donde.
Donde avoiding Harada 's attempts to control his hands.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Donde trying to secure his dominant position for a moment - making sure Harada doesn't escape.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

And that's the end of the fight!
Raymond Donde showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Donde 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 29:28
Judge Dean Styles scores the fight 29:28
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 29:29

In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Raymond Donde!
Raymond Donde decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.