PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between James Parker (ranked 3276 p4p, 3636 weight class) and David Harris (ranked 367 p4p, 405 weight class). David Harris will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Parker
vs
Harris

189 cm
25
190
1 - 0 - 0

189 cm
25
192
0 - 1 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

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 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, James Parker!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, David Harris!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Matheus Silva and Thiago Cunha.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harris shoots for a double leg takedown but Parker sprawls well. He's pushed Harris's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harris misses with the body kick

and Parker counters with a nice double leg into side control. Harris won't be happy with that.

Harris throws Parker to one side and escapes!
Harris looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Parker is fending him off so far but Harris persists. Nope, Parker circles away and we're back to standing.
Parker moves out of range as Harris throws a body kick.
Harris fails with the takedown

and Parker counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Parker.
James Parker has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of David Harris.
Harris jumps guard but Parker turns him against the cage and keeps the fight standing.
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!
Parker lands a hook to the side of the head.

Harris pulls guard successfully.
Parker showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Harris is controlling Parker's posture.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Parker is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Parker from controlling successfully.
Parker works over Harris with some ground and pound from guard.
Parker is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Parker postures up.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Harris tries to close the distance and clinch but Parker swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Parker tries to clinch but Harris is having none of it.
Harris shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Parker as he jumps to the side.
Harris shoots for a double leg takedown but Parker sprawls well. He's pushed Harris's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harris shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Parker tries to keep at a distance but Harris has taken the fight into the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Parker prevents Harris from breaking the clinch.
Harris drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Parker breaks from the clinch.

Parker closes the distance and clinches.

Parker jumps guard and drags Harris to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Harris controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Parker pulls Harris in close to prevent any damage.

Parker manages to escape and get back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harris tries to close the distance and clinch but Parker swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Parker avoids the head kick by Harris.
Parker shoots for a double leg takedown but Harris sprawls well. He's pushed Parker's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Harris fails with an attempt to clinch.
Parker takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Harris throws a shot to the body.
Harris thows a leg kick but Parker checks it

and Parker counters with a nice double leg into guard.
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.
Parker trying to control the position from guard on top but Harris is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

James Parker dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Harris throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Parker's waist but Parker gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Harris off to one side.
Parker lifts his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Harris wants to clinch up but Parker keeps it at a distance.
Parker checks a low kick from Harris.
Parker shoots in but no luck this time.

Parker gets tackled into the cage by Harris. Harris maintains the clinch.
Harris jumps guard but Parker stands there with Harris around his waist. Harris gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Parker pulls guard.
James Parker overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Parker is trying to keep Harris in close.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harris must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Harris stopping the sweep attempt from Parker.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris trying to control the position from guard on top but Parker is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
My spies in Rio Grappling Club inform me that Harris has been getting involved in the gym's BJJ sparring sessions. Let's see whether that pays dividends!
Parker is looking to sweep but instead, Harris has passed into half guard.

Harris stands up out of the half guard.

Parker drives through with a takedown into Harris's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Parker from controlling successfully.
Harris working a defensive guard here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Parker in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Harris wants to get back to his feet but Parker is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Parker showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Parker from controlling successfully.
Parker looking to pass the guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris working a defensive guard here.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Parker is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Harris can do to turn this around?
Harris shoots in looking for a takedown but Parker manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Harris's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
James Parker has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of David Harris.
Harris looks to land a body kick but Parker moved away.
Parker fails with a takedown attempt.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Harris.
Parker tries to work over Harris's front leg with a kick but Harris checks it.
No luck for Harris with that takedown attempt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Parker looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Harris has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Parker is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Parker stalls.
Harris is trying to pull guard but Parker turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Parker lands a body punch in the clinch.

Parker gets control of Harris's arms and successfully pulls guard. Parker will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Harris prevents Parker from getting back to his feet.

Parker has his foot on Harris's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Harris works his way back into a safe position though.

Parker had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Harris defends it easily.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that James Parker will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Harris shoots in looking for a takedown. Parker tries to sprawl out of it but Harris keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Parker manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Harris misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Parker darts in looking for a takedown but Harris gets double underhooks and turns Parker into the cage.

Parker breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Harris avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Harris darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Parker changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Harris tries to avoid it but Parker manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Harris to the ground. Harris escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

Parker clinches.
Harris tries to break free but Parker pushes him back against the cage.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Harris.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris is trying to push Parker away but Parker has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Parker breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Parker clinches with his opponent.
Harris tries to pull guard but Parker won't allow it.
James Parker has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of David Harris.
Parker working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Parker avoiding damage.

Parker manages to break the clinch.
Parker circles away from the clinch attempt.
Harris looks to land a body kick but Parker moved away.
Parker throws a big counter combination but Harris scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.

Harris has managed to clinch.

Parker turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Parker manages to end up in side control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Parker scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Harris to see if he's OK.
Harris is looking for a sweep.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Parker controls the position.
Parker wants to control but Harris is keeping him busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Harris is looking to regain half guard here but Parker keeps moving and retains side control.
Harris is trying to escape the position but Parker is controlling the position.
Harris is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
We've been hearing good reports from Parker's training camp. Apparently he has been rolling around with some good quality BJJ practitioners and has been sharpening his skills. Let's see if that has an impact on the fight today.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Parker taking a breather here.
Harris is trying to work for a sweep but Parker has mounted him!
Parker scoring with strikes but Harris is staying in there.
Harris tries to reverse the position but Parker maintains control.
Parker looking to control but Harris is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harris looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
Parker is hanging on to Harris's back as he tries to escape.

Harris defends a rear naked choke attempt by controlling one of Parker's arms.
Parker is trying to stick to Harris's back but Harris is turning into Parker. He's managed to reverse the position - now he's in Parker's guard. Polite applause from the crowd in appreciation of some nice Jiu Jitsu by Harris.
David Harris has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
James Parker is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Parker is on top in guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Parker showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Parker has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... James Parker!