PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Chong Li (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Li comes to the cage accompanied by Summer Song. Chong Li has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Li
vs
Harrison

185 cm
19
185 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

176 cm
18
185 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Likes ground

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 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Chong Li!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, James Harrison!
The judges for this bout are George Francis, Gwen Towbar and Daniel Franklin.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harrison fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Li stuffs the takedown attempt from Harrison. Harrison gets slowly back to his feet.
Li takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.

Li gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

Li has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Harrison can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Harrison controlling from the top position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harrison works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Harrison seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.
Harrison is looking to take a break and control but Li is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Li!
Li is trying to escape the mount.
Harrison tries to control but Li wriggling away.
Harrison unloading with bombs!
Harrison thowing shots but they're missing.
Li wants to control but Harrison is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Harrison sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Harrison is looking to stand but Harrison has his arms wrapped tightly around him, looking to prevent the damage.
Li is squirming around, avoiding Harrison's attempts to control the action.
Harrison looks gassed!
Li can't escape the position.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Li is working hard here to advance position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison looking to control but Li is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Li is in all sorts of trouble here.
Li is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Harrison trying to control but Li is having none of it.
Harrison misses with a series of strikes from mount. He'll no doubt be working on his ground and pound when he gets back to the gym.

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.
Harrison can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Li is looking to escape.
Harrison pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Harrison is trying to control here but Li has managed to regain half guard.
Li regains full guard. Nicely done.
Harrison has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Li is proving hard to escape from.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Li looking for a guillotine here but Harrison defends easily.
Harrison sitting in guard, not really doing much.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Harrison 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.

Harrison closes the distance and clinches.
Harrison taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Li.

Li breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Harrison changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Li looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Harrison working the head with strikes.
Harrison tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Li lands with an elbow strike from the bottom.
Li struggling a bit here.
Li tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Harrison wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li struggling a bit here.

Harrison decides to stand up, so the ref orders Li to his feet.
Li takes a shot right to the bread basket.
Harrison throws a head kick but Li moves out of range.
Harrison tries to clinch up but Li circles away and keeps his distance.
Harrison misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
James Harrison seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Harrison shoots in but Li avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Nice sprawl there from Li as Harrison shoots in.
Chong Li is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Harrison is breathing heavily.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Harrison.
Chong Li has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of James Harrison.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Li darts in and clinches Harrison up against the cage.
Harrison blocks an elbow strike.

Li lands a takedown into guard.
Li seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Li scoring with some ground and pound.
Li trying to control the position from guard on top but Harrison is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Li stopping the sweep attempt from Harrison.
Li sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Harrison's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li stalling.
Li works his foot free and advances to mount.
Harrison takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Harrison gets back to half guard.
Harrison trying to hold on to Li's head to control him but Li postures up.
Harrison tries to roll over but Li keeps him under control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are battling for position here. Harrison manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Harrison has control of Li's left arm, preventing Li from doing any damage.
Li wants to control from the top but Harrison keeps moving.
Harrison controls Li momentarily but Li frees himself.
Harrison trying to strike off his back.
Li stopping the sweep attempt from Harrison.
Harrison looking to control.
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 Chong Li will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Harrison wants to clinch
and Li counters with a nice body shot.
Harrison throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Li.

Li has taken the fight to the clinch.
Harrison is trying to stall.
Harrison has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Li is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.

Li breaks from the clinch.

Li closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Li lands in his opponent's guard.
Harrison looking to control.
Harrison wants to stand up but Li is controlling him.
Harrison takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Li looking to pass the guard.
Li has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Li stands up over Harrison, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Li slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Li trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Harrison trying to keep a closed guard but Li is proving a slippery customer.
Li tries to free his leg and advance position but Harrison is retaining full guard.
Li sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Li looking to pass the guard.
Li wants to control from the top but Harrison keeps moving.

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.
Harrison trying to keep a closed guard but Li is proving a slippery customer.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Li moves out of range as Harrison throws a body kick.
Li lands a kick to the ribs of his opponent. Nice work there - in and out in a flash.

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

Li drops back looking for a leg! Harrison is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Harrison manages to kick Li off! Li jumps back into Harrison's guard.
Harrison wants to control the position but Li says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Li is thwarting Harrison's attempts to control the position.
Harrison tries to roll over but Li keeps him under control.

Harrison is looking to sinch up a gullotine here but Li pulls his head out easily.
Harrison wants to improve his position but Li is controlling well.
Ground and pound from Li.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Harrison gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Li counters with a takedown into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harrison can't do much from the bottom here.
Harrison is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Li working the ground and pound but he's contacting the mat, not the fighter.
The referee asks Li politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Li prefers to stall for the moment though.
Li wants to lay and pray for a moment but Harrison keeps working.

And that's the end of the fight!
Chong Li showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Li 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 George Francis scores the fight 29:29
Judge Gwen Towbar scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!