PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Luke Shapiro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Shapiro
vs
Harrison

182 cm
18
185 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
18
185 lbs
1 - 2 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Luke Shapiro!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, James Harrison!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Chris Downing and Tiny Johnson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Harrison looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Shapiro!
Shapiro tries to improve his position but instead Harrison has taken his back!
Shapiro trying to control the position but Harrison manages to sink in the hooks.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Harrison's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.

Shapiro defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Harrison is riding his opponent, not letting Shapiro buck him off.
Shapiro trying to control the action but Harrison just sinks the hooks in.
Harrison tries to get the hooks in deep but Shapiro pushed the leg off.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shapiro is trying to stand back up.
Shapiro rolls, trying to escape but Harrison keeps control of the position.
Harrison looking to soften up his opponent with punches.
Shapiro trying to control the action but Harrison just sinks the hooks in.
Shapiro can't escape the position.
Shapiro wants to control his opponent's hands but Harrison gets his hands free.

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.
Shapiro is keeping busy.

Harrison is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Shapiro defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Shapiro trying to control the hands but Harrison won't let him.
Harrison has the hooks in. Shapiro is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.
Harrison tries to keep control of the position but Shapiro is staying busy.
Shapiro tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shapiro is looking to get to half guard.
Harrison controlling his opponent.
Harrison looks gassed!
Shapiro wants to hold on but Harrison pushes him away.
Harrison trying to control but Shapiro is having none of it.
Shapiro is trying desperately to improve position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Shapiro is working hard here to advance position.
Harrison controlling from mount.
Harrison sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Shapiro is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Harrison dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Shapiro has his takedown stuffed

and Harrison counters with a shoot takedown. Shapiro fights it but they end up in guard.

Harrison avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Harrison trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Harrison wants to control from the top but Shapiro keeps moving.
Harrison lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Harrison 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.
Shapiro is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison 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.
Harrison postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Shapiro can't keep his opponent in guard - Harrison advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Shapiro trying to control from the bottom.
Shapiro wants to improve his position but Harrison is controlling well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Shapiro is refusing to be controlled, as Harrison sits in half guard.
Shapiro trying to control here.
Shapiro manages to get to full guard.
Shapiro wants to stand but Harrison is controlling the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison won't allow Shapiro to sweep him here.

Shapiro is working an open guard so Harrison takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Shapiro tries to clinch but Harrison moves away

and Harrison counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Shapiro had isolated an arm as going for an omaplata. Harrison is defending the submission well but is in a very vulnerable position. Shapiro Is leaning forward trying to finish the omaplata but decides to abandon it, and take Harrison's back instead.
Shapiro scores with a nice shot to the head of his opponent. Harrison is looking for a way out.
Harrison turns into Shapiro and is now in his guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harrison stopping the sweep attempt from Shapiro.
Shapiro trying to keep a closed guard but Harrison is proving a slippery customer.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harrison stopping the sweep attempt from Shapiro.
Harrison controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Harrison showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

Harrison tries to clinch up but Shapiro circles away and keeps his distance.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Shapiro.

Harrison moves into the clinch successfully.
Harrison tries to pull guard but Shapiro holds him up against the cage and eventually Harrison drops back down to his feet.
Shapiro fails to pull the fight into his guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Harrison jumps guard and drags Shapiro to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Shapiro stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Harrison swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harrison keeping moving, preventing Shapiro from controlling successfully.
Shapiro is really struggling to control Harrison but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Shapiro looking to sit in guard and control but Harrison gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Shapiro wants to sweep but no luck.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Harrison scoring with some ground and pound.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Harrison connects with a high kick.

Harrison feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Harrison must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Harrison not doing a lot at the moment. He'll have to show some more aggression or the fight will get stood up.
Harrison trying to control the position from guard on top but Shapiro is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harrison controlling from the top position.
James Harrison has got the better of the ground game so far.
Shapiro keeping moving, preventing Harrison from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harrison wants to pass the guard but Shapiro is keeping the position.
Harrison wants to stand but Shapiro is controlling his posture from full guard.
Harrison trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Shapiro has a closed guard, preventing Harrison from standing up.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Shapiro gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Harrison counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Luke Shapiro. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Shapiro is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Harrison is looking for a sweep. Shapiro is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Harrison avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Shapiro.
Shapiro with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Harrison tries to roll over but Shapiro keeps him under control.

And that's the end of the fight!
James Harrison comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Harrison has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Alan Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 27:30
Judge Tiny Johnson scores the fight 27:30

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