PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Red Cup (ranked 5971 p4p, 483 weight class) and Anselmo Harris (ranked 4375 p4p, 401 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Cup
vs
Harris

190 cm
29
183 lbs
6 - 9 - 1

184 cm
34
184 lbs
18 - 12 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
World class boxer
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 9 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Red Cup!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 18 - 12 - 1, fighting out of Amsterdam, Anselmo Harris!
The judges for this bout are Alan Glass, Daniel Franklin and Chris Downing.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cup has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Cup there as he acknowledges the shot.
Harris keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Cup.
Cup lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Cup shoots in for a takedown but Harris shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Cup misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Harris fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cup. Harris does a little dance to reset his feet.
Harris with the counter takedown but Cup avoids it easily.
Harris has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Cup throws a right and a left that both miss.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cup. Harris does a little dance to reset his feet.
Harris tries a counter takedown but it's more of a dummy move, and he uses it to push himself away.
Harris works the jab nicely.
A swing and a miss from Cup.
Cup throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Harris sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Harris tries to clinch but Cup is having none of it.
A punch lands to the side of Cup 's head but he takes it in his stride.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Harris throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Cup tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Harris is in Cup's guard.

Cup has his feet on Harris's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Harris lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Cup at a distance.
Cup shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Harris showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Cup.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Cup tries to keep at a distance but Harris has taken the fight into the clinch.
Cup looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Cup tries to pull guard but Harris holds him up against the cage and eventually Cup drops back down to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Red Cup. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Cup can't break the clinch.
Cup tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

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

Cup has managed to clinch.
Harris scores with a shoulder strike.
Cup blocks an uppercut.
Cup blocks a body shot from Harris.
Cup lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Harris wants to stall.
Harris tries to work over Cup's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

Harris breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Harris moves out of range as Cup strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harris misses with a hook. Cup ducked under it nicely.
Cup throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Harris lands with a good body shot.
A cross from Harris lands.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cup takes one to the side of the head.
Cup takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.

Harris shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Harris showed some decent athleticism there.
Cup tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Harris manages to move to mount!
Harris lands with some strikes.
Cup regains half guard.
Harris throwing shots but Cup is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Harris thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Cup's head.
Cup blocking the ground and pound attempt from Harris.
Cup trying to control but Harris postures up.
Harris throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Harris lands strikes from half guard.
Harris sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Cup defending well though.
Harris lands with a punch from half guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Harris not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Cup has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Harris is working away from the top position though.
Harris is keen to just control but Cup is a slippery customer.
Harris not landing any meaningful shots this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cup taking some punishment here, with Harris in his half guard.
Harris trying to control from half guard but Cup is working away.
Cup wants to stand back up but Harris manages to pass into side control.
Harris trying to control the action but Cup is working from the bottom.
Harris working the head with strikes.
Cup tries to buck Harris off but Harris is having none of it.
Harris landing a few strikes.
Cup is trying to improve his position.
Harris landing a few strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

A decent looking cross lands there for Harris.
Harris lands with a hook. Cup tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Harris scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.

Cup gets caught on his heels momentarily as he allows Harris to score an easy takedown into full guard.
Cup is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Anselmo Harris has got the better of the ground game so far.
Harris trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Harris in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Cup has Harris pulled in close to control his posture.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cup keeping moving, preventing Harris from controlling successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Harris trying to control the position from guard on top but Cup is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cup is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Cup pulls Harris in close to his closed guard and prevents Harris from doing any damage or advancing position.
Harris has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Harris is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Cup throws a lazy right hand but Harris sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.

Harris is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Cup's half guard.
Harris wants to pass the guard but Cup is defending well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harris is trying to control. Cup wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Harris not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Cup is trying to stand back up but Harris is controlling him
Harris with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Harris takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Cup trying to control but Harris postures up.
Cup avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Harris.
Harris working the head and body with strikes.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harris is trying to control. Cup wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Cup keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Cup blocking the ground and pound attempt from Harris.
Harris trying to control from half guard but Cup is working away.
Harris with the ground and pound but Cup uses the opportunity to regain guard.
Harris wants to control from the top but Cup keeps moving.

Cup throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Harris is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cup is trying to keep Harris in close.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harris stands up over Cup, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Harris throws a big right hand that misses.
Harris with a nice head shot there.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Harris accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Harris loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Harris scoring with punches to the head and body.
Harris throwing strikes from guard but Cup blocks nicely.
Cup bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Harris's guard.

The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cup wants to control from the top but Harris keeps moving.
Cup tries to stand but Harris is controlling from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Anselmo Harris showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. This is the final round!

Harris keeps the fight on the outside.
Harris digs a good body shot into Cup's ribs.
Cup throws a right hand that Harris ducks under and follows up with a left that Harris also avoids with ease.
Harris with the counter takedown but Cup avoids it easily.
Harris connects with a crisp jab.
Harris lands a nice hook to Cup's body. Cup takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Cup throws out a loose jab but Harris uses good head movement to avoid it.
Cup lands with a hook. Harris tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Harris lands with a nice body punch.
Cup looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.

Harris looking to score a takedown here. Cup is defending well but Harris drives through and ends up in Cup's guard.
Harris trying to control but Cup is working from the bottom.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Harris throws an elbow that misses. Cup uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Harris's guard. Nice move by Cup!

Harris trying to control the position.
Cup pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Harris is keeping the position for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cup passes easily into side control. Nice work.

Cup tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Harris tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Cup trying to control the action but Harris is working from the bottom.
Harris is looking to reverse the position.
Cup wants to lay and pray for a moment but Harris keeps working.
Harris wants to control but Cup postures up.

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.
Harris tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Cup wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Harris struggling a bit here.
Cup tries to advance to mount but Harris denies him.
Harris tries to buck Cup off but Cup is having none of it.
Cup trying to control the action but Harris is working from the bottom.
Harris is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Harris wants to control but Cup postures up.
Harris is looking for a sweep.
Cup wants to lay and pray for a moment but Harris keeps working.
Harris is looking to regain half guard here but Cup keeps moving and retains side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris is still trying to improve position.
Harris trying to remain calm as Cup controls from the top position.

Cup decides to take the fight back to the feet.

Harris shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Cup's guard.
Harris makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Cup is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Harris throwing strikes from guard but Cup blocks nicely.
Cup is looking to stand up but Harris isn't so interested in that idea.
Harris loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harris won't allow Cup to get back to his feet.
Harris content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Harris is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Cup working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Harris.
Harris is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
Harris stands up over Cup, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Cup utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Harris throwing strikes from guard but Cup blocks nicely.
Harris postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Harris postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Red Cup has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cup thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Anselmo Harris comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Harris 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 27:30
Judge Chris Downing scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Anselmo Harris!
In defeat, Red Cup stepped up to the mic, saying 'That wasn't fun.'.