PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Jackson Pen (ranked 1705 p4p, 186 weight class) and Tim Harris (ranked 2540 p4p, 246 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Pen
vs
Harris

180 cm
27
155 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

177 cm
27
153 lbs
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
KO power

Decent wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Jackson Pen!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Tim Harris!
The judges for this bout are Vladimir Khabensky, Aleksandr Martynov and Sergei Dronov.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Pen swinging wildly here.
Harris is definitely looking for the counter takedowns here.
Harris throws a body kick that misses.
Pen shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Pen is looking to clinch but Harris is avoiding it.

Harris has taken the fight to the clinch.
Harris jumps guard but Pen stands there with Harris around his waist. Harris gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Harris drags the fight down to the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harris pulls Pen in close to prevent any damage.
Pen is in a tricky position. We've heard reports from his gym mates at FIERCE - 15 Elite Coaches that he's been drilling escapes, so let's see if he can get back to his feet.
Harris really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Pen. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

Harris had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Pen defends it easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Pen from controlling successfully.
Harris preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Pen stops Harris from standing up.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Harris can do anything to dispel that myth.
Pen trying to control but Harris is working from the bottom.
Pen is looking to work some ground and pound but Harris has wrist control.
Pen throwing strikes but missing.
Harris is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.

That's two 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.
Pen scoring with some ground and pound.
Harris keeping moving, preventing Pen from controlling successfully.
Pen lands a couple of digs.
Pen trying to control but Harris is working from the bottom.
Harris is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Pen is controlling him.
Pen wants to control from the top but Harris keeps moving.

Pen drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Pen jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Nice takedown defense from Pen. No joy for Harris on that attempt.
As Harris looks to move away, Pen throws a big counter combo but Harris just gets out of the way.

Pen shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Harris napping and manages to drive through into side control!

Harris throws Pen to one side and escapes!
Tim Harris seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris swats away the attempt to clinch by Pen.
Harris throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Left hook, right uppercut from Pen.
Harris looks to land a body kick but Pen moved away.
Pen shoots in for a takedown but Harris shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Harris tries to counter with a clinch but Pen shakes him off and moves away.
Pen tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Harris swivels and escapes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Jackson Pen. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Pen keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
A combination from Harris does no damage.

Harris instigates a clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harris prevents Pen from breaking the clinch.

Harris's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Pen gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily
and Harris counters with a series of strikes. Pen will be more careful next time no doubt.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Harris throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Pen shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Harris wants to get back to full guard.
Harris is refusing to be controlled, as Pen sits in half guard.
Harris tries to get to full guard but Pen has control of the leg.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Tim Harris dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Pen.
Harris shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Pen as he avoids it easily.
Jackson Pen is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A head kick misses from Harris.
Pen pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Pen misses with a low kick.
Harris tries to counter with a clinch but Pen shakes him off and moves away.
Harris avoids the head kick by Pen.
Harris tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Harris throws a leg kick but Pen sees it coming and checks it nicely.

Harris pushes Pen up against the cage in a clinch.
Pen tries to pull guard but Harris won't allow it.

Harris ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Harris no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris trying to control the position.
Harris working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pen.

Pen is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.
Pen trying to control but Harris is working from the bottom.
Pen has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

Harris is looking for a triangle here but Pen uses the submission attempt to pass into side control.
Harris is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Harris keeps trying to improve his position.

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.
Harris is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Pen lands a decent elbow from side control.
Pen sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Harris is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Pen working the ground and pound but Harris is defending the strikes.
Pen working the head and body with strikes.
Pen in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Harris is looking for a sweep.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Pen presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Pen looking to ground and pound but Harris is blocking nicely.
Harris is looking to improve his position but Pen isn't that keen on the idea.
Pen is landing with some decent strikes but Harris is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Pen misses with a head shot.
Harris blocking the ground and pound.
Pen trying to control but Harris is having none of it.
Harris wants to control but Pen is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pen looking to ground and pound but Harris is blocking nicely.
Harris really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Pen sends his fist crashing into the mat - the crowd let out a collective ooooooh. Let's hope he's not broken it!
Harris throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Harris is in all sorts of trouble here.
Harris in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Pen thuds his fist into the canvas! Oooouch!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pen lands a big elbow.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
A nice elbow there by Pen.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jackson Pen dominated that second 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. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Pen drives through and clinches with Harris against the cage.

Harris ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Harris no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Pen landing with the ground and pound.
Pen lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.

Harris throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Pen missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pen trying to control the position from guard on top but Harris is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Harris wants to stand and escape but Pen is having none of it.

Pen thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harris looking to hit a scissor sweep but Pen is one step ahead there.
Pen being controlled here momentarily.
Harris not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Harris looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

Harris escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Pen gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Harris working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Pen.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

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.
Pen blocks a head kick by Harris.
Pen throws a big counter combination but Harris scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Horrible takedown attempt by Harris or perhaps it was just good defense by Pen, which made it look bad.
Pen with a poor takedown
and Harris counters with a nice uppercut.

Harris clinches.

Harris escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Harris fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Pen enables Harris to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Pen manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Harris throws a strike but Pen rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Pen advances position into side control!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harris is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Pen asserts his dominance and retains side control.
You can see the frustration on Harris's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Harris wants to get back to his feet but Pen drags him back down.

Pen has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Harris defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Pen.
Harris wants to counter the offense by Pen and move into the clinch position.
Harris dives in for a single leg takedown but Pen sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Pen tries to counter with a takedown but Harris is quick to defend against it.
Harris fails to land the takedown.
Jackson Pen has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Tim Harris.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Harris fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Pen avoids it really well and circles away.
Pen stuffs the takedown.
Pen takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.

Harris darts in and clinches Pen up against the cage.
Pen has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Harris is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pen can't get the takedown.

Harris manages to break the clinch.
Pen tries to clinch up.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Tim Harris.
I think Harris has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Vladimir Khabensky scores the fight 28:29
Judge Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight 28:29
Judge Sergei Dronov scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tim Harris!