PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Zak Zinfandel (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ben Harper (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Harper comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Welcome To Jamrock kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Zinfandel
vs
Harper

171 cm
32
168 lbs
16 - 9 - 0

175 cm
31
158 lbs
20 - 14 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 16 - 9 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Zak Zinfandel!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 20 - 14 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Ben Harper!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Trevor Gratis and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Zinfandel buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Zinfandel tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Harper manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Harper is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Harper takes a big uppercut there. He seems a bit wobbly but no, he's OK.
Zinfandel showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Harper.
Ben Harper seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Harper swinging wildly here.
Harper misses with a double jab.
Harper tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Zinfandel counters with a good low kick that Harper was not able to check.
Zinfandel plants his feet and lands a nice head kick!
Zinfandel throws a sloppy head kick and Harper moves out of range easily.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Zinfandel lands where it shouldn't have, right in the... well, you know what he did? He kicked him in the penis. He's injured, injured bad. The referee sends both fighters to their corners and Harper has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Harper and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Harper keeps the fight on the outside.
Harper tries to clinch up

and Zinfandel counters with a shoot takedown. Harper fights it but they end up in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Zinfandel wants to control from the top but Harper keeps moving.
Zinfandel trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Zinfandel postures up in Harper's guard and throws a big left but Harper blocks it.
Zinfandel trying to control the position from guard on top but Harper is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zinfandel sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Harper's guard.

Harper pushes Zinfandel off and gets back to his feet.
Harper uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Zinfandel.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Harper has taken the fight to the clinch.
Zinfandel is trying to pull guard but Harper turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Harper gets underhooks to prevent Zinfandel's takedown attempt.
Harper is trying to maintain a safe position but Zinfandel gets an underhook and turns Harper into the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Zinfandel's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Zinfandel wants a takedown.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zak Zinfandel. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Harper taking a breather.
Zinfandel tries to pull guard but can't drag his opponent to the mat. Harper just stands there and leans against the cage.
Zinfandel leaning against his opponent.

Harper breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Harper scores with a head kick.

It looks like Zak Zinfandel has been cut.

Zinfandel throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Harper tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Zinfandel is in Harper's guard.
Zinfandel trying to control the position from guard on top but Harper is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Zinfandel is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zinfandel won't allow Harper to get back to his feet.
Zinfandel preventing the sweep.
Harper can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Zinfandel controls the pace.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Zak Zinfandel wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Harper tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Zinfandel counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Harper preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.

Zinfandel has gone for a leg lock! Harper slips out almost immediately though and dives into Zinfandel's guard.

Harper avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Harper wanted to stand there but Zinfandel had control of the position.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Zinfandel is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Harper is aware though and is defending well.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!

Harper avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Zak Zinfandel dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Zak Zinfandel's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Zinfandel avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Harper moves out of range of the body kick from Zinfandel.
Zinfandel misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Zinfandel slips a jab from Harper.
Zinfandel misses with a kick to the body.
Harper tries to clinch up
and Zinfandel counters with an outside leg kick.
Harper tries to clinch up
and Zinfandel counters with a nice leg kick.
Harper is looking to clinch but Zinfandel is avoiding it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Zinfandel shoots in for a double leg but Harper sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

Zinfandel tries to keep at a distance but Harper has taken the fight into the clinch.
The fighters are pressed against the cage, as the pace of the fight slows.
Harper is pressed up against the cage. Zinfandel has hold of a leg and is looking to drag Harper down to the mat. Harper avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
Zinfandel fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Zak Zinfandel. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Harper wants to clinch but Zinfandel slips to the side
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Harper moves to clinch but Zinfandel breaks away

and Zinfandel counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Harper!
Harper is looking to get to half guard.
Poor strikes thrown by Zinfandel there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Zinfandel punishing his opponent with strikes.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Zinfandel lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Zak Zinfandel overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Zinfandel looking to ground and pound but Harper is blocking nicely.
Harper wants to get back to his feet.
Harper is in a horrible position here. Zinfandel smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Zinfandel can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Harper is looking to escape.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Zinfandel looking to finish Harper with some ground and pound. This is bad for Harper!
BOOM! Zinfandel connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Zinfandel postures up and connects with a big shot that has rocked Harper badly. He's trying desperately to grab hold of Zinfandel around the waist but Zinfandel pushes him off and unloads with more strikes, forcing the referee to jump in and save him! Zinfandel is the winner by TKO! Zinfandel jumps onto the cage and shouts into the camera. "We did it momma!"

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Zak Zinfandel!