PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Iury Rachmaninov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and James Harrison (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Harrison has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. James Harrison has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Rachmaninov
vs
Harrison

190 cm
18
195 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

176 cm
18
185 lbs
3 - 3 - 1

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

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 Montreal, Iury Rachmaninov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, James Harrison!
The judges for this bout are Alec Ball, Robert Douchet and Gregory Folan.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rachmaninov lands an overhand right.
Harrison takes a swing at Rachmaninov's ribcage but misses.
Rachmaninov has a takedown stuffed.
Harrison shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Rachmaninov as he avoids it easily.
Harrison looks gassed!
Harrison ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Rachmaninov moves away.
Rachmaninov shoots in but doesn't get the takedown

and Harrison counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Harrison stopping the sweep attempt from Rachmaninov.
Rachmaninov trying to keep a closed guard but Harrison is proving a slippery customer.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Rachmaninov holds on and takes a little breather.
Harrison with a flurry of punches that miss.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rachmaninov throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Rachmaninov pulls Harrison in close to prevent any damage.
Harrison won't allow Rachmaninov to sweep him here.

Rachmaninov looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Rachmaninov is on top in guard.
Rachmaninov will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Harrison keeping moving, preventing Rachmaninov from controlling successfully.

That's two 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.
Harrison has a closed guard, preventing Rachmaninov from standing up.
Harrison keeping moving, preventing Rachmaninov from controlling successfully.
Rachmaninov has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Rachmaninov is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Harrison is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

Rachmaninov drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Rachmaninov jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Harrison tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rachmaninov trying to control but Harrison is working from the bottom.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Rachmaninov scores with a jab to the jaw of his opponent.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Rachmaninov!
Rachmaninov doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Harrison decides to take the opportunity to score a takedown. He's landed in Rachmaninov's guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Iury Rachmaninov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rachmaninov wants to sweep but no luck.
Rachmaninov manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Harrison manages to get himself to full guard.
Rachmaninov trying to control but Harrison is working from the bottom.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rachmaninov pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Harrison is keeping the position for now.
Rachmaninov wants to stand but Harrison is controlling his posture from full guard.
Rachmaninov trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Rachmaninov wants to get up but he can't break Harrison's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

James Harrison dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Rachmaninov with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Rachmaninov fails with an attempt to clinch.
Harrison will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.

Rachmaninov closes the distance and clinches.

Rachmaninov has Harrison pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Rachmaninov pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Harrison tumbling to the mat - Rachmaninov dives into Harrison's guard.
Rachmaninov 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 keeping moving, preventing Rachmaninov from controlling successfully.
Rachmaninov is looking to advance position but Harrison has hit a scissor sweep - now he's on top in mount!
Harrison is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rachmaninov is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Rachmaninov wants to hold on but Harrison pushes him away.
Rachmaninov regains half guard.
Harrison tries to stand and escape but Rachmaninov is controlling the position.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rachmaninov manages to get to full guard.
Rachmaninov manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Harrison is squirming around, avoiding Rachmaninov's attempts to control the action.
Harrison really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Rachmaninov wants to control the pace but Harrison is squirming around nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rachmaninov looking to finish with strikes here!
Rachmaninov looking to ground and pound but Harrison is blocking nicely.
Rachmaninov content just to control the position here.
Rachmaninov throwing strikes here but Harrison is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Rachmaninov looking to control and managing it successfully.
Rachmaninov seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Harrison for as long as he can get away with.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Rachmaninov trying to control but Harrison is having none of it.
Rachmaninov takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Iury Rachmaninov just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Harrison swats away the attempt to clinch by Rachmaninov.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Rachmaninov fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Horrible takedown by Rachmaninov or perhaps it was just good defense by Harrison which made him look bad.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Iury Rachmaninov dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Rachmaninov fails with a takedown attempt.
Rachmaninov lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Harrison tries to clinch up but Rachmaninov circles away and keeps his distance.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Rachmaninov.

Rachmaninov forces Harrison back against the cage and clinches.

Rachmaninov has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Harrison uses from the top position.
Rachmaninov 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.
Rachmaninov working a defensive guard here.
Harrison takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Rachmaninov is looking to stand up but Harrison isn't so interested in that idea.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rachmaninov is trying to control the position but Harrison postures up.
Rachmaninov looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Harrison working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's two 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 tries to free his leg and advance position but Rachmaninov is retaining full guard.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Rachmaninov tries to close the distance and clinch but Harrison swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A decent looking body kick lands there for Rachmaninov.
Rachmaninov closes this distance looking for a takedown but Harrison circles away.

Rachmaninov has taken the fight to the clinch.

Rachmaninov breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Rachmaninov throws a right and a left that both miss.
Rachmaninov tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Harrison keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Iury Rachmaninov. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rachmaninov lands the left hand.
Harrison misses with a leg kick
and Rachmaninov counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Rachmaninov closes the distance looking to clinch

and Harrison counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rachmaninov wants to control the position but Harrison says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Rachmaninov has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Harrison is working away from the top position though.
Rachmaninov works his way to full guard. Good work.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Rachmaninov holds on and takes a little breather.
Rachmaninov 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.
Rachmaninov is working hard here to advance position.

That's four 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.
Rachmaninov trying to control the position.
Rachmaninov looking to hit a scissor sweep but Harrison is one step ahead there.
Rachmaninov is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Rachmaninov wants to sweep but no luck.
Rachmaninov controlling the position.

And that's the end of the fight!
Iury Rachmaninov showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Rachmaninov has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Alec Ball scores the fight 29:28
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Iury Rachmaninov!