PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Stephen Harper (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Yve Braud (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Braud has chosen "Here Comes the Hammer" by M.C. Hammer as his entrance music. Yve Braud acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Harper
vs
Braud

202 cm
24
250 lbs
7 - 4 - 1

190 cm
20
232 lbs
6 - 7 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Granite chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Stephen Harper!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Yve Braud!
The judges for this bout are Paulo Santos, Thiago Cunha and Daniel Cesar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Harper shoots in but Braud avoids the takedown attempt easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Harper looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Braud tries to clinch but Harper is having none of it.
Nice takedown defense from Braud. No joy for Harper on that attempt.
Harper clinches but Braud breaks the clinch

so Braud counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Harper preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Braud preventing the sweep.
Braud pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Harper is keeping the position for now.
Braudis looking to pass into half guard but Harper pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Harper is in guard.
Braud looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Harper trying to control but Braud is working from the bottom.
Braud throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.
Harper will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Braud 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.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Harper doesn't succeed with the takedown

and Braud counters by clinching up.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Stephen Harper. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Braud breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Stephen Harper seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Harper tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Harper misses with a takedown
and Braud counters with a straight right hand.
Harper closes the distance looking to clinch

and Braud counters with a nice single leg takedown and he's in Harper's guard now.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Braud scoring with some ground and pound.
Harper on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Harper tries to get out of the position.
Harper wants to sweep here but Braud controlling him for the moment.
Harper pulls Braud in close to prevent any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braud tries to free his leg and advance position but Harper is retaining full guard.
Braud landing with the ground and pound.
Braud stands up over Harper, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Harper looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Harper is breathing heavily.
Harper is working hard here to advance position.
Braud throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Braud advances to half guard.
Braud wants to pass the guard but Harper is defending well.
Harper regains full guard. Nicely done.
Harper manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Braud is squirming around, avoiding Harper's attempts to control the action.
Harper controlling from the full mount.
Braud taking shots to the head.
Harper controlling his opponent.
Braud regains half guard.
Braud has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Braud misses with some strikes from the bottom.
Braud tries to get to full guard but Harper has control of the leg.
Harper controlling the action here.
Braud tries to roll over but Harper keeps him under control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Harper is taking a breather. Braud says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Yve Braud dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Harper misses with the body kick

and Braud counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Harper keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

Harper makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!

Harper feints and as Braud raises his hands in defense, Harper changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.

Harper gets to his feet - Braud follows without any prompting.
Harper looks for a takedown but Braud sprawls well.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Braud gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Harper counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Braud!
Harper landing strikes from the mount and Braud is in trouble!
Braud working to try and regain half guard.
Harper scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Harper controlling the pace for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harper landing shots from mount.
Harper tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Braud working to try and regain half guard.
Harper controlling the position easily from mount.
Braud tries to get back to half guard but can't.

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.

Harper is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Braud is surviving well by controlling Harper's body position as best he can.
Harper controlling from the full mount.
Braud is looking to improve his position but Harper isn't that keen on the idea.
Harper controlling the pace for now.
Braud working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Harper sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Braud is trying desperately to improve position.
Harper controlling from the full mount.

Harper working for a submission but Braud is keeping him at bay.
Yve Braud has got the better of the ground game so far.
Braud really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

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.
Harper tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Stephen Harper just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Harper shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Braud counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Harper 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 Braud has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Braud and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Harper shoots in for a double leg but Braud sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Stephen Harper. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Harper tries to close the distance and clinch but Braud swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Braud avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Harper shoots in for a takedown but Braud shows good takedown defense.

Braud darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Stephen Harper dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! 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.

Harper is looking to clinch.
Harper thows a body shot but no joy.
Harper looks to clinch
and Braud counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Braud looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Harper looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Harper tries to grapple but his opponent circles

and Braud counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Harper manages to get to full guard.
Braud won't allow Harper to sweep him here.
Braud connects with a couple of short punches.

Harper has his feet on Braud's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Harper shoots and misses

and Braud counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Harper!
Braud scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Harper is working to get back to half guard.
Braud is landing with some decent strikes but Harper is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Braud punching from mount but Harper doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Harper doing his best to control the position. Can he escape?
Harper is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Braud connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
Braud throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
Braud throwing strikes here but Harper is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Braud throws some wild stikes that Harper manages to avoid easily.
Harper is working to get back to half guard.
Harper regains half guard.
Braud is pressing down on Harper's thigh, looking to free his foot. Harper is holding on for now.
Harper keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Harper makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Harper.
Harper has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Harper throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Harper not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Braud landing with the ground and pound.
Braud loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Harper lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Braud!
Harper prevents Braud from getting the reversal.

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.
A nice elbow there by Harper.

Harper jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Braud manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Harper wants to lay and pray for a moment but Braud keeps working.
Braud is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

Harper decides to stand up, so the ref orders Braud to his feet.
Harper misses with a takedown attempt

and Braud counters with a nice double leg into guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Yve Braud comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Braud 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 Paulo Santos scores the fight 28:29
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 28:29
Judge Daniel Cesar scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Yve Braud!