PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Eric Murphy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Marco Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Murphy kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is Big pimpin Jay-Z. Rua comes into a darkened arena with his song building. IF YOU WANT BLOOD YOU GOT IT!!! kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! 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.

Murphy
vs
Rua

195 cm
26
217 lbs
6 - 6 - 0

185 cm
25
223 lbs
9 - 7 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent MT
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Eric Murphy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Marco Rua!
The judges for this bout are Felipe Paraventi, Thiago Cunha and Emerson Jorge.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Murphy throws a lazy body kick
and Rua counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Murphy misses with a combination
letting Rua counter with a right hand.
Murphy listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.

Rua closes the distance and clinches.
Rua manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
Rua misses with an elbow strike.
Murphy wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Rua content to slow the pace in the clinch.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Murphy.
A bit of stalling here from Rua.
Murphy is trying to maintain a safe position but Rua gets an underhook and turns Murphy into the cage.
A short uppercut from Rua.
Rua slows down the pace here.
Rua using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Murphy has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua tries to land a knee to the head but Murphy blocks with his arms.
Rua taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Murphy is looking to break free of the clinch but Rua has double underhooks.
Rua leaning his opponent against the cage.
A frustrated look appears on Murphy's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Rua has Murphy pressed against the cage.
Rua continues to stall. The referee tells him to work or he's going to break them up.
The ref breaks the fighters up, due to lack of action by Marco Rua.
Rua misses with a straight left.
Murphy throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rua counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Murphy swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Eric Murphy seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
A nice combination there by Murphy.

It looks like Marco Rua has been cut.
Murphy drops his hands momentarily and Rua takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Murphy throws a body kick the misses

and Rua counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Rua.
Murphy keeping moving, preventing Rua from controlling successfully.
Rua throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Murphy works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Rua looking to sit in guard and control but Murphy gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Murphy throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Rua works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Murphy preventing the sweep.
Rua is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murphy wants to stand but Rua is controlling his posture from full guard.
Murphy controls from within his opponent's guard.
Murphy tries to stand but Rua is controlling from the bottom.
Murphy scoring with some ground and pound.
Rua working a defensive guard here.
Murphy postures up in Rua's guard and throws a big left but Rua blocks it.
Murphy has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

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.
Murphy postures up in Rua's guard and throws a big left but Rua blocks it.
Murphy tries to stand but Rua is controlling from the bottom.
Murphy missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Murphy is fighting to break Rua's control of his arms but Rua is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Rua preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marco Rua dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Marco Rua's cut.
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.

Rua looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Rua throws and elbow that misses. Murphy uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Rua's guard. Nice move by Murphy!
Murphy advances position into side control!
Rua regains half guard.
Rua wants to get back to full guard.
Murphy working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Murphy thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Rua is looking to improve his position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rua desperately trying to maintain half guard.
Murphy thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Rua regains full guard. Nicely done.
Rua keeping moving, preventing Murphy from controlling successfully.
Rua lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Murphy!

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.
Rua in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Rua lands a nice shot to the head.
Rua throwing strikes here but Murphy is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Rua misses with a head shot.
Rua lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Murphy hang on?
Rua controlling his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Murphy tries to lock up and control but Rua gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Murphy is in a horrible position here. Rua smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Rua tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Rua throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua avoids the attempt from Murphy to control.
Rua raining down shots from the mount!
Rua throwing strikes here but Murphy is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Rua controlling from mount.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Rua thowing shots but they're missing.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marco Rua showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Marco Rua's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Ouch! a nice leg kick from Rua, right into the meat.
Rua throws out a loose jab but Murphy uses good head movement to avoid it.
Murphy rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Rua counters with a nice uppercut.
Rua misses with a lunging right hand
and Rua takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Murphy lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Rua circles away quickly and effectively.
Murphy falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rua counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Murphy ducks right into an uppercut from Rua.
Rua misses with a double jab.
Murphy looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Rua tries to clinch there but Murphy circles away.
Murphy throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rua cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Murphy swinging wildly here.
Murphy misses with a lunging right hand
and Rua counters with a good low kick that Murphy was not able to check.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Rua moves into the clinch.
Murphy is trying to break the clinch but Rua has him pressed against the cage.
Murphy trying to stall but Rua improves his position.
Nice elbow from Rua.
Rua will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Murphy up against the cage.
Rua jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Murphy walks away with a smile on his face. Rua gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Murphy throws a body kick the misses

and Rua counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Murphy tries to circle away but Rua has him pinned against the cage.

Murphy escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rua connects with a crisp jab.
Murphy misses with an uppercut

and Rua counters with a single leg into guard. Murphy didn't expect that.
Murphy utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rua sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Rua working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Marco Rua has got the better of the ground game so far.
Rua content to stall in guard here.
Rua wants to control from the top but Murphy keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Marco Rua was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Murphy misses with a double jab
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Eric Murphy is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Murphy throws an off balance right hand

and Rua counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Eric Murphy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rua controls from within his opponent's guard.
Marco Rua is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Rua has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Marco Rua hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Murphy throws a left and a right that both miss
and Rua counters with an inside leg kick.
A lazy body kick from Murphy
and Rua counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Oooooooooooh, not good. A low kick from Rua 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 Murphy has 5 minutes to recover. He's OK now though... a thumbs up from Murphy and we're back underway with a touch of gloves.
Murphy swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Rua counters with a nice leg kick.
Murphy misses with a body shot
and Rua counters with a stiff right hand.

And that's the end of the fight!
Marco Rua comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Rua 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 Felipe Paraventi scores the fight 27:30
Judge Thiago Cunha scores the fight 27:30
Judge Emerson Jorge scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Marco Rua!