PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Clarck Murrie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rocco Sifreddi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Sifreddi comes into a darkened arena with his song building. I'm too sexy kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Murrie
vs
Sifreddi

169 cm
25
137 lbs
1 - 3 - 0

190 cm
19
135 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 3 - 0, fighting out of New York, Clarck Murrie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Rocco Sifreddi!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Franklyn Lucas and John Kavanagh.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Sifreddi lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Murrie looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Murrie throws a low kick but Sifreddi moves out of range easily.
Murrie tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Sifreddi counters with a straight punch to the midsection.

Sifreddi shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Murrie is trying to defend but Sifreddi finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Sifreddi content to control rather than advance.
It looks like Sifreddi might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
Sifreddi really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Murrie. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sifreddi's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.

The ref calls for a clean break and stands the fighters back up. Rocco Sifreddi wasn't active enough on the ground.
Murrie lands an overhand right.
Murrie misses with a takedown
and Sifreddi connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Murrie misses with a takedown
and Murrie takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Sifreddi paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Murrie gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Sifreddi.
Sifreddi is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Murrie.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi lands a lovely overhand right.
Sifreddi swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Murrie counters with a two punch combo.

Murrie gets caught napping as Sifreddi dives in and scores a takedown. Murrie manages to retain guard.
Sifreddi's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Murrie is trying to keep Sifreddi in close.
Sifreddi stays in close to Murrie's body and controls the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

OK we're going to have a standup here. Rocco Sifreddi hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Murrie gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Sifreddi moves into the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Clarck Murrie. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi tries a knee to the head but Murrie blocks it.

Sifreddi gets the body lock takedown. After a quick scramble, Murrie regains guard.
Sifreddi must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Sifreddi content to stall in guard here.
Sifreddi makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Sifreddi pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Murrie is keeping the position for now.
Sifreddi pushes down on Murrie's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Sifreddi tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Murrie.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Sifreddi is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Well, if Sifreddi is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Sifreddi tries to stand but his hand is stuck under Murrie.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Sifreddi seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rocco Sifreddi dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Murrie tries to clinch up
and Sifreddi counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Murrie closes the distance but Sifreddi moves to the side

and Sifreddi holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Sifreddi lands a right hand that snaps the head of Murrie backwards.
Sifreddi connects with a knee to the head.
Murrie avoids the elbow strike from Sifreddi, against the cage.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Sifreddi.
Sifreddi scores with a nice hook to the head.
Sifreddi working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Sifreddi is leaning against Murrie and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sifreddi working some nice short punches in the clinch.

Sifreddi has hold of one of Murrie's legs. Murrie is fighting the takedown attempt but Sifreddi gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Sifreddi controlling from the top position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Rocco Sifreddi hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
This fight brought to you by 5M nutrition - it's mmmmm tasty. Nice jab by Sifreddi.
Murrie shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Sifreddi counters with a straight right hand.
Murrie fails with the takedown
and Sifreddi counters with a nice body shot.

Sifreddi closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sifreddi lands a decent elbow from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Murrie's shoulder. That is not cool.
Sifreddi creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Sifreddi cracks Murrie with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Murrie might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Sifreddi has knee on belly and moves into mount.
Sifreddi is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Sifreddi takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Let's hope that Sifreddi 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi prevents Murrie from getting the reversal.
Murrie is in a horrible position here. Sifreddi smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Sifreddi landing strikes from the mount and Murrie is in trouble!
Sifreddi with shots to the head and body - Murrie looks very uncomfortable down there.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Sifreddi scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Murrie is in a horrible position here. Sifreddi smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Sifreddi dominating with strikes here.
Sifreddi lands a heavy elbow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rocco Sifreddi showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. This is the final round!

Sifreddi shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Murrie manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Sifreddi controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Rocco Sifreddi has got the better of the ground game so far.
Sifreddi throws an elbow that misses. Murrie uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Sifreddi's guard. Nice move by Murrie!
Sifreddi has Murrie pulled in close to control his posture.
Sifreddi manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Sifreddi controlling from mount.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sifreddi lands a big shot there that rocks Murrie but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Sifreddi lands a big elbow.
Sifreddi lands a big shot there that rocks Murrie but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
The referee warns Murrie that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Sifreddi with shots to the head and body - Murrie looks very uncomfortable down there.
Sifreddi looking to control and managing it successfully.
Murrie is in a horrible position here. Sifreddi smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi landing strikes from the mount and Murrie is in trouble!
Sifreddi landing strikes from the mount and Murrie is in trouble!
Murrie can't escape the position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Sifreddi controlling his opponent.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi breaks from Murrie's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Sifreddi controlling the position easily from mount.
Murrie is bucking up trying to escape but Sifreddi cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Sifreddi unloading with bombs!
Sifreddi content just to control the position here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sifreddi raining down shots from the mount!
Rocco Sifreddi is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Sifreddi tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Clarck Murrie has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

And that's the end of the fight!
Rocco Sifreddi comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Sifreddi 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 Jonathan Paton scores the fight 26:30
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight 26:30
Judge John Kavanagh scores the fight 26:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rocco Sifreddi!
Rocco Sifreddi decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.