PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Taras Shevchenko (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brandon Murphy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Murphy has chosen Hot Rod as his entrance music. Taras Shevchenko has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Shevchenko
vs
Murphy

190 cm
26
265 lbs
18 - 2 - 0

183 cm
24
186 lbs
10 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter fighter
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

M.O. Fight Wear
Spartan Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 18 - 2 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Taras Shevchenko!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 10 - 8 - 0, fighting out of London, Brandon Murphy!
The judges for this bout are James Glass, Chris Edwards and Donald Grub.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
We've got one fighter who appears to only be looking to counter and the other not looking particularly aggressive either, so we could be in for a dull fight.
Shevchenko with a lazy takedown attempt
and Murphy counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Murphy looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Murphy throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Shevchenko.
Shevchenko changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Murphy tries to avoid it but Shevchenko manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Murphy to the ground. Murphy escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Murphy now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
The fighters circling - Murphy throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Shevchenko was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shevchenko misses with a looping right.
We've been hearing reports that Shevchenko has been drilling takedowns in recent sessions so let's see if that has an impact on the result of this fight.
Shevchenko has his takedown stuffed
and Murphy counters with a one-two to the body.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Taras Shevchenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shevchenko has his takedown stuffed
and Murphy counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Murphy falls off balance throwing a combination
and Shevchenko counters with a nice uppercut.
Murphy lands a two punch combo.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Shevchenko shoots in but doesn't get the takedown
and Murphy connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Murphy works the jab nicely.
Shevchenko misses with a takedown
letting Murphy counter with a right hand.
Murphy's jab looks to have found its range, popping Shevchenko under the eye.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Shevchenko takes one on the button.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Shevchenko.
Murphy loads up on a big right hand but Shevchenko slips the punch.
Shevchenko shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Murphy sprawls well. Murphy wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Shevchenko gets slowly back to his feet.
Murphy let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.

That's four 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.
Shevchenko has a takedown stuffed.
Murphy now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Murphy lands with an uppercut that bounces Shevchenko off the cage and back into range.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Brandon Murphy dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Shevchenko throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Murphy's waist but Murphy gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Shevchenko off to one side.
Murphy looks to land a combination but Shevchenko avoids it well.
Shevchenko shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Murphy pinned against the cage. Murphy gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
As Shevchenko backs off Murphy throws a huge counter combo but Shevchenko manages to avoid it all.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Shevchenko fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Murphy avoids it really well and circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Taras Shevchenko. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Shevchenko takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.

Shevchenko shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Shevchenko was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Murphy really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Shevchenko. 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 two minutes gone in the round.
Shevchenko is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Murphy will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Murphy wants to get back to his feet but Shevchenko drags him back down.
Murphy is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Shevchenko throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Shevchenko is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Shevchenko missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Shevchenko missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Murphy tries to kick Shevchenko off but Shevchenko keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Murphy is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Shevchenko scores with a couple of nice shots.
Shevchenko has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Shevchenko is thwarting Murphy's attempts to control the position.
Shevchenko throwing shots but Murphy is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murphy wants to get back to his feet.
Murphy taking some punishment here, with Shevchenko in his half guard.

Shevchenko seems to be working for a kimura but Murphy defends the submission attempt.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Shevchenko connects with a nice short shot to Murphy's temple.
Shevchenko missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Murphy is looking for a sweep. Shevchenko is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Shevchenko landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Murphy is looking to escape.
Shevchenko throwing shots but Murphy is blocking nicely.
Murphy is trying to stand up here but Shevchenko is controlling him well.
Murphy has hold of Shevchenko's hands but Shevchenko slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

Murphy is rocked!
Shevchenko lands strikes from half guard.
Murphy is still in real trouble! Can Shevchenko finish him?
Shevchenko lands a big elbow - Murphy is out of it! He's waving his arms around but his eyes are closed and he's not intelligently defending himself - the ref has no choice but to jump in and stop the fight! This one is in the books! A TKO win for Shevchenko!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:55 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Taras Shevchenko!