PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between karl morph (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Paul Burchill (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). karl morph has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

morph
vs
Burchill

200 cm
22
260 lbs
4 - 5 - 1

194 cm
18
260 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Experienced

BJJ White Belt
Basic striking
Tends to cut

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 4 - 5 - 1, fighting out of London, karl morph!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Paul Burchill!
The judges for this bout are James Ackerman, Richard Clark and James Glass.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Burchill throws a series of punches but morph moves out of range.

Burchill has taken the fight to the clinch.
Burchill tries to circle away but morph has him pinned against the cage.
Burchill changes levels and goes for a takedown here. morph fights it off and pushes away nicely.

Burchill darts in and clinches morph up against the cage.

Burchill breaks from the clinch.
Burchill feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to morph's calf.
Burchill leaves morph with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Burchill should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Burchill wants to clinch up but morph keeps it at a distance.
Burchill misses with a few strikes there.

Burchill takes the fight into the clinch.
morph is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Burchill breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Burchill misses with the combination.
Burchill misses with a series of wild punches.
Burchill swinging wildly here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

morph darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
morph throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
morph moves nicely into side control.

morph is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Burchill knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Burchill is looking for a sweep.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

morph is trying to get an arm triangle but Burchill is defending well.
morph throwing strikes but missing, from side control.
morph trying to control the action but Burchill is working from the bottom.
The ground and pound from morph seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
morph looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Burchill is avoiding damage well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Burchill can't do much from the bottom here.
morph trying to control the position but Burchill is working away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

morph tries for a kimura but Burchill is defending well.
Burchill tries to bench press morph off him but morph keeps the position.
morph wants to lay and pray for a moment but Burchill keeps working.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
morph looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
morph is breathing heavily.

morph looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
morph working away.
morph working the body and head with strikes.
morph in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Burchill can do anything to dispel that myth.
morph wants to control but Burchill is keeping him busy.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
morph tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Burchill is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
morph is looking to take a break and control but Burchill is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

karl morph 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.

Some wild striking there from Burchill.
Paul Burchill seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
morph shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Burchill misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

morph gets the takedown into side control.
morph misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
morph throws a knee to the body but it doesn't do much damage.

morph is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Burchill is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Burchill wants to get back to his feet but morph drags him back down.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

morph tries for a kimura but Burchill is defending well.
Burchill is trying to buck morph off.
Burchill really doesn't want to stay on the ground with morph. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
morph working the ground and pound.
Burchill parries the strikes from morph easily there. morph is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Burchill to escape.

morph is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Burchill is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Burchill is looking to reverse the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
morph wants to control but Burchill is keeping him busy.
morph lands a few punches from side control.
morph throwing strikes but missing, from side control.

morph tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

morph wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Burchill, who protects the arm well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
morph in side control, throwing shots but Burchill defends.

morph is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Burchill is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Burchill is trying to control morph's posture but morph avoids it.
morph throwing strikes but Burchill manages to buck up and roll into a nice reversal - now he's on top in side control!

That's four 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.
Burchill tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
Burchill throws an elbow but morph slips to the side and avoids it well.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
morph checks the leg kick.
Burchill wants to land a leg kick but morph is out of range.
morph fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

Burchill moves into the clinch.

Burchill is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. morph can't fight it off and eventually Burchill manages to take the fight to the floor. morph looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Burchill wants to get up but he can't break morph's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
morph managing to control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

karl morph dominated that second round.
That's time! morph's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

morph tries to score a power double leg takedown but Burchill sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten morph somewhat.

Burchill moves into the clinch.
morph looking for a takedown.
morph changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Burchill fights it off and pushes away nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for karl morph. That's going to take a lot out of him.
No joy there for Burchill, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Burchill rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but morph moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Burchill throws a combination but it was largely blocked by morph.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
A punch combination from Burchill misses.
Burchill misses with the combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Burchill gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Burchill escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Burchill throws a right hand that morph ducks under and follows up with a left that morph also avoids with ease.
Burchill scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
morph looks for a takedown but Burchill sprawls well.
Burchill lands a jab. Then a cross. Then finally a nice hook to the body. Good work there by Burchill.
Burchill lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as morph backs up against the cage.

morph gets the takedown into side control.
Burchill tries to improve position but can't.
Burchill can't do much from the bottom here.
Burchill tries to buck morph off but morph is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
morph trying to control the action but Burchill is working from the bottom.
morph in side control, throwing shots but Burchill defends.

morph tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no morph has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
morph fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Burchill is trying to get back to half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

morph looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
morph is looking to take a break and control but Burchill is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Burchill holds on to morph's head and controls the position momentarily.

morph is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Burchill is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Burchill tries to improve position but can't.
morph wants to lay and pray for a moment but Burchill keeps working.
Burchill regains half guard, as morph was trying to land strikes.
karl morph is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Burchill is trying to control but can't.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to karl morph.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for morph, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 James Ackerman scores the fight 30:27
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 30:27
Judge James Glass scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... karl morph!