PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Shane Murphy (ranked 5561 p4p, 2692 weight class) and Marko Rakic (ranked 578 p4p, 350 weight class). The crowd seem to be enjoying Rakic's choice of entrance music: Right Above It. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Murphy
vs
Rakic

185 cm
34
190
12 - 18 - 0

184 cm
24
195
5 - 5 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Dangerous knees
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 18 - 0, fighting out of London, Shane Murphy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 5 - 0, fighting out of London, Marko Rakic!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Sosuke Kotani and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rakic blocks a head kick by Murphy.
Rakic throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.

Rakic gets a double leg takedown into Murphy's guard.
Rakic is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Rakic scoring with some ground and pound.
Rakic lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Murphy wants to stand and escape but Rakic is having none of it.
Murphy trying to control the position.
Rakic chips away with some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rakic lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Murphy is trying to keep Rakic in close.
Rakic missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakic throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Murphy trying to keep a closed guard but Rakic is proving a slippery customer.
Rakic is working Murphy over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Murphy can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Rakic controls the pace.
Rakic scoring with some ground and pound.
Murphy has momentary wrist control but Rakic slips an elbow through the middle.
Rakic trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Rakic postures up in Murphy's guard and throws a big left but Murphy blocks it.

Murphy had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Rakic defends it easily.
Murphy utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rakic with a nice head shot there.
Rakic is looking to work some ground and pound but Murphy has wrist control.
Rakic working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Murphy's head.
Rakic lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Rakic is in close to Murphy's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Murphy trying to control the position.
Murphy looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rakic works over Murphy with some ground and pound from guard.
Rakic showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Rakic landing with the ground and pound.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murphy pulls Rakic in close to prevent any damage.
Rakic preventing the sweep.

Murphy looking for submissions off his back, moving his hips, looking for an opening.
Rakic passes Murphy's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Rakic slips a nice elbow through Murphy's hands, connecting with Murphy's forehead.
Rakic thows a huge punch but Murphy dodges it nicely.
Rakic 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 has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Rakic is working away from the top position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rakic missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Murphy is trying to maintain the position but Rakic is very close to passing his half guard.
Rakic working Murphy over with strikes.
Murphy is looking to improve his position.
Rakic not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Murphy wants to get back to full guard.
Murphy is looking to control Rakic's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Murphy avoid being mounted?
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marko Rakic dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Rakic drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.

Rakic decides to stand back up.

Rakic feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Murphy preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Murphy keeping moving, preventing Rakic from controlling successfully.
Marko Rakic has got the better of the ground game so far.
Murphy is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Rakic must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rakic working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Rakic postures up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rakic preventing the sweep.
Rakic pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Murphy is keeping the position for now.
Murphy is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Rakic stands up from Murphy's guard - Rakic perhaps looking for a knockout.

Rakic closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Rakic thows a huge punch but Murphy dodges it nicely.
Murphy on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Rakic lands with a punch from half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rakic lands with a punch from half guard.
Rakic throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Rakic has been taking part in the yoga sessions down at Shut Up & Train! {$1000}. Presumably he's going to look for a slick submission... Or maybe he's looking to avoid one.
Rakic scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Rakic is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Rakic working Murphy over with strikes.
Murphy trying to hold on to Rakic's head to control him but Rakic postures up.
Rakic lands strikes from half guard.
Rakic seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Rakic with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Rakic is nestled in close to Murphy, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Rakic drops an elbow to the side of Murphy's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rakic scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Rakic thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Murphy's head.
Rakic seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Murphy trying to control here.
Rakic landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Rakic winds up and cracks Murphy with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Murphy is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Rakic 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.
Nice strikes from Rakic there.
Murphy is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Rakic scores with a couple of nice shots.
Murphy taking some punishment here, with Rakic in his half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murphy is staying active underneath Rakic, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Murphy on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Murphy is rocked!
Rakic is controlling the pace.
Rakic's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Rakic is looking to take a break and control but Murphy is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Rakic lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Murphy trying to control here.
Rakic is nestled in close to Murphy, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Marko Rakic showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Rakic tries to bum rush Murphy with a series of wild strikes but Murphy uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Murphy is looking to counter with head kicks.
Rakic lands a two punch combo.

Rakic closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Murphy wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
A nice left hand lands by Rakic.
Murphy missing with knees to the body.

Rakic breaks from the clinch.

Rakic shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Murphy manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Murphy has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Rakic off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Murphy throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.

Rakic gets a clinch.

Rakic has moved round to his opponent's back and is looking for a suplex! Oh snap! He's tossed Murphy clear over his head and slammed him to the mat!
Murphy just trying to survive but Rakic is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murphy is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Rakic is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Can Murphy hold on?! Rakic is landing more strikes to his hapless foe.
Murphy wants to control his opponent's hands but Rakic gets his hands free.
Rakic lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
Rakic is landing with strikes from the back.
The referee is taking a good look at Murphy as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Rakic!
Rakic trying to control momentarily.
Murphy covers up after that shot from Rakic.
Rakic lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Murphy covers up after that shot from Rakic.
Oh Murphy is still in real trouble! Will he be able to recover?!!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Murphy is keeping busy.
Murphy seems to have got his legs back now.
Rakic lands strikes to the head.
Rakic lands a punch to the side of the head from the back.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Rakic lands a series of strikes from the back and Murphy goes limp! The ref jumps in to save him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:46 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Marko Rakic!
A relieved looking Marko Rakic thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.