PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Micah Murray (ranked 180 p4p, 187 weight class) and Richard Hall (ranked 15 p4p, 19 weight class). Richard Hall acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the cage.

Murray
vs
Hall

170 cm
31
150
20 - 4 - 0

170 cm
32
145
23 - 0 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Basic striking
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Good gas tank

Shadow Realm Apparel
Northern Zombie

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the featherweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 20 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Micah Murray!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 23 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Richard Hall!
The judges for this bout are Russell Pearce, Franklyn Lucas and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Murray forces Hall back against the cage and clinches.
Murray doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Murray fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hall misses with a hook to the ribs.
Murray jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Hall walks away with a smile on his face. Murray gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
Murray lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Murray throws out a loose jab but Hall uses good head movement to avoid it.
Hall feints the counter takedown.

Murray closes the distance and clinches.
Murray blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Hall looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Murray manages to pull guard.
Hall sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Murray's guard.
Murray trying to control here.
Hall works his way into full mount!
Hall wants to take his opponent's back but he's not managed it.
Hall is still trying to improve position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murray manages to regain half guard. Good work.

Hall is looking for a kimura here.
Hall looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Murray trying to control from the bottom.
Hall wants to take a breather but Murray is having none of it.
Hall wants to pass to mount but Murray is defending the position.

Hall is working for a kimura but Murray is defending it quite comfortably.
Hall looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Hall is just content to waste time from the top position. Murray takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Murray can't keep his opponent in guard - Hall advances to half guard, no doubt looking to mount.
Murray is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at League of Shadows MMA, so we'll see if he gets out of it.
Murray has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Hall is working away from the top position though.

Hall is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Hall trying to advance position but Murray counters by regaining guard.
Hall is looking to pass into half guard but Murray pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Murray is in guard.

Murray slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Hall looking to hit a scissor sweep but Murray is one step ahead there.
Hall keeping moving, preventing Murray from controlling successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hall looking to hit a scissor sweep but Murray is one step ahead there.
Murray engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Hall is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Murray defends well.
Hall looking to hit a scissor sweep but Murray is one step ahead there.
Murray is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Murray trying to control the position from guard on top but Hall is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.
Murray advances to half guard.
Murray prevents Hall from improving his position.
Murray throwing shots but Hall is blocking nicely.
Hall is looking to improve his position.
Murray is looking to take a break and control but Hall is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Hall moves into full guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Murray controls from within his opponent's guard.

Hall throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Micah Murray will probably get the nod.
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.

Hall bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.

Hall goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Murray rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Hall's guard! Nice work there by Murray!
Hall tries to land a sweep but no joy.

Hall has an active guard here but Murray has managed to pass into half guard.
Murray seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Hall does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Ground and pound from Murray.
Murray lands strikes from half guard.
Murray scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Hall is looking for a sweep. Murray is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Hall keeps trying to improve his position.
Hall felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Murray is keen to just control but Hall is a slippery customer.
Richard Hall has got the better of the ground game so far.
Murray scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murray is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Hall is looking to get full guard. It looks like he might be successful but at the last minute Murray jumps into side control!
Murray trying to control the action but Hall is working from the bottom.
Murray misses with an attempted head punch from side control.
Hall tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Murray wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Hall is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Hall is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Murray's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Murray's back!
Murray tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Murray is trying to escape the mount.
Hall works his way to his opponent's back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Hall working for a choke but Murray reverses nicely into Hall 's guard.
Murray loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Hall wants to sweep here but Murray controlling him for the moment.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Hall is on top in guard.

The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Hall trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Murray manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Hall has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Murray can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Murray working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Hall's head.

Murray got a little sloppy there for a moment and Hall has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Murray has managed to get both his arms back between Hall's legs - danger averted.
Murray makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hall looking for a sweep. Not yet Hall, not yet.
Murray is looking to work some ground and pound but Hall has wrist control.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Murray won't allow Hall to sweep him here.
Murray postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Murray postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Murray trying to control but Hall is working from the bottom.
Murray working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Hall's head.

Hall has an omoplata and is looking to use it perhaps as a submission or perhaps to transition. Murray is in a bit of discomfort here, but he's managed to free himself and has dived into side control! That didn't work out too well for Hall.
Murray is looking to take a break and control but Hall is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Hall is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Murray in side control, just content to control the action for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murray has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Murray working the ground and pound.
Murray 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.
Murray lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Hall down.
Hall is moving his hips around well on the bottom and has managed to get back to half guard.
Hall has a hand on Murray's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Murray takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Hall is desperately trying to improve his position but Murray has a good base and remains in mount.
Hall is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Murray looking to control and managing it successfully.
Hall is working to get back to half guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Micah Murray dominated that second 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.

Hall dives in for a single leg takedown but Murray sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Murray is looking to counter the offense by Hall and move into the clinch.
Murray throws a body punch but Hall moves out of range.
Murray slaps away a takedown attempt from Hall, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Hall shoots for a takedown but Murray saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Murray seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Micah Murray has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Richard Hall.

Murray takes the fight into the clinch.
Murray misses with a body punch.
A right handed body shot lands from Murray.
Hall misses with some punches.
A short uppercut from Murray.
Murray blocks a body shot from Hall.
Good body shot from Murray.
Murray blocks a punch to the side of the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Murray lands a right hand.
Hall struggles to land a body shot inside as Murray controls his hands.
Murray tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Murray is trying to pull guard but Hall turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.

Murray decides to pull guard.

Murray has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Hall can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Hall trying to control the position from guard on top but Murray is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murray looking to hit a scissor sweep but Hall is one step ahead there.
Hall advances position into side control!
Murray stops Hall from passing to mount.
Murray is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Murray is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hall can do to turn this around?
Murray manages to get back to half guard.
Murray is looking to control Hall's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Murray avoid being mounted?
Hall wants to free his trapped foot but Murray is holding on for dear life with his legs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hall is keen to just control but Murray is a slippery customer.
Murray trying to control from the bottom.
Hall is pressing down on Murray's thigh, looking to free his foot. Murray is holding on for now.
Hall passes the guard and advances to mount!
Murray is in all sorts of trouble here.
Murray bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hall looking to hit a scissor sweep but Murray is one step ahead there.
Murray looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Hall is active off his back here, looking for submissions.

Murray is trying to tuck his arms in to keep them safe but Hall has managed to isolate one of them and has got a loose triangle. Murray is looking to defend but Hall has done well to lock his legs together - this could be big trouble for Murray! Hall pulls down on the head and a little smile comes across his face - he knows he's got it. Yep, Murray taps out and this one is all over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:54 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Richard Hall!
Richard Hall is the new featherweight champion!
After winning the bout, Richard Hall thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.