PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Menjivar (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Clarck Murrie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Menjivar
vs
Murrie

168 cm
18
133 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

169 cm
25
137 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent elbows
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Ivan Menjivar!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Clarck Murrie!
The judges for this bout are Columbo Gatti, Franklyn Lucas and Lou da Vinci.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Menjivar avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Menjivar misses with a takedown attempt - Murrie sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Murrie tries to close the distance and clinch up but Menjivar swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Murrie shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Murrie takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Menjivar is trying to stand up here but Murrie is controlling him well.
Menjivar trying to control from the bottom.

Menjivar is defending against the submission attempts here by Murrie.

Murrie decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Menjivar tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Menjivar shoots in looking for a takedown but Murrie manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Menjivar's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Menjivar fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Murrie avoids it really well and circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Menjivar. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Menjivar looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
A clash of legs there as Menjivar blocks the low kick.
Menjivar shoots and misses

and Murrie counters with a single leg into guard. Menjivar didn't expect that.
Murrie engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Menjivar is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Murrie is controlling him.
Menjivar is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Menjivar is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Murrie is working Menjivar over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Murrie with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Murrie looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Menjivar looking to control.
Menjivar knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Murrie on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Murrie drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Murrie jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Murrie is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Murrie with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Murrie slips nicely into half guard.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Murrie in particular looking to stall.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murrie looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Menjivar with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Murrie gets to his feet - back to striking we go!

Murrie drives through with a takedown into guard.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Murrie looking to pass the guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Murrie pushing down on Menjivar's thigh, trying to pass to half guard. He's managed it... Nice work.
Murrie is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Menjivar keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Murrie displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Menjivar.

Menjivar forces Murrie back against the cage and clinches.
Menjivar slows down the pace here.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Murrie tries to break the clinch but Menjivar is controlling the position.
Menjivar drops to a knee looking for a takedown but Murrie gets the underhooks and prevents it.
Menjivar has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Murrie avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ivan Menjivar. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murrie has Menjivar pressed against the cage, preventing Menjivar from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Murrie softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Menjivar avoiding damage as Murrie throws knees to the body.

Murrie is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Menjivar can't fight it off and eventually Murrie manages to take the fight to the floor. Menjivar looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Murrie preventing the sweep.
Murrie seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.

OK we're going to have a standup here. Clarck Murrie hasn't been effective enough on the ground and the referee wants a restart.
Menjivar displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Murrie.

Menjivar has managed to clinch.
Murrie can't break the clinch.
Murrie wants to get back to striking at distance but Menjivar won't allow it.

Murrie jumps guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murrie throwing strikes off his back to little effect.

Murrie has his foot on Menjivar's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Menjivar works his way back into a safe position though.

Murrie is looking for a triangle but Menjivar pushes his legs off easily.
Menjivar wants to control from the top but Murrie keeps moving.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Murrie looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Menjivar pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Murrie is keeping the position for now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murrie bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Menjivar's guard.

Murrie decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Menjivar throws a head kick that misses.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Menjivar will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Murrie defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Menjivar.
Murrie does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Menjivar takes a punch to the jaw and another one to the bread basket.
Menjivar keeps the fight on the outside.
Murrie shoots in but Menjivar avoids the takedown attempt easily.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Clarck Murrie showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Murrie dives in and scores a takedown into Menjivar's guard.
Murrie advances to half guard.
Menjivar wants to control but Murrie is keeping busy.
Menjivar trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Murrie manages to pass to mount!
Murrie tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Murrie lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Menjivar hang on?

Murrie is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Menjivar has managed to escape the submission attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Menjivar is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Menjivar is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Murrie is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
Murrie takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Menjivar is trying desperately to improve position.
Murrie landing strikes, looking to finish!
Murrie has been the more effective fighter overall so far.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Murrie working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Murrie landing strikes, looking to finish!

Murrie is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Menjivar to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Menjivar shrugs it off.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Menjivar is working to get back to half guard.
Murrie blocks Menjivar's feeble attempts to strike from the bottom.
Murrie controlling his opponent.

Murrie working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murrie content just to control the position here.
Clarck Murrie has got the better of the ground game so far.
Murrie avoids the attempt from Menjivar to control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murrie controlling the position easily from mount.
Menjivar is in all sorts of trouble here.
Ivan Menjivar has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Clarck Murrie is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Murrie takes Menjivar's back, avoiding a couple of desperation strikes from the bottom.

And that's the end of the fight!
Clarck Murrie comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Murrie winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Columbo Gatti scores the fight for Clarck Murrie!
Judge Franklyn Lucas scores the fight for Clarck Murrie!
Judge Lou da Vinci scores the fight for Clarck Murrie!

Clarck Murrie wins by unanimous decision!