PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Neil Murray (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hossein Vaziri Jr. (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). . These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Murray
vs
Vaziri Jr.

187 cm
30
210 lbs
12 - 6 - 0

181 cm
37
209 lbs
27 - 11 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Insanely flexible

Olympic wrestler
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

On Tap (160Q & Laundry)

Voodoo Nutrition
Hellbent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 12 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Neil Murray!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 11 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Hossein Vaziri Jr.!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Yves DeLean and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Vaziri Jr. misses with a left hand
letting Murray counter with a right hand.
Vaziri Jr. fails to land the takedown.
Vaziri Jr. misses with a looping left.
Vaziri Jr. tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Murray throws a head kick but Vaziri Jr. moves out of range.
Murray scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Vaziri Jr. shoots in but no luck this time.

Murray gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Murray gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Vaziri Jr..
Neil Murray has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hossein Vaziri Jr..
Vaziri Jr. tries for a takedown but Murray manages to get underhooks.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vaziri Jr. prevents Murray from breaking the clinch.
A short uppercut from Murray.
Vaziri Jr. goes for a takedown attempt but Murray pushes him away and we're back to fighting at a distance.
Vaziri Jr. steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Murray.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Vaziri Jr. looks for the body kick but Murray saw that one coming.

Vaziri Jr. closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Vaziri Jr. looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Murray with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Murray is trying to maintain the position but Vaziri Jr. is very close to passing his half guard.
Murray is in a tricky position but he's been working on his transitions down at Gym of the Gods, so we'll see if he gets out of it.
Vaziri Jr. thows a huge punch but Murray dodges it nicely.
Murray keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Vaziri Jr. seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Vaziri Jr. throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Murray trying to control but Vaziri Jr. postures up.
Murray avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Vaziri Jr..

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Vaziri Jr. stalling away here and it's allowed Murray to slip out his trapped foot and regain full guard.
Vaziri Jr. trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Murray manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!

Vaziri Jr. has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Vaziri Jr. looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Vaziri Jr. manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Murray manages to get himself to full guard.

Murray utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Vaziri Jr. is working Murray over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

Murray uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Vaziri Jr. lands with a good body shot.
Vaziri Jr. shoots in for a double leg but Murray sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Murray was looking to counter that last move with a shot to the body but he didn't commit.
Vaziri Jr. shoots in looking for a takedown. Murray tries to sprawl out of it but Vaziri Jr. keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Murray manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Murray misses with an uppercut. Vaziri Jr. saw that one coming.
Murray uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Vaziri Jr..
An attempted straight right counter from Murray misses the target.
Vaziri Jr. cracks Murray with an open hand slap.
Murray connects with a nice looking jab.

Murray shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Murray was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!

Murray stands up and we're back to a striking position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Vaziri Jr. tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Murray defends well and Vaziri Jr. ends up having to push Murray into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Vaziri Jr. falls off balance throwing a combination
and Murray counters with a thumping low kick.
Vaziri Jr. throws an off balance right hand
and Murray counters with a nice uppercut.
Murray jabs Vaziri Jr. right on the nose. Vaziri Jr. blinks but takes it well.

Vaziri Jr. bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Vaziri Jr. tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Vaziri Jr. working the head with strikes.
Murray tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Vaziri Jr. wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
Vaziri Jr. tries to land with some ground and pound but misses.
Vaziri Jr. prevents Murray from escaping the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neil Murray dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Murray tries a head kick but it misses.
Vaziri Jr. wants to clinch.
Hossein Vaziri Jr. seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Vaziri Jr. throws a predictable looking body shot
and Murray counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Murray throws a shot from downtown. Vaziri Jr. moves away and avoids it.
Murray goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
A looping hook to the body misses from Murray. Vaziri Jr. does a little dance to reset his feet.
Vaziri Jr. on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
Vaziri Jr. fails with the takedown.
Murray is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Vaziri Jr. can do to turn this around?
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Vaziri Jr. tries to clinch but Murray moves out of range.

Murray has Vaziri Jr. up against the cage in a clinch.
Vaziri Jr. looking for a takedown.
Murray gets underhooks to prevent Vaziri Jr.'s takedown attempt.
Neil Murray has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hossein Vaziri Jr..

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murray prevents a takedown attempt there.
Vaziri Jr. looking for a takedown.

Murray pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Murray throws a head kick that Vaziri Jr. semi-blocks.
Murray misses with a few strikes there.
Murray catches Vaziri Jr. with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!

Vaziri Jr. tries to keep at a distance but Murray has taken the fight into the clinch.
Vaziri Jr. is looking to take this one to the mat.
A nice left hand lands by Murray.

Murray's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Murray.
Murray fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Murray is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A jab from Murray misses.
Murray lands with an overhand left.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Vaziri Jr. drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Murray takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Vaziri Jr. lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Check out the look on Vaziri Jr.'s face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Vaziri Jr. in side control, throwing shots but Murray defends.
Vaziri Jr. working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Vaziri Jr. wants to control but Murray is keeping him busy.
Vaziri Jr. scores with punches from side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murray dodges the ground and pound from Vaziri Jr..
Vaziri Jr. trying to control the position but Murray is working away.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Vaziri Jr. is chipping away with strikes.
Vaziri Jr. wants to control but Murray is keeping him busy.
Vaziri Jr. lands an elbow.

Murray is rocked!
A big shot lands for Vaziri Jr.! That's hurt Murray! Will he recover? Vaziri Jr. fires away with more strikes and the referee has to step in to stop the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:57 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Hossein Vaziri Jr.!
An out of breath and clearly excited Hossein Vaziri Jr. thanked Voodoo Nutrition for their help and support (and free stuff they sent him).