PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Shin Murakami (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gastro Pastro (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Pastro has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Murakami
vs
Pastro

170 cm
25
170 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

196 cm
25
175 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
KO power

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shin Murakami!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Gastro Pastro!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Shigeki Sano and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Murakami darts in and clinches Pastro up against the cage.

Murakami manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Murakami is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Murakami throws a couple of weedy looking strikes off his back.
Murakami might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Pastro is fighting to break Murakami's control of his arms but Murakami is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.

Murakami looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Murakami has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Murakami is on top in guard.

Pastro is trying to control the position from the bottom.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murakami pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Pastro is keeping the position for now.
Murakami knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Pastro on the ground.
Murakami wants to control from the top but Pastro keeps moving.
Murakami throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Murakami trying to control but Pastro is working from the bottom.
Pastro controls Murakami momentarily but Murakami frees himself.

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.

Pastro working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Murakami doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Murakami manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Murakami looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

Pastro is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Murakami is stalling in the full guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murakami working some strikes from top position.
Murakami is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Murakami showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Murakami missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Pastro is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Murakami defends well.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Murakami passes into half guard.
Murakami slips a nice elbow through Pastro's hands, connecting with Pastro's forehead.

Murakami decides to stand up.

Murakami closes the distance and clinches.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Pastro jumps guard but Murakami stands there with Pastro around his waist. Pastro gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Pastro is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Pastro drags the fight down to the ground.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shin Murakami 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.

Murakami darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Pastro has hold of Murakami's hands but Murakami slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Murakami thows a huge punch but Pastro dodges it nicely.
Murakami not doing much here.
Shin Murakami overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Murakami's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Murakami escapes and gets back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pastro tries to keep at a distance but Murakami has taken the fight into the clinch.

Pastro drags the fight down to the ground.
Pastro not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Murakami engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Murakami is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Pastro can do to turn this around?
Murakami postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Murakami has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Murakami stands up and waves to Pastro to follow him.
Shin Murakami is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A head kick misses from Murakami.
Murakami just misses with a punch to the body.

Murakami clinches up against the cage.
Murakami stalling against the cage.

Murakami has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Pastro is trying to keep an underhook but Murakami manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Murakami is pressing down on Pastro's thigh, looking to free his foot. Pastro is holding on for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Murakami decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Horrible takedown attempt by Pastro or perhaps it was just good defense by Murakami, which made it look bad.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murakami misses with a body kick.
Pastro lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
Pastro fails with the takedown.
Pastro is breathing heavily.

Murakami throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Pastro was covering up waiting for the punch and Murakami finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Pastro working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Murakami.
Pastro keeping moving, preventing Murakami from controlling successfully.
Murakami is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pastro wants to stand but Murakami is controlling the position.
Murakami trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Murakami controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Pastro looking to control.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Murakami scores with a takedown into Pastro's guard.

Pastro manages to escape and get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shin Murakami dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Pastro avoids the head kick by Murakami.

Murakami gets a takedown into half guard.
Murakami not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Pastro trying to hold on to Murakami's head to control him but Murakami postures up.
Murakami is trying to control the action in half guard but Pastro is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Murakami looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Murakami is keen to just control but Pastro is a slippery customer.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murakami is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Murakami frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Murakami tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Murakami wants to control the pace but Pastro is squirming around nicely.
Murakami thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Murakami trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murakami throws an elbow from mount that misses. Lucky escape for Pastro because Murakami loaded up on that one.
Murakami takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Murakami thowing shots but they're missing.
Murakami trying to control but Pastro is having none of it.
Murakami controlling from the full mount.
Gastro Pastro has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Murakami seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Pastro for as long as he can get away with.
Murakami tries to control but Pastro wriggling away.
Murakami controlling from mount.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Murakami working away from the top, dropping strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Shin Murakami showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Murakami has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Shin Murakami!