PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Dan Sergeant (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Daniel Murphy (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Murphy has chosen Battering Ram - 'Come Out and Fight' Irish Folk as his entrance music. Daniel Murphy told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Sergeant
vs
Murphy

175 cm
27
139 lbs
6 - 4 - 0

170 cm
24
153 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

Decent wrestler
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dan Sergeant!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Daniel Murphy!
The judges for this bout are Seu Braga, Leandro Rodrigues and Matheus Silva.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Murphy closes this distance looking for a takedown but Sergeant circles away.

Sergeant gets a double leg takedown into Murphy's guard.

Murphy has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Sergeant is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Sergeant is working for takedown but Murphy is calmly controlling the position for now.
Sergeant wants to take the fight to the mat but Murphy manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Sergeant tries for a takedown. No joy.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Dan Sergeant. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sergeant has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Murphy is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Sergeant drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Murphy scores with a knee to the head.

Sergeant gets a nice trip takedown into half guard.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Murphy trying to control here.
Sergeant thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Murphy's head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sergeant controlling the action here.
Sergeant lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Sergeant working the head and body with strikes.
Murphy wants to control but Sergeant passes into side.
Murphy is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Murphy struggling a bit here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sergeant moving around in side mount but really he's just happy to control for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Murphy is pushing Sergeant's head away, looking to escape. Sergeant manages to hold on to the position though.
Sergeant in side control lands a decent elbow.
Sergeant lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Murphy down.
Sergeant creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Sergeant misses with a strike but at least he's keeping busy, looking to cause some damage - that will still help him when it comes to the judges scorecards.
Murphy tries to slip a leg under to move to half guard but Sergeant presses down on the leg and jumps into full mount!
Sergeant controlling from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sergeant working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Murphy wants to try and get back to his feet.
Sergeant lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Sergeant avoids the attempt from Murphy to control.
Murphy is looking to get to half guard.
Sergeant 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.
Sergeant fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Murphy really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Sergeant. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Sergeant cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murphy tries to lock up and control but Sergeant gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Sergeant has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Murphy's face.
Sergeant with good strikes from the mount here!
Sergeant is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Murphy can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Sergeant content just to control the position here.
Murphy takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Murphy tries to hold on but Sergeant postures up.
Sergeant is landing with some decent strikes but Murphy is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Sergeant unloading with bombs!
Sergeant tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Sergeant punishing his opponent with strikes.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Sergeant dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Murphy shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Murphy stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Murphy wants it to stay on the feet.
Murphy motions for Sergeant to come forward. Murphy throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Sergeant here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Murphy goes for a double leg but Sergeant avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Sergeant continues to drive forward.

Sergeant scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
Murphy has hold of Sergeant's hands but Sergeant slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Sergeant is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Dan Sergeant overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Murphy is trying to maintain the position but Sergeant is very close to passing his half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sergeant drops an elbow to the side of Murphy's head.
Sergeant passes to full mount!
Sergeant tries to control but Murphy wriggling away.
Sergeant controlling the pace for now.
Sergeant with good strikes from the mount here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Murphy tries to lock up and control but Sergeant gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Sergeant with a couple of short strikes.
Sergeant controlling from the full mount.
Murphy tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Sergeant scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Murphy?
Sergeant pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
Murphy working to try and regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A nice elbow there by Sergeant.
Sergeant postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Murphy looks a forlorn figure.
Sergeant dominating with strikes here.
Sergeant raining down hammerfists from mount.
Sergeant lands a couple of good shots and Murphy has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Sergeant scores with some strikes to the side of the head there. Good, points scoring shots.
Sergeant is punishing Murphy with some ground and pound.
Sergeant has good solid back control here.
Sergeant has Murphy flattened out and is raining down punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murphy looks to control his opponent's hands but he's not mananging it at the moment.
Sergeant controlling the position well here. Murphy rolled but Sergeant kept the hooks locked in and stayed in the dominant position.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Sergeant lands shots from the back.
Sergeant is throwing punches to the body, looking to soften Murphy up.
Murphy trying to control but not successfully.
Watch the back of the head! Comes the shout from the referee towards Sergeant.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dan Sergeant dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Sergeant smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Sergeant ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Murphy moves away.
Murphy is looking to clinch.
A head kick misses from Murphy.
Sergeant misses the shot to the body.

Murphy tries to sprawl but Sergeant drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Murphy punching from the bottom.
Sergeant controlling the action here.
Sergeant looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Sergeant is trying to control the action in half guard but Murphy is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Sergeant is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Sergeant is pressing down on Murphy's thigh, looking to free his foot. Murphy is holding on for now.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sergeant lands with a punch from half guard.
Sergeant is controlling the pace.
Sergeant throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Murphy throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Murphy is trying to get back to full guard.
Sergeant takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Sergeant working the head and body with strikes.
Sergeant thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Murphy's head.

Murphy looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Sergeant moves into full mount! Murphy won't be happy about that!
Sergeant is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Murphy can do to turn this around?
Sergeant controlling the position easily from mount.
Sergeant lands an elbow that was bordering on illegal but the referee lets it go with a warning.
Sergeant controlling the position easily from mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sergeant with a couple of short strikes.
Murphy bucks up and manages to get a nice reversal! He's in guard on the top - nicely done!
Murphy wants to control from the top but Sergeant keeps moving.
Sergeant bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Murphy's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murphy is trying to control the position but Sergeant postures up.
Sergeant showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Murphy trying to keep a closed guard but Sergeant is proving a slippery customer.

Murphy has his foot on Sergeant's thigh. He's trying to push off and get in position for a triangle, I think. Sergeant works his way back into a safe position though.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Murphy has momentary wrist control but Sergeant slips an elbow through the middle.
Sergeant slips nicely into half guard.
Daniel Murphy has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Dan Sergeant is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Murphy wants to get back to his feet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dan Sergeant showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Sergeant, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Seu Braga scores the fight 30:27
Judge Leandro Rodrigues scores the fight 30:27
Judge Matheus Silva scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dan Sergeant!