PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Norman Pederson (ranked 3270 p4p, 424 weight class) and Brian Murphy (ranked 8681 p4p, 726 weight class). Murphy has chosen Róisín Murphy - Primitive as his entrance music. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Pederson
vs
Murphy

195 cm
30
220 lbs
9 - 15 - 0

188 cm
50
213 lbs
45 - 42 - 2

Good wrestling
Excellent MT
Insanely flexible

BJJ Purple Belt
Good kicks
Granite chin

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 9 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Norman Pederson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 45 - 42 - 2, fighting out of Las Vegas, Brian Murphy!
The judges for this bout are Trevor Gratis, Steve Smith and Yves DeLean.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Murphy tried to score with a low kick but Pederson checks it.
Murphy thows a leg kick but Pederson checks it
and Pederson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
We've been told by Pederson's head coaches at Death Valley Training Facility that he's been working on his takedown defense in preparation for this fight.
Pederson throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
Murphy misses with a series of wild punches.

Pederson drives through and clinches with Murphy against the cage.
Pederson lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Murphy or not.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Pederson.
Murphy struggles to land a body shot inside as Pederson controls his hands.
Murphy misses with a punch to the body.
Pederson pushes Murphy back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
Murphy looks winded!
A short right from Pederson.

Pederson is trying to trip Murphy. He has hold of a leg but Murphy is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Pederson persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Pederson scoring with some ground and pound.

Pederson gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Pederson lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Pederson lands with a hook. Murphy tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murphy takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Murphy throws a body kick, spinning off balance

and Pederson counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Pederson sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Pederson pushes down on Murphy's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Pederson thows a huge punch but Murphy dodges it nicely.
Pederson is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Pederson thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Murphy's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pederson is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Pederson takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Pederson has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Pederson tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pederson with the ground and pound from mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Pederson fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Pederson takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pederson with shots to the head and body - Murphy looks very uncomfortable down there.
Pederson controlling the position easily from mount.
Pederson'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.
Pederson lands a big shot there that rocks Murphy but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Pederson looking to control and managing it successfully.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Norman Pederson dominated that 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.

Murphy takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
Murphy misses with an uppercut

and Pederson counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Pederson.
Murphy tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Murphy goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Pederson gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.

It looks like Brian Murphy has been cut.
Pederson lands a nice knee to the body.

Pederson escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Murphy has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Pederson finds it's way round the side to connect with Murphy's head.
Murphy takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.

Pederson moves into range and clinches up with Murphy.
A shot in the inside from Pederson.
Pederson is stalling here.
Pederson creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Murphy's defenses.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Pederson throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.
Murphy is breathing heavily.
Pederson lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Murphy or not.
Murphy working aggressively here.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Pederson has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Murphy uses from the top position.
Pederson wants to sweep here but Murphy controlling him for the moment.
Pederson has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Pederson looking to hit a scissor sweep but Murphy is one step ahead there.
Pederson trying to control the position here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Pederson working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Murphy doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Murphy manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Pederson wants to sweep but no luck.
Pederson 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.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Pederson is on top in guard.

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

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pederson 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.
Pederson has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

Pederson decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.

Pederson drives through and clinches with Murphy against the cage.
Murphy misses with a punch on the inside.
A hook to the body from Pederson.
Pederson has Murphy pushed against the cage.
Norman Pederson has scored more points in the clinch so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pederson lands a nice shot to the body.

Pederson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.

Murphy gets caught napping as Pederson dives in and scores a takedown. Murphy manages to retain guard.
Pederson content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Pederson advances position into side control!
The referee asks Pederson politely if he wouldn't mind getting on with it and actually doing something. Pederson prefers to stall for the moment though.

Pederson stands up.

Pederson closes the distance and clinches.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Norman Pederson dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Brian Murphy's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Pederson.
Pederson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Murphy can do to turn this around?
Pederson avoids the head kick by Murphy.
Pederson scores with a jab. Murphy acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
Murphy tries to land a body kick

and Pederson counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Pederson 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.
Further stalling from Pederson.
Murphy takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Pederson clinches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
Murphy swings wildly with an uppercut but Pederson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Pederson prevents a body shot from Murphy.
A short body shot lands from Pederson as the two fighters clinch.

Pederson is trying to trip Murphy. He has hold of a leg but Murphy is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Pederson persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Murphy being controlled here, momentarily.

Pederson gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Pederson feints and as Murphy raises his hands in defense, Pederson changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Pederson postures up and lands a big shot to Murphy's brow.
Pederson content to stall in guard here.
Pederson sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Murphy's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pederson takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Pederson wants to pass to mount but Murphy is defending the position.
Norman Pederson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Pederson is taking a breather. Murphy says something to him but it's hard to make out. Perhaps he's telling him to get on with it and actually do something.

Pederson gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
Pederson cracks Murphy with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Pederson uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Murphy has time to react.
Pederson stalks Murphy and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Murphy's face. Murphy staggers backwards, shaken.
Pederson lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Murphy backs up against the cage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Pederson throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Murphy tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Pederson is in Murphy's guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Norman Pederson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Pederson 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 Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:24
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 30:24
Judge Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:24

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Norman Pederson!
After winning the bout, Norman Pederson thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.
Brian Murphy spoke after the fight, saying 'Can I still cut it?'.