PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Cathail Murphy (ranked 3494 p4p, 3697 weight class) and Lorenzo Bianchi (ranked 108 p4p, 118 weight class). Bianchi has chosen Frank Sinatra - Bim Bam Baby as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Murphy
vs
Bianchi

175 cm
35
175
9 - 14 - 1

185 cm
27
204
9 - 7 - 0

Good wrestling
World class boxer
KO power

Good wrestler
World class MT
Granite chin

Vegan Gains
PWNAGE™

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 14 - 1, fighting out of London, Cathail Murphy!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Lorenzo Bianchi!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Yuuki Gou and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bianchi tries a head kick but it misses.
A head kick from Bianchi lands but Murphy takes it in his stride.
Murphy misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Bianchi throws a nice head kick!
Murphy pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bianchi keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Murphy sets himself, and Bianchi steps forward looking for the clinch! Murphy avoids it this time.
Bianchi lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.

It looks like Cathail Murphy has been cut.
Bianchi's coach down at Cause & Effect was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on Bianchi's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bianchi paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.
Murphy throws a right and a left that both miss.
Bianchi will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Bianchi misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Bianchi pulls out of a head kick attempt.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Murphy shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Bianchi manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.

Murphy gets to his feet - Bianchi follows without any prompting.
Murphy avoids the head kick by Bianchi.
Murphy takes a kick to the side of the head.

Murphy fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Bianchi sprawls well initially but Murphy persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Bianchi is trying to get back to full guard.

Bianchi looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Murphy lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Murphy working Bianchi over with strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bianchi is staying active underneath Murphy, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Bianchi is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Murphy pulls his head out easily.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Murphy lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Bianchi makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Bianchi.
Murphy 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.
Murphy sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Bianchi's guard.
Bianchi tries to roll over but Murphy keeps him under control.
Murphy is thwarting Bianchi's attempts to control the position.
Murphy working the head and body with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murphy not landing any meaningful shots this time.

Bianchi looking for submissions off his back.
Murphy is trying to control. Bianchi wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Murphy working over Bianchi with some ground and pound. Bianchi looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Murphy thows a huge punch but Bianchi dodges it nicely.
Bianchi is looking for a sweep. Murphy is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

Bianchi looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Murphy missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Bianchi trying to control but Murphy postures up.
Bianchi wants to get back to full guard.
Bianchi trying to control from the bottom.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Bianchi is refusing to be controlled, as Murphy sits in half guard.
Bianchi is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Murphy scores with a couple of nice shots.
Murphy sitting and controlling from the half guard.
Bianchi moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Cathail Murphy will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Cathail 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.

Murphy fails with a takedown attempt.
And Bianchi tries to counter it with a takedown but Murphy pushes his down on his head and steps out.

Bianchi closes the distance and pushes Murphy back into the cage.
Murphy stalling the fight.
Bianchi lands a shoulder strike.
Murphy tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Murphy is trying to push Bianchi away but Bianchi has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Murphy is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Bianchi can't fight it off and eventually Murphy manages to take the fight to the floor. Bianchi looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Murphy wants to stand but Bianchi has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bianchi has a butterfly guard looking to sweep but Murphy has passed into side control.
Bianchi tries to buck Murphy off but Murphy is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bianchi looks to move to half guard but instead Murphy has passed into mount! Damn!
Bianchi is desperately trying to improve his position but Murphy has a good base and remains in mount.
Murphy trying to control but Bianchi is having none of it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Murphy landing punches.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Bianchi is in a horrible position here. Murphy smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Bianchi really trying hard to get back to half guard here.
Murphy cracks Bianchi with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Murphy lands a nice shot to the head.
Murphy controlling from mount.
Bianchi tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Murphy trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Murphy working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Murphy trying to control but Bianchi is having none of it.
Murphy fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murphy trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Murphy landing strikes, looking to finish!
Bianchi can't escape the position.
Murphy looking to control and managing it successfully.
Murphy landing punches.
Murphy wants to control the pace but Bianchi is squirming around nicely.
Bianchi sneaks a leg under to get to half guard.
Bianchi tries to roll over but Murphy keeps him under control.
Murphy is looking to take a break and control but Bianchi is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murphy throwing shots but Bianchi is blocking nicely.
Murphy prevents Bianchi from improving his position.
Cathail Murphy overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Bianchi looking for submissions off his back.
Murphy trying to control the action but Bianchi is working from the bottom.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bianchi tries to get to full guard but Murphy has control of the leg.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Cathail Murphy dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Cathail 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. And we move into the final round!

Murphy throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Murphy is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Bianchi can do to turn this around?
Bianchi thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Murphy if he has to take too many more of those.
Lorenzo Bianchi seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Murphy closes the distance and pushes Bianchi back into the cage.
Murphy wants to break the clinch but can't.
Bianchi working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Bianchi lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Bianchi tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Murphy's elbow.
Murphy blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Murphy breaks from the clinch.
Murphy uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Bianchi.
Bianchi misses with a two punch combination.
Bianchi throws a head kick but Murphy moves out of range.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bianchi lands with an overhand left.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Murphy.
Bianchi uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Murphy.
And Bianchi tries to counter it with a takedown but Murphy pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Cathail Murphy is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bianchi misses with a head kick.
Lorenzo Bianchi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Murphy keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.

Murphy manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Bianchi on his heels. He'll look to pass Bianchi's guard now, I'm sure.
Bianchi 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.

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

Bianchi working for a triangle but Murphy defends it easily.
Murphy slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Lorenzo Bianchi has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bianchi is looking for a triangle but Murphy pushes his legs off easily.
Murphy is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

Bianchi has thrown up a leg looking for a triangle. Murphy doesn't defend quickly enough and Bianchi has managed to lock this one up! Can Murphy escape?! NO! He's tapping out! Damn, that was a quick submission - congrats to Bianchi on a fantastic submission victory.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:38 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle). Lorenzo Bianchi!
Lorenzo Bianchi thanked the fans post fight for their support.