PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Khalid Murray (ranked 4470 p4p, 4517 weight class) and Paul Pinsky (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Murray
vs
Pinsky

182 cm
22
205
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
18
200
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Inexperienced

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Khalid Murray!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Paul Pinsky!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Yukihiro Shimada and Yasuomi Hirokawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Murray shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Murray wants to stand up but Pinsky has a hold of him and won't allow it.
Pinsky is trying to stand up here but Murray is controlling him well.
Murray is nestled in close to Pinsky, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Pinsky trying to control but Murray postures up.
Pinsky is trying to get back to full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Pinsky has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Murray is working away from the top position though.
Murray is figuring out what he wants to do next.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murray lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Pinsky is looking to improve his position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Murray tries to stand but can't do so whilst Pinsky controls his leg.
Murray slows the pace down in half guard.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Murray gets a takedown into half guard.
Murray takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Murray has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Murray is nestled in close to Pinsky, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Pinsky trying to get back to full guard but Murray takes advantage of the position and moves to full mount!
Murray controlling from the full mount.
Murray scoring with some good ground and pound from mount here. Will he manage to finish Pinsky?
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Murray with shots to the head and body - Pinsky looks very uncomfortable down there.

Murray with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pinsky takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.
Murray is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Pinsky can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Murray takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Pinsky is looking to improve his position but Murray isn't that keen on the idea.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Khalid Murray dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Pinsky shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Murray defends it nicely.

Murray shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Murray showed some decent athleticism there.
Pinsky trying to control but Murray postures up.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Murray slips a nice elbow through Pinsky's hands, connecting with Pinsky's forehead.
Murray lands strikes from half guard.
Murray 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.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Murray wants to stand but Pinsky has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Murray looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Murray scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Murray is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

Murray wants to work for an arm triangle but Pinsky is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Pinsky trying to control here.

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.
Murray passes the guard and advances to mount!
Murray lands a heavy elbow.
Murray lands a heavy elbow.
Murray sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

Murray is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Pinsky has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Khalid Murray overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Murray looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Murray looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Murray controlling the pace for now.
Murray is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Pinsky can do to turn this around?

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Murray is working for a guillotine from mount but Pinsky frees his head quite easily.
Murray content just to control the position here.
Murray landing strikes from the mount and Pinsky is in trouble!
Pinsky tries to hold on but Murray pushes him away.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
The referee warns Pinsky that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Murray controlling from the full mount.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Khalid Murray dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Pinsky wants to clinch.
No luck for Pinsky with that takedown attempt.
Murray rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Pinsky counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.

Murray dives in and scores a takedown into Pinsky's guard.
Murray is standing up over Pinsky. Pinsky looks to escape but Murray dives into side control.

Pinsky is trying to work for a sweep but Murray has mounted him!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Murray controlling the pace for now.

Murray is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Pinsky can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Murray working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Murray controlling from mount.
Murray lands a big elbow.
Murray controlling from mount.

Murray looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pinsky tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Murray controlling from the full mount.
Pinsky tries to hold on but Murray pushes him away.

Murray is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Pinsky has managed to escape the submission attempt.
The referee warns Pinsky that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pinsky tries to hold on but Murray postures up.
Pinsky takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Murray controlling the position easily from mount.
Murray landing strikes from the mount.
Murray tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Murray looking to finish Pinsky with some ground and pound. This is bad for Pinsky!
Pinsky looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!
Murray scores with punches and elbows.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Murray is punishing Pinsky with some ground and pound.

And that's the end of the fight!
Khalid Murray showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Murray 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:26
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:26
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Khalid Murray!
Khalid Murray seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.