Live Blog: UFC Fight Night: Emmett vs. Murphy
Despite some minor technical difficulties and a late start, we’re live blogging from the preliminary card through the main card tonight for Emmett vs. Murphy. The DeFi Metrics Sports Editors are here to accompany you as you cash your crypto sports betting tickets and curse the bums who let you down.
Victor Henry vs. Pedro Falcão
I’m just sitting down to this after a late start and we’re just at the start of the third round in the Henry-Falcao bout. The commentators are waxing nostalgic about Josh Barnett’s first run in the UFC and his status as the youngest UFC champ. They also point out that Chris Leben is one of the judges for this fight. Crazy nostalgia. The scorecards are announced and, as expected, favorite Victor Henry takes it 29-28 across the board. Josh Barnett’s beard is grey and regal and majestic. We don’t deserve him.
Loma Lookboonmee vs. Istela Nunes
Next up we’ve got your girl Loma Lookboonmee vs. Istela Nunes. I’m going to be real, I try not to objectify female fighters, but Istela Nunes is absurdly hot. Yeesh. Loma looks like a compact little powerhouse of death. Interested to see how this one shakes out.
Round one starts and Lookboonmee is already landing massive leg kicks. Nunes presses forward and lands some chopping leg kicks of her own. Nunes catches a kick and pushes Lookboonmee back into the fence. Nunes takes an eye poke and we get a pause in the action. We quickly get back to it and Lookboonmee gets right back to work. Both women are repeatedly targeting each other’s calves and lower body. This has, up to here been fought entirely on the feet. Loma starts opening up with her punches now. Loma basically gives Nunes a takedown and she eventually gets half guard but Lookboonmee is super active and always looking to sweep. The round ends with Nunes standing up and backing off. 10-9 Nunes.
Nunes making the oddsmakers look absolutely retarded so far, but Loma ain’t going out like that. Round two starts and both women keep active with trading leg kicks. Loma looks to clinch and take Nunes down. Nunes is able use her bigger frame to control Loma and keep her pressed up against the fence. Loma finally gets Nunes down and looks to get on top. Bisping is just shitting all over Nunes’ attempts in grappling here, but she’s doing a lot more than Loma. Round two ends. 10-9 Nunes. Nunes was more active throughout the round and Loma did nothing with her takedown other than defend sub attempts from Nunes.
Round three starts and these women are trading serious leather. Nunes goes back to controlling Lookboonmee against the cage. Lookboonmee gets a big takedown and winds up in Nunes’ full guard. Lookboonmee looks to get some distance and land some elbows. Loma just dominating and smothering Nunes. The round ends and its all Lookboonmee. 10-9 Lookboonmee. The decision will be incredibly interesting; if the judges scored round two for Nunes, it’s probably her fight. If they scored it for Lookboonmee, it’s hers. Nunes immediately throws her hands up after Lookboonmee lets her up after the bell.
30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Loma Lookboonmee. Totally fair decision, but that 30-27 is batshit insane. I had Nunes reaction as well. Shameful. Still, gotta be happy for Loma, in her post fight interview she talks about breaking her hand last year and looking to fight more this year. Nice win for the girl.
Rhys McKee vs. Daniel Frunza
Next up is Rhys McKee vs. Daniel Frunza. Daniel Frunza is making his UFC debut while McKee is still looking for his first UFC win. McKee is ridiculously young given how much experience he has. Frunza is itching to get started. The fight starts and McKee presses forward. Both men land big shots. McKee drops Frunza who tries to recover but he’s compromised. McKee lands another big shot and stumbles him again. Now he’s landing shots with Frunza up against the cage. McKee is taking his time but its academic. Frunza is hanging on but his eye is bloody. McKee keeps sticking him, but Frunza is showing incredible heart and toughness. He actually looks more in the fight than he did earlier this round. He may have recovered but McKee is still landing shots.
Two minutes left in the round and Bisping is speculating on how Frunza’s eye might be a fight-ending injury. McKee looks like he may be having a bit of an adrenaline dump. It seemed like he was going to get Frunza out of there but he seems to have recovered. The two men separate and McKee keeps landing his jab. The round ends with Frunza firing back and McKee retreating. 10-9 McKee.
As round two is about to start, the doctor is in and Frunza’s eye looks absolutely destroyed. Apparently his lip is injured as well and that’s why the doctor calls the right off. It’s a TKO win for Rhys McKee.
Tweets from tonight:
Diana Belbiţă vs. Dione Barbosa
Next up we’ve got Diana Belbiţă vs. Dione Barbosa in an intriguing scrap. Oddsmakers made Belbiţă a massive underdog to Barbosa at +700. Belbiţă has shown heart and toughness in her UFC career thus far so we’ll see if the books overestimate Barbosa’s chances here. As the fight starts, Barbosa looks to land measured shots. Belbiţă looks to have some more nervous energy but she’s still landing her own shots. Barbosa for the most part is doing a good job getting in, landing shots, and then moving away from Belbiţă’s counters. Barbosa just overpowers Belbiţă and takes her to the mat. Immediately she moves into mount. She flattens her out. She locks up a choke and Belbiţă is tapping almost immediately. Barbosa wins via submission in the first round. Nice performance —she definitely lived up to the oddsmakers’ expectations.
Torrez Finney vs. Robert Valentin
Up next we’ve got the main card, and things kick off with a middleweight scrap between Torrez Finney vs. Robert Valentin. Finney looks like an action figure. He crowds Valentin right off the bat and goes for the takedown. He picks up Valentin like nothing and slams him to the mat, but Valentin is immediately back to his feet. Not for long, however, as Finney picks him up and slams him again. Finney is holding him against the cage and using wrist control to keep Valentin stuck. He moves to take his back and Valentin gets back to his feet. Finney takes him down again but Valentin is immediately back on his feet. It’s a bit of a stalemate until Finney scores another takedown and moves straight to side control. Valentin works back to half guard and looks for a kimura to sweep but he has to let go. Finney is just spamming takedowns and keeps lifting and slamming Valentin. They’re working against the cage and its a stalemate again. Again, however, Finney gets him down and looks to unload some punches, which are mostly blocked. Round one ends and its a clear 10-9 Finney.
As round two starts, Valentin looks to keep distance and land some strikes, but Finney is all over him and picks him up and slams him down again. Relentless top pressure from Finney and there’s not much Valentin can do on the bottom. Finney smashes him up against the fence and Valentin briefly looks for a triangle but there’s nothing doing. Valentin is able to get full guard but Finney is just smothering him. Valentin throws up an armbar but Finney just picks him up and shrugs it off like nothing. Finney moves to his back and keeps him pressed up against the cage. Valentin is trying to get up but he’s trapped. Finney moves to his back but he’s too high, Valentin is able to shake him off and come out the other side. It back to a stalemate as Finney keeps Valentin trapped up against the cage and just trying to defend the takedown. Round two ends with more of the same. 10-9 Finney.
At the start of round three, Finney looks exhausted and Valentin pours it on. But Finney locks up and forces Valentin to defend against the fence, once again. Finney gets another takedown and Valentin doesn’t have the energy to just pop back up again. Valentin slowly works back to his feet, but Finney has him trapped against the fence. The ref has seen enough and he separates the two. Valentin immediately takes advantage and unloads on strikes, but Finney wisely locks him back up against the fence. Ref Mike Beltran has seen enough again and separates the fighters once again. Finney, however, is too much; he locks up Valentin, picks him up and slams him. Valentin tries to land some elbows but Finney is just smothering him. Mike Beltran separates them for a third time, but Finney just goes right back to his wheelhouse. Round three ends and it’s the same song playing on repeat. 10-9 Finney.
Total and complete domination from bell-to-bell. Nice win for Torrez Finney. One judge (Tony Weeks) has it 30-27 for Valentin. Just criminally insane. Trolling everyone. Ya gotta respect it.
Ode' Osbourne vs. Luis Gurule
Ode' Osbourne vs. Luis Gurule looks to be an action-packed fight while it lasts. As the fight starts, Osbourne presses forward, landing kicks. The fight is playing out on the feet thus far, with Osbourne getting the better of the exchanges. Gurule gets a hold of Osbourne, picks him up, and throws him to the canvas. Gurule lands in side control and controls Osbourne, who looks to turn and get some space. Gurule moves to mount and Osbourne is increasingly in danger. He moves back to side control and then half guard while he postures up and lands some nasty elbows. Osbourne gets back to his feet and looks to land some strikes as the round ends. Nice job by Osbourne getting back to his feet, but Gurule takes the round. 10-9 Gurule.
Round two starts and Osbourne looks to keep the fight standing. He lands a massive left hand to score a TKO and end the fight. Ode Osbourne wins by TKO in round two.
Brad Tavares vs. Gerald Meerschaert
It’s a battle of grizzled middleweights up next. Tavares is the favorite here, the thinking being if he can avoid playing the grappling game, he should be able to win the striking exchanges. The fight starts and Tavares has a clear speed advantage. Meerschaert lunges forward and grabs hold of Tavares and presses him up against the fence. Tavares is able to disengage and shake off another weak takedown attempt. Tavares sticks a nice jab in Meerschaert’s face as he rushes in. The two men trade on the feet, with Tavares getting the better shots in. Meerschaert tries to lunge in with punches and get hold of Tavares but nothing doing. Tavares stings Meerschaert with a combination that sends him bouncing back off the fence. He follows it up with another shot but Meerschaert looks mostly unfazed. Meerschaert catches a kick from Tavares and returns with a headkick of his own. The round ends as Tavares whiffs on a spinning back fist attempt. 10-9 Tavares.
Round two starts and it’s more of the same dynamic. Tavares sticks to punches for the most part, but Meerschaert doesn’t have much of an answer. He’s still trying, however, and he’s always dangerous. He has enough submissions late in the fight for Tavares to really need to stay on his toes here. Tavares lands a nice counter right and shakes off another takedown attempt. The round ends with more of the same; it’s all Tavares here. Meerschaert is still in the fight, but Tavares is cruising right now; he’s doing enough to win on points while keeping the submission threat at bay. 10-9 Tavares.
We start the third and final round and Brad Tavares has to be thinking, “don’t get caught.” Meerschaert shows urgency but Tavares isn’t having any of it. Meerschaert gets hold of Tavares and gets him down for a split second, but Tavares is back on his feet. They separate, but just for a moment. Meerschaert gets hold of him and they’re grappling up against the fence. Tavares has got to be aware that this is potentially where his opponent is most dangerous, and it being the third round means nothing. Referee Mike Beltran is cautioning Meerschaert, who you have to imagine wants to do anything to keep the fight here. The action’s enough for the referee to stay out of it for now. Time is winding down, and Meerschaert needs to make something happen if he has a chance here. Mike Beltran is getting antsy again. They separate and Tavares lands a front kick. Meerschaert gets hold of him again and presses him up against the fence but the clock is working against him. Tavares quickly separates and the fight ends on the feet. 10-9 Tavares.
The judges’ scorecards are announced and its a unanimous 29-28 for Brad Tavares.
Cortavious Romious vs. Chang Ho Lee
Cortavious Romious vs. Chang Ho Lee is up next and looks to be a banger. As the commentary team noted, Romious missed weight for the fight. These two are absolutely slangin’ and bangin’. Lee is absolutely relentless straight off the bat and now he’s locked up with Romious and looking for the takedown. Lee executes a beautiful throw and winds up in mount. Now, he’s looking to create some space and land some shots. Romious does a great job getting back to his feet and reversing things, taking Lee down and winding up on his back, but he’s too high and Lee shakes him off. Lee is on top now, landing big shots, and Romious turns and gives his back. Lee locks in a body triangle and goes to work, landing shots on his opponent. Romious tries to escape but Lee just flows with him and keeps the body triangle locked in. He rolls Romious over and flattens him out. Now he’s landing big shots, but Romious just powers a reversal and the round ends with both men scrambling. 10-9 Lee.
Lee gets a massive TKO in round two.
Pat Sabatini vs. Joanderson Brito
Sabatini absolutely dominates and shuts out Brito for three rounds to cruise to a unanimous decision. I thought Sabatini would win by sub here, but Brito’s defense was solid. Great showing for Pat Sabatini.
Josh Emmett vs. Lerone Murphy
An incredibly evenly matched fight but Murphy had the edge. Murphy was able to evade Emmett’s strikes while landing plenty of his own. He frustrated Emmett, which showed especially toward the end of the fight. Absolutely fantastic showing for the Englishman. The judges have it for Murphy in a career-changing performance for the Brit. Great stuff.