PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Mykey Hawthorne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jordan Baxter (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.

Hawthorne
vs
Baxter

178 cm
21
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
18
155 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Mykey Hawthorne!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Jordan Baxter!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, Daniel Bishop and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hawthorne wants to clinch.
Baxter avoids the head kick by Hawthorne.
Baxter fails to land with a series of punches.
Baxter throws a jab when Hawthorne was well out of range.

Hawthorne closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
It looks like Hawthorne is going to stand back up.
Hawthorne works his way into side control.

Hawthorne is trying to get an arm triangle but Baxter is defending well.

Hawthorne decides to stand up, so the ref orders Baxter to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baxter keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

Hawthorne shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Oh and he's advanced to full mount straight away.
Hawthorne looking to control but Baxter is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Hawthorne throwing strikes here but Baxter is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Hawthorne takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Baxter manages to work a leg through to get back to half guard here. Good work there by Baxter, under a barage of strikes from Hawthorne.
Hawthorne tries to pass the half guard into mount. Baxter knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Hawthorne is thwarting Baxter's attempts to control the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hawthorne trying to pass the guard but Baxter defending well.
Hawthorne tries to stand and escape but Baxter actually recovers to full guard.
Hawthorne stays in close to Baxter's body and controls the position.

Baxter escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Hawthorne gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hawthorne has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Baxter is proving hard to escape from.
Hawthorne is breathing heavily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Hawthorne wants to control from the top but Baxter keeps moving.
Baxter has a closed guard, preventing Hawthorne from standing up.
Baxter is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Baxter moves nicely into side control.
Hawthorne is positioning himself to get back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Baxter working away.
Baxter wants to take a breather but Hawthorne manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Baxter.
Baxter trying to control but Hawthorne is working from the bottom.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hawthorne thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mykey Hawthorne dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Hawthorne dodges the punch combination from Baxter.
Hawthorne throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Baxter takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Baxter misses with a two punch combination.
Mykey Hawthorne seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hawthorne fails in his attempt to clinch.

Hawthorne drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Mykey Hawthorne overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Baxter avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Hawthorne has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Hawthorne stands and steps away. Baxter gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Baxter shoots in for a takedown but Hawthorne shows good takedown defense.
Hawthorne tries to score a power double leg takedown but Baxter sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Hawthorne somewhat.

Hawthorne forces Baxter back against the cage and clinches.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baxter fails to pull the fight into his guard.
A frustrated look appears on Baxter's face as he tries to break the clinch.

Hawthorne pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Hawthorne fakes with a right hand and throws a good leg kick, right into the thigh. That had to hurt Baxter.
Baxter fails to land the takedown.
Mykey Hawthorne has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Jordan Baxter.
Hawthorne looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Baxter is fending him off so far but Hawthorne persists. Nope, Baxter circles away and we're back to standing.
Baxter tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Hawthorne counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Mykey Hawthorne is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Hawthorne throws a nice looking combination but Baxter bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baxter fails with a takedown attempt.

Hawthorne scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Hawthorne decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.
Baxter displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Hawthorne.
Baxter shoots for a takedown but Hawthorne saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A nice leg kick lands there from Hawthorne.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Hawthorne.
Baxter fails to land the takedown.
Baxter blocks a head kick by Hawthorne.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Baxter shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Hawthorne sprawls well. Hawthorne wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Baxter gets slowly back to his feet.
Baxter shoots in but Hawthorne avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Hawthorne shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Baxter as he jumps to the side.
Hawthorne slaps away a takedown attempt from Baxter, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Hawthorne moves in looking to clinch but Baxter pushes him off.
Hawthorne wants to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Baxter looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Hawthorne is fending him off so far but Baxter persists. Nope, Hawthorne circles away and we're back to standing.
Baxter has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Hawthorne is looking to land body kicks.
Hawthorne avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Hawthorne.

Baxter shoots in and bounces Hawthorne off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Baxter trying to control but Hawthorne is working from the bottom.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Mykey Hawthorne dominated that second round.
That's time! Hawthorne's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Hawthorne lets loose with a powerful body kick. Baxter will feel that in the morning.
Baxter takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Hawthorne tries to clinch there but Baxter circles away.
Baxter moves out of range of the body kick from Hawthorne.
Horrible takedown by Baxter or perhaps it was just good defense by Hawthorne which made him look bad.
Hawthorne looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.

Hawthorne shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Baxter is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Hawthorne escapes and gets back to his feet.
Hawthorne shoots in for a takedown but Baxter shows good takedown defense.
Hawthorne fails with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mykey Hawthorne. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Baxter fails to land the takedown.
Baxter tries to clinch up.
Baxter doesn't manage to clinch there - Hawthorne circles away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Baxter tries to clinch there but Hawthorne circles away.
Baxter missing with a left hand there. Hawthorne was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Baxter closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Baxter wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hawthorne keeps working.
Hawthorne struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hawthorne is looking for a sweep.

Baxter is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Hawthorne has escaped the position, nice work there.
Baxter wants to lay and pray for a moment but Hawthorne keeps working.
Mykey Hawthorne is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Baxter is staying tight to Hawthorne's torso, preventing him from escaping.
Hawthorne is looking to regain half guard here but Baxter keeps moving and retains side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Baxter goes for an armbar! This could be all over! Wait, no, Hawthorne rolls with the submission and now he's on top in Baxter's guard! Nice work there by Hawthorne!
Hawthorne sitting in guard, not really doing much.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A head kick from Hawthorne lands but Baxter takes it in his stride.
Jordan Baxter has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Baxter goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Jordan Baxter.
Well Hawthorne 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 James Atkins scores the fight 30:28
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 30:28
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Mykey Hawthorne!
Mykey Hawthorne bigged himself up after the win. The crowd seemed to love it.