PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Rocha Freire (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and John Walker (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Freire comes to the cage accompanied by Fuel - Won't Back Down. Walker is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Another One Bites the Dust. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Freire
vs
Walker

180 cm
28
187 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

185 cm
21
199 lbs
5 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Rocha Freire!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 3 - 0, fighting out of London, John Walker!
The judges for this bout are Paul Tew, James Glass and Daniel Bishop.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Freire looks to score with a jab to the body but Walker is just out of range.
Freire takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.
Freire's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Walker connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Freire scrambles back to his feet.
A low kick from Freire is predictable there
and Walker counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Walker with a hook.
Walker takes a swing at Freire's ribcage but misses.
Walker thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Freire if he has to take too many more of those.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Freire throws a head kick that misses.
Nice body punch from Walker.
Walker lands with a nice low kick. That'll leave a bruise.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Walker throws a half hearted mid kick.
Walker misses the shot to the body.
Freire throws a big counter combination but Walker scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
A head kick misses from Walker.
Freire misses with the body kick
and Freire takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Freire looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
A looping hook to the body misses from Walker. Freire does a little dance to reset his feet.
Freire throwing a counter right hand but Walker manages to avoid it.
Freire swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Freire looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Freire throws a hook to the side of Walker's head but Walker sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walker throws a head kick but Freire moves out of range.
That kick from Walker tenderised Freire's leg. Freire is trying to keep his angry face on.
Walker blocks a jab.
Good shot there by Walker.
Walker scores with a jab to the head.
Walker ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Freire moves away.
Walker scores with a shot to the body.
Freire connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Freire tries to score with a low kick but Walker moves his leg out of the way.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Freire takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
Walker takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Walker lands a jab to the head.
Freire fails to land with a series of punches.
Nice jab there from Walker.
Freire moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Freire finds nothing but air with that leg kick attempt.
Walker is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Freire with a body shot.
Walker misses with an attempted mid kick.
Freire takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Freire looks to land a left hand but Walker moved out of range nicely.
Walker comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Walker tries a head kick but it misses.
A counter left hand to the body from Freire misses its target.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Walker lands with a straight right. Freire didn't see that one coming.
Freire will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
As Freire backs off Walker throws a huge counter combo but Freire manages to avoid it all.
Walker looks to throw the jab but Freire is out of range.
Freire checks a leg kick nicely.
It looked like Freire was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Walker dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Walker slips a jab and a cross from Freire.
Walker lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Walker lands a lovely overhand right.
Freire avoids a low kick by using good footwork.
Walker has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Walker throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Walker fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Freire has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Rocha Freire is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walker gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Freire.
Walker shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Freire eats them both and turns towards Walker to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Walker feints and then cracks Freire's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Freire down.
This entire fight has taken place on the feet so far and you wonder whether Freire might be better served trying to take this one to the ground because he's losing the standup battle so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Freire on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Walker. Walker obviously looking to wear him down.
Walker with a body punch. A glancing blow.
John Walker seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Walker cracks Freire with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Freire drops his hands momentarily and Walker takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Freire shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. Walker eats them both and turns towards Freire to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
Walker scores with a spinning back kick!
Walker lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Walker throws a nice outside leg kick.
Walker cracks the inside of Freire's front leg.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Freire takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Freire keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Walker.
Walker swings for the body but Freire moves out of range.
Walker lands a nice looking kick to the body. Freire takes a step back to recover.
Freire is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Freire throws a leg kick but Walker checks it.
Freire throws an overhand right that lands on Walker's shoulder, as Walker tries to avoid the shot.
John Walker seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Walker lands a nice looking kick to the body. Freire takes a step back to recover.
Walker throws a nice inside leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
No joy there for Freire, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Walker throws a predictable looking body shot
and Freire counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Freire misses with a double jab
and Walker connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Freire falls off balance throwing a combination
and Walker counters with a body kick that brings a smile to the face of both fighters.
Freire swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Walker pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Freire closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Freire misses with a two punch combination.
Walker scores with a sloppy right hand. Freire should have avoided that one.
A jab from Walker does it's job there.
Freire stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Walker.
Walker blocks a head kick by Freire.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Walker throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Freire stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Freire misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Walker.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Walker showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Walker fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Freire throws a body kick that misses.
Freire pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Walker appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Walker lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Walker throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Walker dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walker swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
enabling Freire to counter with a crisp jab.
Freire throws a combination that misses
and Walker counters with an outside leg kick.
Freire throws a nice looking combination but Walker bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Freire lands with a nice combination. Walker backs away looking to recover.
Freire gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Walker swinging wildly here.
Walker lands a glancing blow to the side of Freire's head.
Walker looks to land a right hand but Freire moved out of range.
Walker swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Freire.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walker tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Walker throws a head kick but Freire moves out of range.
Freire feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Walker misses with a shot to the body
and Freire counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Walker misses the jab.
Freire throws a big counter combination but Walker scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Walker ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Freire moves away.
Walker lands a jab to Freire's midsection.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Freire throws a right and a left that Walker avoids nicely.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Walker! But no joy.
Freire is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Walker.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A solid leg kick lands there for Walker.
A looping hook to the body misses from Freire. Walker does a little dance to reset his feet.
Freire swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Walker counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Freire throws a poor cross that misses
and Walker counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Freire looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Walker lands the left hand.
Freire swinging wildly here.
Freire misses with a lunging right hand
and Walker counters with a nice leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A solid body kick from Walker.
Freire dodges the punch combination from Walker.
Freire looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Walker swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Freire throws a left and a right that both miss
and Walker counters with a body kick.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Left hook, right uppercut from Walker.
Rocha Freire has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Freire stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Walker.
Walker scores with a head kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Walker comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Walker has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge James Glass scores the fight 27:30
Judge Daniel Bishop scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... John Walker!
During a confident post fight interview, John Walker thanked all his fans. He seemed very genuine when describing how motivated his fans keep him.
Rocha Freire spoke after the fight, saying 'I'll train harder to do better next time.'.