PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Craig Hazell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dave Radford (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hazell's ring entrance music is that housewives' favourite, You Make My Dreams Come True - Hall & Oates. Radford has chosen I am the Beast as his entrance music, which hasn't gone down very well with the crowd. Craig Hazell has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Hazell
vs
Radford

178 cm
25
175 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

166 cm
25
171 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Craig Hazell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of London, Dave Radford !
The judges for this bout are Andrew Berry, Paul Tew and Sam Margolis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A looping hook to the body misses from Radford . Hazell does a little dance to reset his feet.

Hazell throws a loose over hand right and dives in with a double leg takedown. Radford tries to sprawl but it's too late and the fighters hit the mat. Hazell is in Radford 's guard.

Hazell decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Radford , up you get!

Hazell clinches with his opponent.
Hazell can't find room to land a body shot as Radford controls the action.
Radford misses with a punch on the inside.
Radford swings wildly with an uppercut but Hazell uses good head movement to avoid it.
Hazell blocking some punches.
Radford manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Radford can't find room to land a body shot as Hazell controls the action.
Radford should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Radford tries to work over Hazell's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.

Hazell pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Radford throws a right hand that Hazell ducks under and follows up with a left that Hazell also avoids with ease.
Radford avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Radford misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Hazell.
Radford misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Radford closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Hazell wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Radford 's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Dave Radford is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hazell avoids a punch combination nicely.
Hazell misses with a jab, cross combination.
Hazell shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Radford but Radford pushes him off and we're back to square one.
Hazell tries to close the distance and clinch but Radford swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
A looping hook to the body misses from Radford . Hazell does a little dance to reset his feet.
Radford fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Hazell thinks about countering with a body kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A big right from Radford misses.

Hazell clinches up with Radford and pushes him back against the cage.
Radford has Hazell pressed against the cage.
Radford can't break the clinch.
Radford misses with a hook to the ribs.
Radford doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Hazell has Radford pushed against the cage.
Hazell content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Hazell displaying some good clinch control by pressing Radford up against the cage.
Hazell gets a warning from the ref for wasting time.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hazell tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Radford smiles and moves away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hazell on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
The crowd cheers as Hazell lands an impressive looking overhand right. Radford doesn't seem phased though.
Radford lands a jab to the head.
Radford throws a series of punches but Hazell moves out of range.
Hazell tries to clinch there but Radford circles away.
Radford is looking for the big counter here.

Radford gets tackled into the cage by Hazell. Hazell maintains the clinch.
Hazell wants to break free but Radford has control.

Radford breaks the clinch.
Hazell fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Craig Hazell. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Radford tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Hazell was well out of range. Poor timing from Radford .

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Radford throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Hazell changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Radford tries to avoid it but Hazell manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Radford to the ground. Radford escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Hazell uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Radford .
Dave Radford seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Radford tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Hazell manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Hazell tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Hazell has managed to clinch.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hazell is looking to control Radford 's arms but Radford gets an underhook and turns him. Now Hazell has his back to the cage.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Radford tries to work over Hazell's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Radford tries a body shot but Hazell blocks it.
Radford throws a head punch that misses.
Radford has Hazell pressed against the cage, preventing Hazell from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Hazell scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Radford throws a head punch that misses.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Radford dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Hazell keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Hazell tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Radford manages to circle out of the way.
Hazell shoots in for a takedown. "I don't think so" says Radford as he avoids it easily.
Radford throws a counter combo.
Some wild striking there from Radford .
Hazell avoids the body shot from Radford .
Hazell tries to clinch up but Radford circles away and keeps his distance.
Hazell shoots in but Radford avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Radford has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Some wild striking there from Radford .
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hazell has his takedown stuffed

and Radford counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Craig Hazell. That's going to take a lot out of him.
A head punch on the inside from Radford fails to land.

Hazell breaks from the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hazell tries to close the distance and clinch up but Radford swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Dave Radford seems to be getting the better of the standup.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hazell looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Radford misses with a straight left.
Radford fails to land with a series of punches.
Hazell tries to clinch but Radford is having none of it.
Radford misses with a double jab.
It looked like Hazell was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Radford swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Radford throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Hazell throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Hazell is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Radford let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Hazell showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Radford .

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Radford leaves Hazell with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Hazell drives through and clinches with Radford against the cage.

Hazell breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Radford misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Some wild striking there from Hazell.
Hazell tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Radford moves into range and throws a lovely three punch combination.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Radford throws a right and a left that both miss.
Radford throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hazell lands a lovely overhand right.
Hazell listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Hazell avoids a punch combination nicely.
Hazell was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Craig Hazell is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Radford is breathing heavily.
Radford misses with a hook
and Hazell counters with a left to the body.
Hazell moves in looking to clinch but Radford pushes him off.
Radford swats away the attempt to clinch by Hazell.
Nice shot lands for Hazell.
Radford takes a swing at Hazell's ribcage but misses.
Hazell fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Radford avoids it really well and circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes from Radford . Those never looked like landing.
Sloppy strikes from Radford . Those never looked like landing.
Hazell has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Hazell there as he acknowledges the shot.

Hazell closes the distance and clinches.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hazell scores with a shot to the side of Radford 's head.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Hazell.
Hazell wants to break free but Radford has control.

Hazell pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Radford lands with a nice combination. Hazell backs away looking to recover.
Radford swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
A right-left combo lands from Hazell.

Radford gets in close and instigates a clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dave Radford showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! 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.

Hazell avoids a punch combination nicely.
Radford avoids the head kick by Hazell.
Radford tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Hazell manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Hazell was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
A punch combination from Radford misses.
Hazell is looking to clinch but Radford is avoiding it.
Hazell moves in looking to clinch but Radford pushes him off.
Hazell tries to clinch up but Radford circles away and keeps his distance.
Radford now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Radford tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Hazell paws at him with a jab and circles away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
A looping hook to the body misses from Radford . Hazell does a little dance to reset his feet.
Hazell swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Hazell throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
A punch combination from Radford misses.
Radford avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Hazell doesn't manage to clinch there - Radford circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Radford misses with a wild body shot.
Radford takes a swing at Hazell's ribcage but misses.
Hazell is looking to counter the offense by Radford and move into the clinch.
Hazell is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
No luck for Hazell with that takedown attempt.

Hazell clinches up against the cage.
Hazell drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Radford working aggressively here.

Hazell breaks from the clinch.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hazell is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Hazell slips a straight right by Radford .
Radford swats away the attempt to clinch by Hazell.
Radford avoids the head kick by Hazell.
Hazell dodges the punch combination from Radford .
Hazell closes the distance but Radford moves to the side
and Radford counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Hazell scores with a shot to the body.
Radford throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Hazell.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Radford throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Hazell.
Radford takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Radford works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Radford misses with a body shot.
It looked like Hazell was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.
Hazell misses with a takedown attempt - Radford sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
Dave Radford is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Craig Hazell. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Radford lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hazell circles away quickly and effectively.
A jab lands there for Hazell.
Radford fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Hazell throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Radford .
Hazell slips a jab from Radford .
Hazell seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.

Radford has closed the distance and engaged Hazell in a clinch.
Radford doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Radford throws a head punch that misses.
Radford takes a shot to the head.
Hazell is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Radford lands a right hand that snaps the head of Hazell backwards.
Radford misses with a punch to the body.
Hazell tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Radford smiles and moves away.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hazell scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Radford doesn't seem bothered though.
Craig Hazell has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Radford tries to clinch up.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dave Radford comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Radford winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30
Judge Paul Tew scores the fight 27:30
Judge Sam Margolis scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Dave Radford !
Post fight, an emotional Dave Radford said 'I'm the motherfucking BEAST'.