PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Miroslav Walker (ranked 3167 p4p, 387 weight class) and Jackson Finnegan (ranked 5210 p4p, 567 weight class). Jackson Finnegan will no doubt be looking to use his reach advantage to good effect.

Walker
vs
Finnegan

179 cm
25
180 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

190 cm
25
170 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Determined

Knockdown Clothes

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 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Miroslav Walker!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Jackson Finnegan!
The judges for this bout are Darius Henderson, Steve Erwin and Eliza Hachem.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Finnegan closes the distance and pushes Walker back into the cage.
Finnegan putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Walker in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Finnegan throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Walker blocks it with crossed arms.
Finnegan is trying to stall.
Finnegan is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Finnegan gets underhooks to prevent Walker's takedown attempt.

Walker has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Finnegan uses from the top position.
Walker on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Walker tries to get out of the position.
Walker looking to control.
Walker avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Finnegan trying to control the position from guard on top but Walker is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Walker pulls Finnegan in close to prevent any damage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Finnegan scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Walker pulls Finnegan in close to prevent any damage.
Finnegan must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Walker scores with a short punch from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Walker wants to sweep here but Finnegan controlling him for the moment.
Finnegan throws a strike but Walker rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.

Walker pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Finnegan is keeping the position for now.

Finnegan is working an open guard so Walker takes the opportunity to get back to his feet.
Finnegan looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walker shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Walker misses with a two punch combination.
Walker tries to score a power double leg takedown but Finnegan sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Walker somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Miroslav Walker. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Walker is breathing heavily.
Finnegan tries to clinch

and Walker counters with a nice double leg into side control. Finnegan won't be happy with that.
Walker wants to control but Finnegan is keeping him busy.
Finnegan gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.
Finnegan is trying to control but can't.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walker trying to mount his opponent but Finnegan defends it.
Walker prevents Finnegan from improving his position.
Walker keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

Walker is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Finnegan defends it well.
Finnegan is looking to control Walker's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Finnegan avoid being mounted?

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.

Walker escapes and gets back to his feet.
Walker looks for a takedown but Finnegan sprawls well.
Jackson Finnegan seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Walker takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.

Finnegan closes the distance and clinches.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Walker jumps guard and drags Finnegan to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Finnegan wants to get up but he can't break Walker's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.
Walker avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Miroslav Walker will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Finnegan throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Walker drops down looking for a counter takedown but Finnegan sprawls and moves away.

Walker looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Finnegan!

Finnegan bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Finnegan tries to close the distance and clinch up but Walker swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Finnegan wants to clinch up but Walker keeps it at a distance.

Walker shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Finnegan manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Walker sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Walker might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Finnegan had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Walker defends it easily.
Finnegan is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Walker is standing up over Finnegan. Finnegan looks to escape but Walker dives into side control.
Walker moves into full mount!
Finnegan tries to hold on but Walker postures up.
Walker sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Finnegan wants to hold on but Walker pushes him away.
Walker content just to control the position here.
The referee warns Finnegan that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Finnegan in a bad spot here, taking shots to the head.
Walker looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Finnegan is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Walker lands a couple of good shots and Finnegan has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
I really don't envy Finnegan right now.
A bit of a pause in the action here. Walker controlling the positon.
I really don't envy Finnegan right now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Walker has good solid back control here.
Finnegan tries to escape the position.
So, who will make the next big move? In this position it could be crucial.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Walker's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Miroslav Walker dominated that second 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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Walker is trying hard to land a takedown here. Finnegan sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Walker closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Finnegan missing with knees to the body.
Finnegan throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Walker blocks it with crossed arms.
Walker avoids the elbow strike from Finnegan, against the cage.
Finnegan lands a nice elbow.

It looks like Miroslav Walker has been cut.
Walker managing to block the knees to the body from Finnegan.
Walker blocks a punch to the side of the head.

Walker manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walker keeping moving, preventing Finnegan from controlling successfully.
Finnegan connects with a couple of short punches.
Walker lands a beautiful sweep and he's now moved into his opponent's guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Walker drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Walker jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Walker content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Walker is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Finnegan can do to turn this around?
Walker trying to control the position from guard on top but Finnegan is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Walker stands and throws Finnegan's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Walker wants to take a breather but Finnegan manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Walker.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Walker showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Finnegan working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Walker has passed into half guard!
Finnegan takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Finnegan trying to control but Walker postures up.
Finnegan is looking for a sweep. Walker is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walker controlling the pace.
Walker working the head and body with strikes.
Finnegan is looking to improve his position.
Finnegan works his way to full guard. Good work.
Walker slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Walker trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Walker looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Finnegan throws a couple of shots from the bottom but they don't land.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Walker gets a double leg takedown into Finnegan's guard.
Walker is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Jackson Finnegan has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Miroslav Walker is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

And that's the end of the fight!
Miroslav Walker showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Walker, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Darius Henderson scores the fight 30:28
Judge Steve Erwin scores the fight 29:28
Judge Eliza Hachem scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Miroslav Walker!
In his post fight interview, Miroslav Walker gave a big smile as he said 'The blade ran cold... onto the next victim'.
Jackson Finnegan spoke after the fight, saying 'Congratulations to my opponent. He was the better fighter tonight.'.