PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Gary Walters (ranked 4950 p4p, 4488 weight class) and Lorenzo Hastings (ranked 535 p4p, 499 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.

Walters
vs
Hastings

185 cm
18
198
0 - 0 - 0

190 cm
18
215
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

Dangerous GnP
Dangerous knees
Granite chin

Nutritional Shaved Ice

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Gary Walters!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Lorenzo Hastings!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Shigeki Fujiwara and Yukihiro Yamamoto.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hastings tries to clinch up but Walters circles away and keeps his distance.
Hastings moves in looking to clinch but Walters pushes him off.
Walters half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Hastings tries to clinch but Walters is having none of it.
Walters throws a body punch but Hastings moves out of range.
Hastings tries to clinch there but Walters circles away.
Walters swats away the attempt to clinch by Hastings.

Hastings fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Walters, pushing him back against the cage.

Walters has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Hastings uses from the top position.
Hastings won't allow Walters to get back to his feet.
Hastings really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Walters. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walters is adopting a defensive guard.
Walters tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Walters holds on and takes a little breather.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Hastings stopping the sweep attempt from Walters.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Walters keeping full guard, as Hastings tries to pass.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Walters cracks Hastings with a good jab.
Lorenzo Hastings is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Walters feints and then cracks Hastings's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Hastings down.
Hastings fails with an attempt to clinch.

Hastings closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walters is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Hastings to keep the fight standing.
Walters stalling in the clinch but Hastings improves position.
Walters blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hastings tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Hastings misses with a knee to the head.
Hastings tries a knee to the head but Walters blocks it.
Hastings is pushing Walters up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Hastings misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Walters.
Walters tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Hastings smiles and moves away.

Walters tries to keep at a distance but Hastings has taken the fight into the clinch.
Walters just leaning against Hastings, taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hastings throws a knee to the head but misses.
Walters on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Walters pushes Hastings back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Hastings throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Walters blocks it with crossed arms.
Walters fails to pull guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gary Walters. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Walters wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Hastings throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Walters blocks it with crossed arms.
Hastings tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Hastings prevents a takedown attempt there.
Walters is trying to pull guard but Hastings turns him against the cage and we stay in the clinch.
Walters is trying to drag Hastings to the mat but Hastings just about manages to keep his footing. He used the cage to his advantage there.
Hastings looking to throw knees to the head but Walters is blocking nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Walters manages to break the clinch.
Lorenzo Hastings seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Walters avoiding damage as Hastings throws knees to the body.
Hastings tries to land knees in the clinch but Walters avoids the damage to the body.
Hastings trying to land knees to the body.
Hastings tries a knee to the head but Walters blocks it.
Hastings looking to stall.
Walters managing to block the knees to the body from Hastings.
Hastings missing with knees to the body.

Walters breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Walters tries to clinch but Hastings is having none of it.
Hastings tries to close the distance and clinch up but Walters swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Hastings moves into the clinch successfully.
Hastings misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Walters.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Lorenzo Hastings dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Walters shoots in looking for a takedown but Hastings manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Walters's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Hastings doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Walters is trying hard to land a takedown here. Hastings sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.

Walters feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Walters passes Hastings's right leg, so he's now in half guard.

Walters is working for a submission of some sort.
Hastings holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hastings is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Walters tries to stand but his arm is trapped.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Walters is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.

Walters decides to stand and escape the position.

Hastings instigates a clinch.
Hastings landing some nice looking knees to the body.
The referee is keeping an eye on Hastings - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Walters as Hastings tries to tie him up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Walters jumps guard.

Walters looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.

Walters has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Hastings can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Walters is trying to keep Hastings in close.
Walters tries to strike from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walters not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Walters working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Hastings doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Hastings manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Hastings preventing the sweep.
Walters wants to control the position but Hastings says "no thanks buddy" and passes to half guard.
Walters is pressing down on Hastings's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Walters tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Walters trying to strike from the bottom but really, it's not the best position to be doing that from!
Hastings trying to control but Walters is working from the bottom.

That's four 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.
Walters working a defensive guard here.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Hastings gets a clinch.
Hastings trying to land knees to the body.
Lorenzo Hastings seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.

Walters escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Walters closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Walters trying to pass the guard but Hastings defending well.

Walters is working for a kimura but Hastings is defending it quite comfortably.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Walters tries to stand and escape but Hastings is controlling the position.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Gary Walters dominated that second round.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Hastings is looking to clinch.

Hastings fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Walters, pushing him back against the cage.
Walters slows down the pace here.
Walters avoiding damage as Hastings throws knees to the body.
Walters blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Walters taking a breather.
Hastings misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Walters.
Hastings lands a knee to the head.
Hastings tries a knee to the head but Walters blocks it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Walters breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Hastings tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Walters paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Walters appears to be looking for a big counter.

Hastings has taken the fight to the clinch.
Hastings missing with knees to the body.
Hastings trying to land knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hastings just leaning against Walters, taking a breather.
Hastings missing with knees to the body.
Walters on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Walters breaks from the clinch.
No luck for Walters with that takedown attempt.
Hastings tries to close the distance and clinch up but Walters swats him away and circles back towards the center.
As Hastings backs away, Walters returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.
Hastings tries to clinch but Walters moves out of range.
Walters seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.

Hastings has Walters up against the cage in a clinch.
Hastings is looking to control Walters's arms but Walters gets an underhook and turns him. Now Hastings has his back to the cage.
Hastings with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Hastings tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Hastings throws a knee to the head but misses.
Walters wants to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walters tries to pull guard but Hastings forces him back to his feet, against the cage.
Hastings throws a knee to the head but misses.
Walters has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Hastings avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Gary Walters. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Walters tries to pull guard but Hastings holds him up against the cage and eventually Walters drops back down to his feet.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Walters takes a knee right on the jaw!
Walters missing with knees to the body.
Hastings looking to throw knees to the head but Walters is blocking nicely.
Walters drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hastings trying to land knees to the body.

Walters is trying to trip Hastings. He has hold of a leg but Hastings is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Walters persists though and gets the takedown into guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walters trying to control but Hastings is working from the bottom.
Hastings is trying to control the position but Walters postures up.
Walters is looking to stand up but Hastings won't let him.
Hastings keeping moving, preventing Walters from controlling successfully.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters, thinking about a standup.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Hastings trying to control the position.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up.
Walters punishes Hastings's body with a nice straight punch.
Walters throws a head kick that misses.
Nice takedown defense from Hastings. No joy for Walters on that attempt.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hastings looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Hastings is looking to clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Hastings looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hastings tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Walters paws at him with a jab and circles away.

Hastings clinches.
Hastings is pushing Walters up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.

And that's the end of the fight!
Lorenzo Hastings comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Hastings has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Sosuke Kotani scores the fight 28:29
Judge Shigeki Fujiwara scores the fight 28:29
Judge Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 28:29

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Lorenzo Hastings!
Gary Walters spoke after the fight, saying 'I won’t let it stop me.'.