PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Liko Dares (ranked 1163 p4p, 1067 weight class) and Stephen Hawking (ranked 168 p4p, 155 weight class). Dares kept the crowd waiting but all that was forgotten when his ring entrance music started. The incomparable musical genius that is I Saw the Sign. There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Dares
vs
Hawking

184 cm
27
177
8 - 3 - 0

174 cm
19
176
6 - 4 - 0

Decent wrestler
Good knees
Very strong

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 8 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Liko Dares!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 4 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Stephen Hawking!
The judges for this bout are Dirk Anderson, Bart Greer and David Hoff.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Hawking tries to keep at a distance but Dares has taken the fight into the clinch.
Dares landing knees to the body.
Dares misses with a knee strike.
Hawking swings away with an uppercut that misses.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Hawking.
Hawking slowing the pace effectively.
Dares tries to land a knee to the head but Hawking blocks with his arms.
Dares lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Dares blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Dares lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
Hawking stalling in the clinch but Dares improves position.
Dares looking to throw knees to the head but Hawking is blocking nicely.
Dares misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hawking.
Dares putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Hawking in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Hawking avoiding damage as Dares throws knees to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hawking will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Dares up against the cage.
Dares using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hawking has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawking managing to block the knees to the body from Dares.
Hawking is trying to force a seperation but Dares has the dominant position.
Hawking working aggressively here.
Hawking misses with some punches.
Hawking blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Hawking controlling the action here for a moment.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Hawking is trying to break free.
Hawking looking to stall.
Dares looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Dares with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Hawking.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hawking lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Hawking wants to break free but Dares has control.
Dares taking a breather.
Dares landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Dares tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hawking lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Hawking softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Dares unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hawking swings wildly with an uppercut but Dares uses good head movement to avoid it.
Dares tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Hawking stalling the fight.
Hawking takes a knee to the side of the body.
Dares tries to land knees in the clinch but Hawking avoids the damage to the body.
Dares lands a knee to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hawking swings wildly with an uppercut but Dares uses good head movement to avoid it.
Hawking has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Knees in the clinch landing for Dares.
Dares landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Dares lands a good knee to the midsection. Hawking won't want to take too many of those.
Dares tries to land a knee to the head but misses.
Hawking looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Hawking.
Hawking throws a punch but it's blocked by Dares.
Dares scores a nice knee to the body.
Dares tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hawking avoids it.
Dares keeps the fight in the clinch, despite Hawking's efforts to push away.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Hawking.
Knees in the clinch landing for Dares.
Dares being controlled against the cage.
Hawking swings wildly with an uppercut but Dares uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dares is stalling here.
Dares is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Dares tries to land knees in the clinch but Hawking avoids the damage to the body.
Dares landing knees to the head.
Hawking on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Dares throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hawking blocks it with crossed arms.
Knees to the body from Dares.
Dares throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Hawking blocks it with crossed arms.
Dares lands a nice knee to the body.
Hawking misses with a hook from the clinch.
Dares connects with a knee to the head.
A nice right hand lands inside from Hawking.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Liko Dares dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Dares avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Hawking circles away from the clinch attempt
and Hawking counters with a nice body shot.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Dares throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Hawking's head.
Dares tries to close the distance and clinch up but Hawking swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Dares gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Dares crunches a lovely knee into Hawking's ribcage.
Hawking scores with a shoulder strike.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Dares missing with knees to the body.
Dares is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hawking can do to turn this around?
Dares tries to land knees in the clinch but Hawking avoids the damage to the body.
Dares lands a knee to the head there! That was nasty!
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Dares utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Dares trying to land knees to the body.
Good anti-grappling being displayed by Dares as Hawking tries to tie him up.
Hawking tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Dares lands a knee to the body.
Dares connects with a nasty looking knee right to Hawking's face.
Dares lands a knee to the body.
Liko Dares has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Dares scores a nice knee to the body.
Hawking is breathing heavily.
Dares missing with knees to the body.
Dares scores a nice knee to the body.
Dares connects with a nasty looking knee right to Hawking's face.
Dares misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Hawking.
Dares working Hawking over with knees to the body.
Dares working Hawking over with knees to the body.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Hawking blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Dares crunches a lovely knee into Hawking's ribcage.
Dares stalling the fight.
Hawking wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Hawking misses with some punches.
Dares with a knee to the head.
Dares unloads a knee to the mid-section. Hawking lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Dares.
Dares lands a nice knee to the body.
Hawking scores with a shot to the side of Dares's head.
Dares is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Hawking softening up his opponent with strikes, against the cage.
Hawking takes a knee to the side of the body.
Dares working Hawking over with knees to the body.
Dares blocks a body shot from Hawking.
Dares looking to throw knees to the head but Hawking is blocking nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dares tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Hawking avoids it.
Dares unloads a knee to the mid-section. Hawking lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
Hawking letting Dares take a breather here.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Hawking goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Dares tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Dares is trying to maintain a safe position but Hawking gets an underhook and turns Dares into the cage.
Hawking is looking to break free of the clinch but Dares has double underhooks.
Hawking is trying to stall.
Hawking is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Dares utilising his Muay Thai to score with a knee to the body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Dares lands a nice knee to the body.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Dares looking to throw knees to the head but Hawking is blocking nicely.
Hawking misses with a short punch on the inside.
Hawking lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Dares using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Hawking has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Hawking looking to slow down the pace here.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Dares landing knees to the body.
A short body shot lands from Hawking as the two fighters clinch.
The referee calls for Hawking to work.
Hawking on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Liko Dares dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Hawking looks to score with a jab to the body but Dares is just out of range.
Hawking ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Dares moves away.
Dares is looking to counter the offense by Hawking and move into the clinch.
The fight stays on the outside here - Dares looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
It seemed like Hawking was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Dares doesn't manage to clinch there - Hawking circles away.
Hawking let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Liko Dares seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hawking changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Dares is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hawking on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Dares. Dares obviously looking to wear him down.
Dares throws a head kick that connects with a bit of head and a bit of hand.
Dares lands with a kick to the ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawking jabs Dares to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Hawking fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Hawking is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Dares rather than just go for the knockout.
Dares ducks under a wild hook from Hawking.
Hawking swinging wildly here.
Hawking looks to land a combination but Dares avoids it well.
Dares tries to clinch up but Hawking circles away and keeps his distance.
Dares with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Hawking fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Dares looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Hawking throws a hook but Dares blocks it.
Hawking stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Dares.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hawking misses with a wild body shot.
Dares chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Good leg kick by Dares.
Hawking throws a hook but Dares blocks it.
Dares wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Dares fakes the leg kick and cracks Hawking in the body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Dares throws a leg kick which misses Hawking's front leg but catches the back leg as Hawking tries to avoid it.
Stephen Hawking seems to be getting the better of the standup.

Dares forces Hawking back against the cage and clinches.
Hawking stalling against the cage.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Hawking.
Hawking lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Dares or not.
Dares is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
Dares is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Hawking is defending well for now.
Liko Dares is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Dares blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Dares landing knees to the head.
Hawking trying to control the position but instead, Dares has worked for underhooks and has pushed Hawking into the cage.
Hawking misses with a short punch on the inside.
Stephen Hawking has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Hawking tries to work over Dares's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Dares prevents a body shot from Hawking.
Dares blocking some punches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hawking wants to break free but Dares has control.
Dares blocks a punch to the side of the head.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Dares.
Dares lands a knee to the body.
Hawking working aggressively here.
Dares has Hawking pressed against the cage, preventing Hawking from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Hawking throws a punch but it's blocked by Dares.
Dares working Hawking over with knees to the body.
Hawking throws a punch but it's blocked by Dares.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Dares.
Hawking throws a punch but it's blocked by Dares.
Hawking tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Dares's elbow.
Hawking working aggressively here.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Stephen Hawking.
I think Dares has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Dirk Anderson scores the fight for Liko Dares!
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight for Liko Dares!
Judge David Hoff scores the fight for Liko Dares!

Liko Dares wins by unanimous decision!
In his post fight interview, Liko Dares started talking himself up. Luckily his charisma kept the crowd on side and gave him a good reception.