PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Kaiden Walsh (ranked 2251 p4p, 3363 weight class) and Hal Hawkes (ranked 297 p4p, 418 weight class). Kaiden Walsh could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Hal Hawkes's chin.

Walsh
vs
Hawkes

186 cm
26
169
5 - 1 - 0

189 cm
26
185
3 - 1 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid boxing
Big right hand

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

Furnace Performance 🔥
Silverguard Outfitters 🛡

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 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Kaiden Walsh!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Hal Hawkes!
The judges for this bout are Nard Betker, Aafke Stam and Paul Aken.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hawkes throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Hawkes looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Hawkes throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Walsh is looking to counter the offense by Hawkes and move into the clinch.
Hawkes takes a swing at Walsh's ribcage but misses.
Walsh is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Hawkes.
Hawkes misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Walsh displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Hawkes throws out the jab.
Walsh tries to counter by clinching up but Hawkes breaks away and moves out of range.
Hawkes misses with a wild body shot.
Walsh seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Hawkes throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Walsh tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Hawkes manages to circle out of the way.
Hawkes will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hawkes throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Walsh keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawkes misses with a two punch combination.
Walsh is looking to counter the offense by Hawkes and move into the clinch.
Hawkes misses with a series of wild punches.
Walsh seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Hawkes throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Hal Hawkes seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Walsh slips under a jab from Hawkes.
Walsh wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Hawkes misses with a telegraphed body shot

and Walsh counters by moving into the clinch.
Walsh misses with a body punch.
Walsh tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Walsh fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Walsh fails to land.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hawkes.
Walsh lands a hook to the side of the head.
Walsh fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Walsh lands with a short shot to the head.
Hawkes blocks an uppercut.
Hawkes wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Walsh swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hawkes wants to get back to striking at distance but Walsh won't allow it.
Walsh misses with a hook from the clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Walsh.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walsh has a couple of punches blocked by Hawkes.
Walsh misses with a punch on the inside.
Walsh working aggressively here.
Walsh letting Hawkes take a breather here.
Hawkes misses with a hook from the clinch.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Walsh.
Walsh looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Walsh misses with a short punch on the inside.
Walsh swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hawkes's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Walsh has a couple of punches blocked by Hawkes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Walsh misses with a punch on the inside.
Hawkes is trying to force a seperation but Walsh has the dominant position.
Walsh misses with some punches.
Hawkes just leaning against Walsh, taking a breather.
Walsh throws a punch but it's blocked by Hawkes.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Hawkes is trying to break free.
Hawkes blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Walsh misses with a punch on the inside.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Kaiden Walsh will probably get the nod.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare each other down, ready to get back to the action.

Hawkes throws a right and a left that both miss.
Hawkes cracks Walsh with a good jab.
Hawkes misses the body punch

and Walsh moves into the clinch.
Walsh misses with some punches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Walsh.
Hawkes blocking some punches.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Hawkes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walsh throws a head punch that misses.
Walsh tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Walsh throws a head punch that misses.
A short right from Walsh on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawkes working hard to break the clinch.
Hawkes working hard to break the clinch.
Hawkes blocking some punches.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Walsh.
Walsh misses with a punch on the inside.
A head punch on the inside from Walsh fails to land.
Walsh lands with a short shot to the head.
Hawkes is trying to push Walsh away but Walsh has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.
Walsh is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Hawkes can do to turn this around?
Hawkes blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Walsh misses with some punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Walsh lands a right hand.
Walsh has a couple of punches blocked by Hawkes.
Hawkes's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Hawkes blocking some punches.
Walsh pushes Hawkes back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Walsh misses with a shot to the kidneys.
A shot in the inside from Walsh.
Hawkes lands with a short head shot on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walsh misses with a short punch on the inside.
Walsh swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hawkes can't break the clinch.
A short uppercut from Walsh.
Walsh tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Walsh being controlled against the cage.
Walsh working aggressively here.
Hawkes wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Walsh has him pressed against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hawkes is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Walsh tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Walsh throws a punch but it's blocked by Hawkes.
Hawkes has had enough of the clinch but Walsh keeps him there for the moment.
Walsh throws a head punch that misses.
Walsh swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Hawkes misses with the head strike.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Walsh throws a head punch that misses.
Hawkes has had enough of the clinch but Walsh keeps him there for the moment.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Kaiden Walsh dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Walsh keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Walsh wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Nice defenses there by Walsh.
Hawkes tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Walsh was well out of range. Poor timing from Hawkes.
Walsh is looking to counter the offense by Hawkes and move into the clinch.
A slow jab from Hawkes misses its intended target.
Hal Hawkes is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Walsh keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Hawkes.
Hawkes misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Walsh.
Walsh tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Hawkes manages to circle out of the way.
Hawkes scores with a jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Walsh slips under a jab from Hawkes.
Walsh wants to take advantage of his opponent's missed offense by moving into the clinch.
Nice defenses there by Walsh.
Hawkes throws a big shot that misses.
Walsh is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Hawkes.
Hawkes misses with a two punch combination.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hawkes throws a body shot but no joy.
Hawkes throws the left hand but Walsh avoids the punch easily.
Walsh tries to counter by clinching up but Hawkes breaks away and moves out of range.
Hawkes lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Walsh circles away quickly and effectively.
Walsh seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Hawkes throws a body shot but no joy.
Walsh seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
A slow jab from Hawkes misses its intended target.
Walsh gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Hawkes lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Walsh circles away quickly and effectively.
Nice defenses there by Walsh.
Walsh is looking to counter the offense by Hawkes and move into the clinch.
Hawkes lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Hawkes misses with a two punch combination.
Walsh is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Hawkes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hawkes misses with a hook. Walsh ducked under it nicely.
Walsh moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Walsh dodges the punch combination from Hawkes.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hawkes misses with a body shot.
Hawkes takes a swing at Walsh's ribcage but misses.
Hal Hawkes seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Hawkes misses with a wild combination.
Walsh uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Hawkes.
Walsh is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Hawkes.
Hawkes fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Walsh uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Hawkes.
Walsh is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Hawkes.
Hawkes rushes in with a sloppy looking punch

and Walsh counters by moving into the clinch.
Walsh has a couple of punches blocked by Hawkes.
Hawkes is stalling here. The referee will be looking to step in if he doesn't pick up the pace.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Walsh creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Hawkes blocking some punches.
Hawkes stalling.
Kaiden Walsh has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Hawkes is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Walsh working aggressively here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hawkes blocking some punches.
Hawkes doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Walsh fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Walsh throws a head punch that misses.
Walsh stays in close to his opponent and throws a right hand to the body.
Walsh keeps control of Hawkes as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A frustrated look appears on Hawkes's face as he tries to break the clinch.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
A nice left hand lands by Walsh.
Walsh fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Hal Hawkes has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Walsh blocking some punches.

And that's the end of the fight!
Hal Hawkes comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Walsh 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 Nard Betker scores the fight 29:28
Judge Aafke Stam scores the fight 29:28
Judge Paul Aken scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kaiden Walsh!
A victorious Kaiden Walsh thanked his army of followers in his post fight interview, telling people to make sure they follow him on Twitter.