PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Juan Morales (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Brandon Hale (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hale has chosen Pillar - For Love Of The Game as his entrance music. Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Morales
vs
Hale

178 cm
20
180 lbs
9 - 1 - 0

174 cm
21
184 lbs
6 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

DJs Locker

Fight Night Nutrition

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the welterweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Juan Morales!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Brandon Hale!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Russell Pearce and Anthony Taglia.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Good exchange - Morales coming out on top.
Hale throws a right hand that Morales ducks under and follows up with a left that Morales also avoids with ease.
Morales uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Hale.
Morales looks to land a left hand but Hale moved out of range nicely.
Morales misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Morales jabs Hale to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Morales misses the body punch
and Hale counters with a left to the body.
Juan Morales seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Morales throws the left hand but Hale avoids the punch easily.
Morales ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hale moves away.
Morales throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Hale thows a body shot but no joy.
Hale misses with a jab, cross combination.

Morales closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Hale's guard.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Morales scoring with punches to the head and body.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Hale looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Morales throwing strikes from guard but Hale blocks nicely.
Hale trying to control the position.
Hale pulls Morales in to control the position.
Hale has momentary wrist control but Morales slips an elbow through the middle.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Morales accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Morales postures up and lands a big shot to Hale's brow.
Morales is working Hale over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Hale is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Morales throws a big right hand that misses.
Hale is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hale is pulling down on Morales's head to control his posture.

Brandon Hale has forced the referee to step in and restart the fight on the feet.
Hale cracks Morales with a good jab.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
No joy there for Hale, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Morales circles away from the clinch attempt.
A shot to the liver by Morales. Beautiful body shot.
Nice body punch from Morales.
Hale connects with a jab.
Morales moves away from the strike by Hale.
Morales swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Hale checks a leg kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Morales scores with a body shot.
Nice uppercut there from Hale.
Morales blocks a low kick nicely.
Morales ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Hale moves away.
Hale scores with a hook.
Hale stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Hale wants it to stay on the feet.
Hale throws a hook but Morales blocks it.
Hale walks into a straight right hand from Morales.
Morales tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Hale was well out of range. Poor timing from Morales.
Morales closes this distance looking for a takedown but Hale circles away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Juan Morales. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Hale tries to bum rush Morales with a series of wild strikes but Morales uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Morales looks to land a left hand but Hale moved out of range nicely.
Sloppy strikes from Hale. Those never looked like landing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Morales throws a shot to the body.
Hale takes a shot right to the bread basket.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Hale pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
A swing and a miss from Morales.
A jab from Hale misses.
Hale misses with a double jab.
Brandon Hale is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hale misses with a hook. Morales ducked under it nicely.
A combination from Hale does no damage.
A bone on bone clash there as Hale blocks the leg kick.
Morales throws the left hand but Hale avoids the punch easily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Morales throws a leg kick but Hale moved away.
Hale misses the jab.
Morales swings and misses with a hook to the body.
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 Juan Morales will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Morales on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Morales slips under a jab.
Morales scores with a body shot.

Morales shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Morales looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Morales is trying to control. Hale wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Hale trying to hold on to Morales's head to control him but Morales postures up.
Hale is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Morales's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Morales's back!
Morales holding both Hale 's hands and preventing any damage.
Morales can't escape the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hale thows a huge left but connects with the canvas and not his opponent.
Hale avoiding Morales 's attempts to control his hands.
Morales breaks Hale's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Morales lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Morales throwing strikes but missing.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Hale is on top in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Morales is trying to keep Hale in close.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Hale sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Morales is controlling Hale's posture.
Morales wants to stand and escape but Hale is having none of it.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Juan Morales wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Nice defenses there by Morales.
Hale avoids the body shot from Morales.
Morales shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Hale sprawls well. Hale wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Morales gets slowly back to his feet.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Morales fails miserably with a takedown attempt.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Morales drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Hale managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Morales.
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Hale is looking to regain half guard here but Morales keeps moving and retains side control.
Morales working the body and head with strikes.
Morales working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Morales lands a decent elbow from side control.
Morales creates some space and throws a big elbow, but Hale sees it coming and moves his head just enough to avoid the strike.
Juan Morales overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
An elbow from Morales crashes against the mat.
You can see the frustration on Hale's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
A control attempt from Hale but he's now mounted!
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morales has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Hale's face.
Hale tries to hold on but Morales pushes him away.
Morales lands a big shot there that rocks Hale but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hale is trying to escape the mount.
Morales landing strikes from the mount and Hale is in trouble!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Juan Morales dominated that second round.
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.

Hale lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Morales circles away quickly and effectively.
Brandon Hale seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Morales lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Hale goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Morales looks to score with a jab to the body but Hale is just out of range.
Hale might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
Morales walks into a left hand.
Morales staying out of range there.
Hale displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Morales.
A looping hook to the body misses from Morales. Hale does a little dance to reset his feet.
Sloppy strikes from Hale. Those never looked like landing.
Hale works over Morales's head and body with a nice combination.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Hale avoids a punch combination nicely.
Hale takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hale lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
A right-left combo lands from Hale.
Morales scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
The fighters circling - Morales throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Morales misses with a hook
and Hale counters with a stiff right hand.
Hale looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Brandon Hale is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Morales looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Hale is fending him off so far but Morales persists. Nope, Hale circles away and we're back to standing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Morales throws a looping overhand right but Hale ducks down to avoid it.
Morales tries to score a power double leg takedown but Hale sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Morales somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Juan Morales. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Morales tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Morales seems to be squinting his left eye. Perhaps he got a poke in that previous exchange. Hale shows no mercy and swarms him with a barage of strikes! Morales is backing up but Hale catches him with a final right hook that drops him! Morales covers up and the referee steps in to end the fight! Hale Jumps to his feet and flashes his guns to the crowd. Oh yeah, baby! How'd you like them apples?!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:11 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Brandon Hale! Brandon Hale retains his welterweight title!