PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ben Askren (ranked 4098 p4p, 4697 weight class) and Steve Stone (ranked 486 p4p, 532 weight class). Man, I cannot wait for this one!

Askren
vs
Stone

178 cm
22
180
2 - 0 - 0

180 cm
25
170
0 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Solid chin

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Ben Askren!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Steve Stone!
The judges for this bout are Andrew Berry, Donald Grub and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Askren takes the fight into the clinch.
Askren has a couple of punches blocked by Stone.
Askren throws a punch but it's blocked by Stone.
A body shot lands from Askren.
Nice body punch from Askren - that landed with a thud.
A bit of stalling here from Askren.
Askren looking for a takedown.
Askren stalling against the cage.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Askren gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.
Askren trying to move into half guard but instead Stone has managed to sweep!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stone preventing the sweep.
Askren is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Askren landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Stone works his way to full guard. Good work.
Askren lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Askren is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Askren keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Stone's head.
Askren landing some decent shots from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Askren postures up and lands a big shot to Stone's brow.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Askren accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Stone looking to sweep using the butterfly guard but Askren puts pay to that idea as he passes nicely into half guard.
Askren trying to control the pace.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Askren has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Stone has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Askren is working away from the top position though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Askren working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Askren lands with a punch from half guard.
Stone really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Askren. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Stone has hold of Askren's hands but Askren slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Stone is trying to get back to full guard.
Still in half guard, Askren seems content to control.
Askren seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Askren seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Stone trying to control here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Askren controlling the action here.
Stone is trying to get back to full guard.
Askren seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Stone on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Askren looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Askren dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Askren ducks right into an uppercut from Stone.
Steve Stone is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Stone missing with a left hand there. Askren was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Stone avoids the body shot from Askren.
Askren misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Stone.
Stone throws a series of strikes that have Askren backpedaling.

It looks like Ben Askren has been cut.
Stone lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Askren is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Stone can do to turn this around?
Askren moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Askren looks to have improved his striking defense since last time we saw him fight.
Askren checks the leg kick.
Stone throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped

and Askren counters with a single leg into guard. Stone didn't expect that.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Askren controlling from the top position.
Askren is working Stone over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askren controls the pace of the fight for a moment.
Askren working some strikes from top position.
Stone is trying to control the position but Askren postures up.
Askren seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Askren stops Stone from standing up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Askren scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Askren is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.

Stone pushes Askren off and gets back to his feet.
Stone lands with a two punch combination before moving back out of range.
Stone scores with a jab to the jaw.
Askren blocks a low kick nicely.
Askren misses the jab.
It seemed like Stone was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stone keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Stone swinging wildly here.
Stone doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Steve Stone seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Stone fails to land with a series of punches.
Askren drops down looking for a counter takedown but Stone sprawls and moves away.
Donk. Stone catches Askren right on the button with a cross.

Askren takes the fight into the clinch.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Askren.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stone stops a takedown attempt from Askren.
Come on Askren - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
Askren drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Askren taking a breather.
Askren wants a takedown but no success here.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Stone showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Ben Askren's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Askren slips a jab and a cross from Stone.
Stone throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

Askren shoots in and bounces Stone off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Askren scoring with some ground and pound.
Askren scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Askren postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Askren's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Askren's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Askren seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Stone for as long as he can get away with.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askren wants to pass the guard but Stone is keeping the position.
Stone working a defensive guard here.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Askren showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Askren with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

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.
Stone has momentary wrist control but Askren slips an elbow through the middle.
Stone is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Askren landing with the ground and pound.

Askren drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Askren jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Askren chips away with some ground and pound.
Askren controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Askren stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Stone swivels though and keeps the full guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Stone will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Stone fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Askren manages to avoid it.
Stone throws a nice looking combination but Askren bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Stone throws a right and a left that Askren avoids nicely.
Stone misses with a hook.
Askren was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Askren throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Stone throws a lazy right hand but Askren sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Nice body punch from Askren.
Stone takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Stone lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Askren circles away quickly and effectively.
Askren appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.

Askren closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Stone quickly recovers to half guard.
Stone wants to control but Askren passes into side.
Askren lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Askren slows the pace down.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Askren cracks Stone with a big elbow.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Askren working the ground and pound from side control.
Askren landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ben Askren showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Askren 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 Andrew Berry scores the fight 29:28
Judge Donald Grub scores the fight 29:28
Judge William Gold scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ben Askren!