PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ben Askren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Alexei Surov (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Surov has chosen Amfitamins as his entrance music. Ben Askren has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Askren
vs
Surov

182 cm
27
170 lbs
10 - 2 - 0

177 cm
23
177 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very strong

Powerful takedowns
Basic striking
Powerful

Prestige Clothing
Prestige Clothing

STEEL PENN'S SKIN SHOP

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 10 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Ben Askren!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Alexei Surov!
The judges for this bout are Dmitry Maklakov, Konstantin Menshow and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A swing and a miss from Surov.

Surov drives through with a takedown into guard.

Askren has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Surov can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Surov trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Surov has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Surov showing good wrestling skills to control the position.

Surov drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Surov jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Surov postures up.

Askren has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Surov can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.

Surov drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Surov jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Askren tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Surov wants to control from the top but Askren keeps moving.
Askren looking for a sweep. Not yet Askren, not yet.
Askren is working hard here to advance position.
Surov loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Askren preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Askren has momentary wrist control but Surov slips an elbow through the middle.
Surov postures up.
Surov is in close to Askren's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Surov trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Askren looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Surov wants to control from the top but Askren keeps moving.
Surov connects with a couple of short punches.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Surov trying to control but Askren is working from the bottom.
Askren looking for a sweep. Not yet Askren, not yet.
Askren keeping moving, preventing Surov from controlling successfully.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Surov throws a big right hand that misses.
Surov throwing strikes but missing.
Askren looking for a sweep. Not yet Askren, not yet.
Surov slips nicely into half guard.

Askren looking for submissions off his back.
Surov is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Askren is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Surov is looking to take a break and control but Askren is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Surov prevents Askren from improving his position.
Surov lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.
Surov wants to lay and pray for a moment but Askren keeps working.
Askren is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Surov is keen to just control but Askren is a slippery customer.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Surov might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Askren kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.
Askren on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Askren tries to get out of the position.
Surov thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Askren's head.
Askren is looking to improve his position.

Surov looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Surov landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Askren is looking for a sweep. Surov is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Surov landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Surov thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Surov thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Ground and pound from Surov.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Surov dominated that round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Surov manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Askren on his heels. He'll look to pass Askren's guard now, I'm sure.
Askren trying to control the position.
Surov in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

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

Askren is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Surov is aware though and is defending well.
Surov works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Surov is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Askren manages to get to full guard.
Surov working some strikes from top position.
Surov with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Surov thinks about going for a leg but decides against it, in order to maintain the position.
Surov advances to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askren tries to roll over but Surov keeps him under control.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Surov scoring with strikes to the body and head.

Surov is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Surov winds up and cracks Askren with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Surov thows a huge punch but Askren dodges it nicely.
Surov seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Askren has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Surov is working away from the top position though.

Surov is working for a submission of some sort.
Surov scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Askren is trying to maintain the position but Surov is very close to passing his half guard.
Surov wants to lay and pray for a moment but Askren keeps working.
Surov prevents Askren from improving his position.
Surov works his way into side control.
Surov grinds an elbow into Askren's temple.
Askren takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Askren is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Askren is not in a great position here, taking some shots.
Surov lands a few punches from side control.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Askren on the wrong end of some ground and pound.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
You can see the frustration on Askren's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Askren manages to get back to half guard.
Askren tries to roll over but Surov keeps him under control.
Surov stalling.
The two fighters exchange a few words. I couldn't hear what they were saying but maybe it's more fun if you make it up yourself. Surov connects with a nice short shot to Askren's temple.
Askren tries to get to full guard but Surov has control of the leg.
Surov lands with a punch from half guard.
Surov works his foot free and advances to mount.
Surov raining down hammerfists from mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Askren is bucking up trying to escape but Surov cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Surov trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Surov dominating with strikes here.

It looks like Ben Askren has been cut.
Surov is dominating on the ground here - he's now on his opponent's back, looking to sink in the hooks. Askren is in real trouble.
Surov keeps control of the position as Askren tries to break free.
Surov lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Surov gets his hooks in and is throwing strikes.
Askren knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Surov on the ground.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Askren grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
Askren is trying to break free.
Alexei Surov has got the better of the ground game so far.
Surov is punishing Askren with strikes - can he finish him?!
Surov trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alexei Surov 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.
That's time! Askren's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Askren shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Surov but Surov pushes him off and we're back to square one.

Surov shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Askren is trying to defend but Surov finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Surov seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Askren does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Surov not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Askren avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Surov.
Surov not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Surov thows a huge punch but Askren dodges it nicely.
Nice strikes from Surov there.

Askren actively working from the bottom here.

Surov is trying to work for a kimura but Askren is defending well.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Askren has hold of Surov's hands but Surov slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Surov is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Askren doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Surov.
Surov prevents Askren from improving his position.

Askren looking for submissions off his back.
Askren avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Surov.

Surov is trying to work for a kimura but Askren is defending well.

Askren looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Surov lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

Askren looking for submissions off his back.
Surov throwing shots but Askren is blocking nicely.
Surov passes the guard and advances to mount!
Surov trying to control but Askren is having none of it.
Askren can't escape the position.
The referee warns Askren that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

Ben Askren's cut is getting worse.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Surov has control of Askren's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Askren regains control of the situation pretty easily.
Askren tries to lock up and control but Surov gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Surov fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Surov raining down hammerfists from mount.

Ben Askren's cut is bleeding quite badly. He's got to try and protect it.
Askren taking shots to the head.

Jeez, Ben Askren's cut is really nasty now. The referee must be thinking about getting that checked.

The referee calls the doctor in to look at Ben Askren's cut. Oh no, the doctor has called an end to the bout!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:54 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Cut). Alexei Surov!