PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between TJ Welsh (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Sun Whan Lee (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Welsh's entrance music is Lets Have A War. A fine choice. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Welsh
vs
Whan Lee

190 cm
24
199 lbs
7 - 10 - 0

185 cm
26
195 lbs
7 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Good knees
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
Basic striking
Granite chin

Brute
CEC Nutrition Q160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, TJ Welsh!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Sun Whan Lee!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Steve Smith and Alec Ball.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Welsh tries to clinch up.
Welsh tries to clinch there but Lee circles away.
Lee lands with an uppercut that bounces Welsh off the cage and back into range.
Lee is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Welsh.
Welsh fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Lee avoids it really well and circles away.
Lee lands a nice shot to the body.
Lee misses with a straight left.
Lee lands with an overhand left.
Welsh dives in and grabs Lee's left leg, looking for a takedown. Lee pushes down on Welsh's head and hops out.
Welsh tries to score a power double leg takedown but Lee sees that one coming and sprawls well. That will dishearten Welsh somewhat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for TJ Welsh. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lee throws out a loose jab but Welsh uses good head movement to avoid it.
Lee missing with a left hand there. Welsh was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Lee leaves Welsh with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.

Welsh closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee is pacing around the two fighters - he looks like he's thinking about a standup.
Lee looks to move to half guard but instead Welsh has passed into mount! Damn!
Welsh moves to back control.
Welsh lands punches and elbows.

Lee defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
Welsh 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.
Will Welsh go for the finish here or will he try and keep control of the position?
Lee tries to roll but Welsh sticks to his back.

Welsh looking for the choke from the back.
Welsh has the hooks in. Lee is trying to push off one leg but he has to do so cautiously to avoid being submitted.

Lee defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Welsh gets his hands free as Lee looks to control.

Welsh has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Lee has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Welsh looking for the RNC.
Welsh gets his hands free as Lee looks to control.
Lee is keeping busy.
Welsh keeps control of the position as Lee tries to break free.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Welsh looking for the RNC.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Lee manages to reverse the position and now he's in Welsh's guard. Nice work there by Lee.
Lee trying to control but Welsh is working from the bottom.
Lee cracks Welsh with a solid left hand.
Lee throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Lee content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Lee throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Welsh works some decent striking defense from the bottom.

Welsh manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Lee lands a really nice looking cross but Welsh seems unphased.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Welsh moves in looking to clinch but Lee pushes him off.
Welsh ducks under a wild hook from Lee.
Lee connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Welsh momentarily.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Lee shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Welsh sprawls well. Welsh wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Lee gets slowly back to his feet.
Welsh tries to clinch but Lee is having none of it.
Lee swings and misses with a shot to the body

and Welsh counters with a takedown into side control! That could mean trouble for Lee!
Lee tries to work a leg under to get back to half guard but Welsh wriggles his own leg back out and remains in side control.
The strikes coming from Welsh are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Welsh trying to control the action but Lee is working from the bottom.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Lee tries to get back to half guard but can't.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

TJ Welsh dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Lee circles away from the clinch attempt.
Welsh fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Lee stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Lee wants it to stay on the feet.

Lee pushes Welsh up against the cage in a clinch.
Welsh tries to land knees in the clinch but Lee avoids the damage to the body.
Welsh tries a knee to the head but Lee blocks it.
Lee lands with a left to the head.
Welsh swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Lee blocks the elbow strike.
Lee misses with the head strike.
Welsh goes for a takedown in the clinch but Lee prevents it.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for TJ Welsh. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Welsh lands a good knee to the midsection. Lee won't want to take too many of those.
Lee swings wildly with an uppercut but Welsh uses good head movement to avoid it.
Welsh unloads a knee to the mid-section. Lee lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A nice left hand lands by Lee.

Lee breaks from the clinch.
Lee thows a body shot but no joy.
The fight stays on the outside here - Welsh looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Welsh misses the shot to the body.
Welsh walks into a left hand.
Welsh uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Lee.
Welsh throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Lee's waist but Lee gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Welsh off to one side.
Welsh works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Horrible takedown by Welsh or perhaps it was just good defense by Lee which made him look bad.
Welsh fails with the takedown.
Welsh tries to clinch up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lee tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Welsh was well out of range. Poor timing from Lee.
Welsh shoots in looking for a takedown. Lee tries to sprawl out of it but Welsh keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Lee manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Welsh tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Lee swivels and escapes.
TJ Welsh seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Welsh moves to clinch but Lee breaks away
and Lee counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Lee uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Welsh clinches with his opponent.
Welsh trying to land knees to the body.
Welsh putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Lee in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Welsh is trying to pull guard but being pressed up against the cage enables Lee to keep the fight standing.
Lee working aggressively here.
Lee tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Welsh takes a shot to the head.
Lee on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Welsh is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Welsh throws a knee to the head but misses.

Welsh pulls Lee into guard.
Lee throws an elbow that misses. Welsh uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Lee's guard. Nice move by Welsh!
Welsh trying to control but Lee is working from the bottom.
Lee is pulling down on Welsh's head. It's preventing any offense from Welsh, at least for the moment.
Lee looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Welsh throwing strikes but missing.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Lee is on top in guard.
Lee looking to pass the guard.
Welsh is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Welsh keeping moving, preventing Lee from controlling successfully.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
The referee looks like he's ready to step in and stand the fighters back up.
Welsh looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Welsh looking to control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that TJ Welsh will probably get the nod.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. And we move into the final round!

Lee misses the jab.
Welsh swats away the attempt to clinch by Lee.
Lee looks to land a left hand but Welsh moved out of range nicely.
Lee lands a head shot.
Lee fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Nice sprawl there from Lee as Welsh shoots in.
Lee tries to bum rush Welsh with a series of wild strikes but Welsh uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Lee throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Welsh changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Lee tries to avoid it but Welsh manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Lee to the ground. Lee escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Welsh avoids the body shot from Lee.
Lee ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Welsh moves away.
Welsh shoots in but Lee avoids the takedown attempt easily.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for TJ Welsh. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Lee slaps away a takedown attempt from Welsh, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Lee swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Welsh looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Welsh shoots in but Lee avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Lee tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Welsh manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Welsh closes the distance and clinches up with Lee, looking for a takedown. Welsh pushes Lee against the cage but Lee circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Lee displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.

Lee closes the distance and looks for a trip takedown... aaaand he's got it - Lee lands in his opponent's guard.
Lee working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Lee stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Welsh swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Lee works over Welsh with some ground and pound from guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Lee stopping the sweep attempt from Welsh.
Welsh trying to control the position.
Welsh is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Welsh is keen to just control but Lee is a slippery customer.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Welsh seems to be working for a kimura but Lee defends the submission attempt.
Welsh wants to lay and pray for a moment but Lee keeps working.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Lee is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Welsh's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Welsh's back!
TJ Welsh overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Lee cracks Welsh with a big shot to body and one to the head - really punishing Welsh from the back mount here, looking to soften him up.
Welsh looking very determined here, making life difficult for Lee.
Lee scores with strikes from the back.
Welsh breaks Lee's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Lee keeping moving, preventing Welsh from controlling successfully.
TJ Welsh is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Lee can do anything to dispel that myth.
Welsh is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Lee is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Lee is trying to keep Welsh in close.
Sun Whan Lee has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Lee keeping moving, preventing Welsh from controlling successfully.
Lee looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Welsh wants to control from the top but Lee keeps moving.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of TJ Welsh.
Welsh shoots in but Lee avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Welsh shoots in for a takedown but Lee shows good takedown defense.

Welsh has Lee up against the cage in a clinch.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
A head punch on the inside from Lee fails to land.
Lee goes for a body shot but it's blocked.

And that's the end of the fight!
Sun Whan Lee comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Welsh 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 Elvis Blanc scores the fight 29:28
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 29:28
Judge Alec Ball scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... TJ Welsh!
A less than humble TJ Welsh misjudged his post fight interview somewhat and came across a little too arrogant whilst trying to hype up his own abilities.