PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ben Askren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Miron Karoa (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Askren
vs
Karoa

180 cm
28
180 lbs
11 - 6 - 0

184 cm
27
176 lbs
12 - 8 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very strong

Good takedowns
Brawler
Knockout power

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 11 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Ben Askren!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 8 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Miron Karoa!
The judges for this bout are Jeff Smith, Roger Salmon and Colin Fray.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Askren shoots in for a takedown but Karoa shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.

Askren scores with a takedown into Karoa's guard.
Askren connects with a couple of short punches.
Askren scoring with some ground and pound.

Askren got a little sloppy there for a moment and Karoa has worked his way into a loose triangle - can he finish it?! No, Askren has managed to get both his arms back between Karoa's legs - danger averted.
Askren is stalling in the full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Karoa is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Askren is aware though and is defending well.
Askren has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Askren connects with a couple of short punches.
Askren chips away with some ground and pound.
Askren with a nice head shot there.
Askren postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Askren works over Karoa with some ground and pound from guard.
Karoa looking to hit a scissor sweep but Askren is one step ahead there.
Askren looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Askren avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Askren wants to control from the top but Karoa keeps moving.

Karoa is looking for a triangle but Askren pushes his legs off easily.
Askren is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Karoa throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Askren pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Karoa is keeping the position for now.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Askren works over Karoa with some ground and pound from guard.
Karoa utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Askren with a nice head shot there.
Askren loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Askren scoring with some ground and pound.
Askren with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

Karoa had isolated an arm as going for a kimura. Askren defends it easily.
Askren working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Askren passes easily into side control. Nice work.
Askren lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Askren landing a few strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Karoa manages to get back to half guard.
Karoa is staying active underneath Askren, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Karoa looking for submissions off his back.
Askren seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Karoa does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Nice strikes from Askren there.
Karoa is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Askren in particular looking to stall.
Askren lands strikes from half guard.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Askren lands a nice short elbow.
Askren takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Askren working the head and body with strikes.
Askren takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Karoa is trying to get back to full guard.
Askren looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.

Karoa looking to work for a kimura from the bottom.
Askren seems very keen to just sit and control from half guard but Karoa does not like that idea so much and is remaining active off his back.
Askren is really struggling to control Karoa but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Askren scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Nice strikes from Askren there.
Askren lands strikes from half guard.
Askren not doing much here.
The fighters are battling for position here. Karoa manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Askren dominated that round.
That's time! Askren's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Askren slaps away a takedown attempt from Karoa, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
Askren shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Karoa sprawls well. Karoa wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Askren gets slowly back to his feet.

Askren feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Askren connects with a couple of short punches.
Karoa trying to control the position.

Karoa looking for a guillotine here but Askren defends easily.
Askren cracks Karoa with a solid left hand.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Askren working some strikes from top position.
Askren lands a couple of elbows.
Askren trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
Askren trying to control the position from guard on top but Karoa is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Karoa keeping full guard, as Askren tries to pass.
Askren is working Karoa over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Askren pushes down on Karoa's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Karoa is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Askren scores with a couple of nice shots.
Askren is thwarting Karoa's attempts to control the position.

Karoa is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Askren pulls his head out easily.
Nice strikes from Askren there.
Askren looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Karoa with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.

Karoa is looking to sinch up a guillotine here but Askren pulls his head out easily.
Askren drops an elbow to the side of Karoa's head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Askren is keen to just control but Karoa is a slippery customer.
Askren is nestled in close to Karoa, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Karoa is rocked!
Karoa taking some punishment here, with Askren in his half guard.
Karoa is still in real trouble! Can Askren finish him?
Askren slips a nice elbow through Karoa's hands, connecting with Karoa's forehead.
Askren wants to lay and pray for a moment but Karoa keeps working.
Askren stalling.
Askren scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Askren seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Ground and pound from Askren.
Askren scores with a big shot! Karoa's head bounced off the canvas with a huge thud! More strikes land and the referee has jumped in to save Karoa! He was hurt real bad - good stoppage!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:59 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Ben Askren!
Ben Askren seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.