PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Mickey Whelan (ranked 3471 p4p, 4293 weight class) and Ezekiel Stafford (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Whelan comes to the cage accompanied by The Mamas & the Papas - California Dreamin'. Stafford comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Voices- Rev Theory kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Ezekiel Stafford will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Whelan
vs
Stafford

176 cm
25
175
2 - 1 - 0

187 cm
20
178
0 - 0 - 0

Good takedowns
Basic striking
KO power

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Mickey Whelan!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Ezekiel Stafford!
The judges for this bout are Ben Watson, Skip Squint and Donatello Bradman.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Stafford stuffs the takedown attempt from Whelan. Whelan gets slowly back to his feet.

Whelan bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Stafford really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Whelan. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Whelan trying to control the action but Stafford is working from the bottom.

Whelan is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Stafford has escaped the position, nice work there.

Whelan is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Stafford is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Whelan tries for a kimura but Stafford is defending well.
Whelan tries to advance to mount but can't.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Stafford tries to bench press Whelan off him but Whelan keeps the position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Whelan tries to move into full mount but can't pass Stafford's legs.
Stafford struggling a bit here.

Whelan is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Stafford is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Whelan controlling the position.

Whelan is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Stafford has escaped the position, nice work there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Whelan tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Whelan advances nicely into full mount.

Whelan is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Stafford to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Stafford shrugs it off.
Whelan can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Stafford is looking to escape.
Whelan pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Whelan mounts Stafford! Really nice guard pass there!

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Whelan is working for a guillotine from mount but Stafford frees his head quite easily.
Whelan seems to be looking to move to his opponent's back but Stafford is holding on tight.

Whelan has control of Stafford's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Stafford regains control of the situation pretty easily.

Whelan looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Whelan moves to the back position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Whelan trying to control.

Whelan looking for the choke from the back.

Whelan working for the choke.

Whelan looking for the RNC.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Whelan looking for the choke from the back.
The crowd hopeful of a finish here - Whelan's supporters are on their feet, screaming for him to go for the rear naked choke.

Stafford showing good submission defense here.

Whelan is staying calm and holding on to the back position, whilst working on a rear naked choke. Stafford is defending well though. Whelan let's go of the attempt for now.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Mickey Whelan dominated that 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.

Whelan decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Whelan frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Whelan is going oldschool here, as he tries to force Stafford to tap using a forearm choke. This isn't 1993 though, so Stafford shrugs it off.
Stafford keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.

Whelan working for a submission but Stafford is keeping him at bay.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Stafford is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

Whelan has hold of Stafford's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Stafford manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

Whelan swings around for an armbar and he's got it! Wow, that came out of nowhere! What a finish!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:58 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Mickey Whelan!
Mickey Whelan seemed lost for words in his post fight interview but he remembered to thank his fans and directed everyone to his website.
The defeated Ezekiel Stafford had this to say: 'Hey, you win some and you lose some. Much respect for my opponent. I will learn from this and come back stronger, faster, and better. Much love to the fans for coming to support me. I will see you all soon. '.