PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Renato Rua (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ben Askern (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). We have two fighters making their debuts here, so let's see who comes out of this one with their first professional victory.

Rua
vs
Askern

178 cm
18
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

185 cm
25
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Self confident

Good wrestler
Brawler
Tends to cut

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 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Renato Rua!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Ben Askern!
The judges for this bout are Steve Smith, Alec Ball and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Askern shoots in and scores a nice double leg takedown into half guard.
Rua wants to get back to full guard.
Askern seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Rua blocking the ground and pound attempt from Askern.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askern is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rua is in a horrible position here. Askern smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
Rua is in all sorts of trouble here.
Askern unloading with bombs!
Askern takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
Rua wants to control but Askern is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Askern tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Askern pushing the pace here, looking to move to his opponents back and work for a finish.
Rua really trying hard to get back to half guard here.

Askern has hold of Rua's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Rua manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Rua wants to hold on but Askern pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Askern punishing his opponent with strikes.
Askern controlling from the full mount.

Askern looking for a guillotine from mount but Rua is having none of it.
Rua is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Rua tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Askern scoring with strikes but Rua is staying in there.
Askern cracks Rua with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Rua wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Askern.
Askern misses with a head shot.
Rua is in a horrible position here, under a barrage of strikes, he's managing to avoid any damage.
Rua is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Askern dominated that round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin!

Rua tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Askern counters with a nice double leg into side control. Rua won't be happy with that.
Rua seems a little lost for a moment, as Askern dominates the positioning.
Rua is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Rua is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Askern off and has taken his back!
Askern is in bad spot here.
Askern is breathing heavily.
Rua struggling to keep hold of the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askern trying to control the position but Rua manages to sink in the hooks.
Askern turns into Rua and is now in his guard.
Rua wants to stand and escape but Askern is having none of it.
Rua is trying to control the position but Askern postures up.
Askern looking to sit in guard and control but Rua gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Rua trying to control the position from guard on top but Askern is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

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.
Askern wants to hit a switch here but Rua passes into full mount! Oh no, disaster for Askern there!
Askern tries to hold on but Rua pushes him away.
Rua looking to control but Askern is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Rua wants to stand but Askern is holding on to him, trying to stop him posturing up.
Askern trying desperately to get to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rua trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Askern wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Rua.
Askern reaches up to try and control the position but Rua seems to have an arm triangle now! Uh oh! Askern rolls and tries to escape and now Rua has his back!
Askern is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Askern looking very determined here, making life difficult for Rua.
Askern is defending well here and trying to improve his position.

That's four 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.
Rua tries to keep control of the position but Askern is staying busy.
Rua is really struggling to control Askern but he's trying to hold on to the position.
Rua controls the action.

Askern is trying to roll into a better position but Rua has get a rear naked choke and Askern is forced to tap out! This one is allllll over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:56 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Renato Rua!