PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Ben Askren (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Lim Hyun Gyu (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Askren
vs
Hyun Gyu

180 cm
26
180 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

190 cm
26
182 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

Good wrestling
Basic striking
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Atlantis

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ben Askren!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Lim Hyun Gyu!
The judges for this bout are Sandra Marshall, David Hoff and Bart Greer.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Askren moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.

Askren looking for a takedown here - he's got it.

Gyu has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Askren can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Askren working some strikes from top position.
Askren is in close to Gyu's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Askren controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

Gyu working for submissions but it's allowed Askren to get to half guard.
Askren looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Gyu with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Gyu looking for submissions off his back.
Askren passes the guard and advances to mount!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askren has his opponent pinned against the cage, landing some nasty ground and pound that is really making a bit of a mess out of Gyu's face.
Gyu is looking to improve his position but Askren isn't that keen on the idea.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Askren with the ground and pound from mount.
Askren 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.
Gyu can't escape the position.
Gyu regains half guard.
Gyu taking some punishment here, with Askren in his half guard.
Askren is nestled in close to Gyu, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Askren takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.

Gyu actively working from the bottom here.
Gyu on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.

Gyu looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Gyu felt the need to train up his defensive grappling in the buildup to the fight. Presumably he was expecting to be in a difficult position like this, so let's see if he can get out of it.
Askren landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Askren seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Askren tries to pass the half guard into mount. Gyu knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Askren is controlling the pace.
Nice strikes from Askren there.
Askren working over Gyu with some ground and pound. Gyu looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Gyu tries to roll over but Askren keeps him under control.
Gyu wants to get back to full guard but Askren has passed into side control.
Askren in side control lands a decent elbow.
Askren looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Askren scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Gyu to see if he's OK.
Askren connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Gyu some visible discomfort.
Gyu takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Askren lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Gyu down.
Gyu tries to buck Askren off but Askren is having none of it.
Askren is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Gyu will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Askren lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Gyu down.
Askren scores with a couple of short elbows.
Askren cracks Gyu with a big elbow.
Gyu tries to bench press Askren off him but Askren keeps the position.
Askren lands a decent elbow from side control.
Gyu sneaks back into half guard.
Askren landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Askren controlling the action here.
Gyu has a hand on Askren's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Askren takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Askren sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Gyu is trying to escape the mount.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
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!
Askren raining down shots from the mount!
Askren raining down hammerfists from mount.
Askren lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Gyu hang on?
Askren raining down hammerfists from mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Askren landing strikes from the mount.
Gyu tries to reverse the position but Askren maintains control.
Askren with a couple of short strikes.

Gyu is rocked!
Askren lands a big shot there that rocks Gyu but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Gyu is still in real trouble! Can Askren finish him?
Askren tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Gyu seems to have recovered his senses.
Askren is landing with some decent strikes but Gyu is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Askren content just to control the position here.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Gyu is working to get back to half guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ben Askren 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.

Gyu missing with a left hand there. Askren was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.

Askren drives through with a really nice takedown into side control.
Askren working the ground and pound.
Askren lands a nice forearm strike.
Gyu is trying to get back to half guard.
Askren lands a nice forearm strike.
Gyu taking punishment in the form of punches.
Askren working the ground and pound.
Gyu on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Gyu manages to land a sweep and he's now on top! Lovely Jiu Jitsu!

Gyu is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Askren moves into full guard.
Askren manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Askren postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Gyu looks a forlorn figure.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Askren looking to control and managing it successfully.
Askren lands a big elbow.
Askren looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Askren lands a big elbow - Gyu is in trouble! More strikes from the mount and Gyu is forced to tap out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:46 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Strikes). Ben Askren!
An out of breath Ben Askren thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.
Lim Hyun Gyu was interviewed post fight and said 'i was gonna ripp his heart out...'.