PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a super heavyweight MMA rules bout between Ben Steele (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gideon Welles (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Steele
vs
Welles

194 cm
21
290 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

205 cm
22
300 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Experienced

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the super heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ben Steele!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Gideon Welles!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Konstantin Menshow and Igor Prikhodko.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Welles misses with a hook. Steele ducked under it nicely.
Steele shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Welles pinned against the cage. Welles gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.
Welles looks to land a left hand but Steele moved out of range nicely.
Steele is trying hard to land a takedown here. Welles sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Steele fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ben Steele. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Welles misses with a wild body shot.
Welles misses with a hook.
Welles throws the left hand but Steele avoids the punch easily.
Welles misses with a wild body shot.
Steele changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Welles tries to avoid it but Steele manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Welles to the ground. Welles escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Welles takes a swing at Steele's ribcage but misses.
Steele shoots in looking for a takedown. Welles tries to sprawl out of it but Steele keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Welles manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Welles fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

It looks like Ben Steele has been cut.
Welles looks to land a left hand but Steele moved out of range nicely.
Welles misses with a looping right.
Welles throws a looping overhand right but Steele ducks down to avoid it.
A jab-cross combination lands for Welles and sends Steele crashing to the mat! Welles follows him down to the mat - Steele regains half guard but he's not out of trouble yet!
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!

Steele is defending against the submission attempts here by Welles.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Welles seems to be working for a kimura but Steele defends the submission attempt.

Welles seems to be working for a kimura but Steele defends the submission attempt.
Steele flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Steele is trying to get back to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Steele is trying to maintain the position but Welles is very close to passing his half guard.

Welles is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.

Steele clinches up with Welles and pushes him back against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Welles wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Steele has him pressed against the cage.
Steele fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Steele taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Welles is trying to break the clinch but Steele has him pressed against the cage.
Welles is trying to maintain a safe position but Steele gets an underhook and turns Welles into the cage.
Steele keeps control of Welles as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Steele jumps guard but Welles stands there with Steele around his waist. Steele gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.

Welles breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Steele shoots in for a double leg but Welles sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Gideon Welles seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Welles misses the shot to the body.
Steele keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Welles.
Welles lands with a nice body punch.
Steele is breathing heavily.

Steele 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.

Welles is looking for a triangle but Steele pushes his legs off easily.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Steele trying to control but Welles is working from the bottom.
Steele is going to have to think about doing something other than just controlling because Welles is managing to avoid having the position dictated to him.

Welles is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Steele is aware though and is defending well.

The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Welles working for a triangle but Steele defends it easily.
Steele wants to control from the top but Welles keeps moving.

Welles is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Steele missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Steele pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Welles is keeping the position for now.
Steele is looking to work some ground and pound but Welles has wrist control.
Steele 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.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Steele controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Steele is in close to Welles's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Steele throwing strikes from guard but Welles blocks nicely.
Steele might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.
Welles keeping moving, preventing Steele from controlling successfully.
Steele content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A jab from Welles misses.
Steele fails with a takedown attempt.
A telegraphed right hand from Welles misses the target.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Welles throws out a loose jab but Steele uses good head movement to avoid it.
Gideon Welles is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Steele gets cracked there but stands up to it.

Ben Steele's cut is getting worse.
Welles looks to score with a jab to the body but Steele is just out of range.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Steele is defended easily by Welles.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gideon Welles dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ben Steele's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

Welles lands a slapping body shot.

Steele gets in close and instigates a clinch.
Welles wants to break the clinch but can't.
Steele tries for a takedown. No joy.

Welles pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Welles throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Welles misses with a wild combination.
Steele has a takedown stuffed.
Welles throws a looping overhand right but Steele ducks down to avoid it.
Welles wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Welles cracks Steele with a big right hand that sends him crashing to the floor. Welles has the opportunity to follow him to the ground but instead he's beckoning Steele to stand back up!
Gideon Welles seems to be getting the better of the standup.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Steele slips under a jab.
Steele is wiping some vaseline out of his eye. Welles doesn't give a rats ass about fair play and cracks him with a massive hook to the side of the head! Steele crumples to the floor out cold! The cornerman is going to be in Steele's bad books for that mishap!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:54 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punch). Gideon Welles!