PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Washington Burrell (ranked 25330 p4p, 25319 weight class) and Mark Beneke (ranked 693 p4p, 722 weight class). Mark Beneke acknowledges the crowd's support as he enters the ring.

Burrell
vs
Beneke

181 cm
19
170
0 - 4 - 0

182 cm
18
184
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 - 4 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Washington Burrell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Mark Beneke!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, Frank Dennis and Gwen Towbar.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
No luck for Burrell with that takedown attempt.
Beneke misses with an uppercut

and Burrell holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Beneke manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.
Beneke keeping moving, preventing Burrell from controlling successfully.
Burrell sitting in guard here, content to control.
Beneke keeping moving, preventing Burrell from controlling successfully.

Beneke has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Burrell can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.
Burrell advances position into side control!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Burrell trying to control the position but Beneke is working away.
Beneke defending against the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The ground and pound from Burrell seems to be hitting the mat more than his opponent.
Burrell wants to control but Beneke is keeping him busy.
Beneke is trying to stand back up. He's worked his way up against the ropes but Burrell has just dragged him back down to the mat.
Beneke can't do much from the bottom here.
Beneke wants to get back to his feet.
Beneke is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Beneke is looking for a sweep.
Beneke takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Beneke really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Burrell. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Beneke is letting Burrell control him for a moment.

Burrell working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Beneke pushes Burrell away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Burrell gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Burrell fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Beneke tries to escape but Burrell is in control.
Beneke prevents Burrell from moving into mount.
Sloppy strikes there by Burrell.
An elbow from Burrell crashes against the mat.
Beneke pushes Burrell away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Burrell gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.
Burrell is looking to take a break and control but Beneke is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Beneke managing to avoid any damage from the strikes thrown by Burrell.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beneke is trying to control Burrell's posture but Burrell avoids it.
Burrell cracks Beneke with a big elbow.
Burrell is looking to take a break and control but Beneke is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Burrell 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.
Burrell sitting in side control, looking to soften his opponent up with elbows and hammerfists but Beneke is avoiding damage well and looking to escape the position.
Burrell wants to control but Beneke is keeping him busy.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.

Burrell working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Beneke tries to escape but Burrell is in control.

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.
Burrell wants to lay and pray for a moment but Beneke keeps working.

Burrell is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Beneke is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Beneke lands a decent little punch to the body.
Beneke struggling a bit here.
Beneke bucks up and tries to throw Burrell off but instead Burrell has got his back!
Beneke trying to get back to his feet but Burrell is in full control for now.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Burrell misses with a punch to the head.

Burrell is remaining active here, looking for the choke. The more discerning members of the crowd will appreciate his efforts.
Burrell missing with punches from the back.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Washington Burrell dominated that round.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the ring so we can get back down to business.

Beneke drives through with a takedown into Burrell's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Beneke has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Burrell is proving hard to escape from.
Burrell trying to control the position.
Beneke wants to stand but Burrell has a closed guard, so he can't escape.
Burrell preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Washington Burrell overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Beneke would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Beneke looking to pass the guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Burrell uses the ropes to get back to his feet.
Beneke swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Mark Beneke seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Burrell is pinned up against the ropes taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
A left lands for Beneke.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Beneke shoots in and bounces Burrell off the ropes to secure the takedown into guard.
Beneke has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Burrell is proving hard to escape from.

Burrell is working actively off his back, looking to secure an arm or perhaps work for a triangle.
Beneke wanted to stand there but Burrell had control of the position.
Beneke trying to control the position from guard on top but Burrell is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Beneke wants to get up but he can't break Burrell's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
We've been informed that Beneke has been working hard on his conditioning in the buildup to the fight.
Beneke is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Burrell goes for a double leg but Beneke avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the ropes as Beneke continues to drive forward.
Beneke is defending well against a takedown attempt.
Burrell wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Beneke has him pressed against the ropes.

Burrell ties up his opponent against the ropes and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Burrell no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Beneke trying to stand up but can't free himself from Burrell's guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Beneke postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Burrell is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Beneke, into his guard.

Burrell won't allow Beneke to get back to his feet.

Beneke working for a triangle but Burrell defends it easily.
Beneke trying to strike off his back.

Beneke is looking for a triangle but Burrell pushes his legs off easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Burrell sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Beneke's guard.

Burrell is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Beneke throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Beneke is trying to get back to full guard.
Beneke is trying to stand back up but Burrell is controlling him
Burrell throwing shots but Beneke is blocking nicely.
Burrell is keen to just control but Beneke is a slippery customer.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Beneke wants to improve his position but Burrell is controlling well.

Burrell is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Beneke sees it coming and defends easily.
Burrell prevents Beneke from standing back up.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

A close second round but Mark Beneke will probably get the nod - 10:9.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

A telegraphed right hand from Beneke misses the target.
Burrell goes for a double leg but Beneke avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the ropes as Beneke continues to drive forward.

Beneke has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Burrell uses from the top position.
Beneke keeping moving, preventing Burrell from controlling successfully.

Beneke throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Beneke wants to get back to his feet but Burrell is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Burrell stays in close to Beneke's body and controls the position.
Burrell trying to control the position from guard on top but Beneke is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Burrell is working Beneke over from the guard. He should look to pass the guard and do a little more damage with these strikes.
Burrell is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Beneke can do to turn this around?

That's one minute gone in the round.
Beneke wants to get back to his feet but Burrell passes into half guard.
Beneke looks like he's trying to stand up.
Burrell trying to mount his opponent but Beneke defends it.
Beneke is staying active underneath Burrell, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
Beneke holds on for dear life, maintaining half guard for now.
Beneke is trying to stand up here but Burrell is controlling him well.

Burrell is working for a submission of some sort.
Beneke wants to get back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Burrell tries to clinch there but Beneke circles away.
Burrell shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Beneke defends it nicely.
A little jabbing left from Beneke on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Nice uppercut there from Beneke.
Beneke lands with an overhand left.
Beneke lands with a hook. Burrell tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Beneke throws a right and a left that both miss.
Burrell walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Beneke misses the jab.
Beneke throws a hook but Burrell avoids it easily.
Burrell throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Beneke.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beneke slaps away a takedown attempt from Burrell, before circling back to the center of the mat.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Washington Burrell. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Beneke bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.

Burrell is rocked!
Beneke walks forward and throws a big overhand right! Burrell drops to the floor like a sack of potatoes! Beneke swarms on him with more punches until the referee wrestles him away from Burrell's unconscious body! Wow, that was brutal!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:23 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Mark Beneke!
A relieved looking Mark Beneke thanked the fans for their support and gave the usual line about them being amazing. They seemed to believe that he actually meant it.