PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Damen Slash (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rudy Benson (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.

Slash
vs
Benson

188 cm
22
216 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

186 cm
18
214 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Prefers ground

Good wrestler
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Damen Slash!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Rudy Benson!
The judges for this bout are Gregory Folan, Robert Douchet and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Slash shoots in looking for a takedown. Benson tries to sprawl out of it but Slash keeps driving through. The fighters are pinned against the cage. Benson manages to get underhooks and after a bit of a struggle, circles away and we're back to standing.
Slash connects with a high kick.
Slash wants to clinch.
Slash fails with the takedown.
Benson clinches but Slash breaks the clinch
and Slash counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Benson thinking.
Slash shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Benson but Benson pushes him off and we're back to square one.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Damen Slash. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Slash jabs at Benson's body.
Benson keeps the fight on the outside.
Slash shoots in for a takedown - he's clinched up with Benson but Benson pushes him off and we're back to square one.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benson tries to clinch up but Slash circles away and keeps his distance.
Slash shoots in but no luck this time.
Benson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Slash wants to clinch up but Benson keeps it at a distance.
Slash throws a sloppy head kick and Benson moves out of range easily.

Benson drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Benson slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Benson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Slash swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Slash throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benson stays in close to Slash's body and controls the position.
Benson's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Benson passes Slash's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Slash manages to get to full guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Benson looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Slash looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Slash wants to stand but Benson is controlling the position.

Slash looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Benson stays in close to Slash's body and controls the position.
Slash controls Benson momentarily but Benson frees himself.
Benson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

That's four 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.
Benson is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.
Slash not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Benson is looking to clinch.
Slash gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

and Benson counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
Benson stops Slash from standing up.
Slash is breathing heavily.

Slash is active off his back here, looking for submissions.
Benson would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.
Benson is on the wrong end of a couple of strikes there.
Benson really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Slash. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Benson is looking to stand up but Slash won't let him.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rudy Benson dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Benson throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Slash counters with an outside leg kick.
Benson throws a lazy head kick

and Slash counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Slash wants to get back to striking at distance but Benson won't allow it.
Slash goes for a takedown in the clinch but Benson prevents it.
Benson drops down looking for an ankle pick but Slash pulls his leg out and moves away.
Damen Slash is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Slash misses with a takedown

and Benson counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Benson throwing shots but Slash is blocking nicely.

Benson is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Slash defends it well.
Benson perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.

Benson is working for a kimura but Slash is defending it quite comfortably.
Benson missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Slash tries to roll over but Benson keeps him under control.
Benson stops Slash from getting back to his feet.
Slash slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Slash is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Benson throws a strike but Slash rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Slash is looking to stand up but Benson won't let him.

That's two 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.
Benson is looking to stand up but Slash isn't so interested in that idea.
Benson utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Benson pulls Slash in close to his closed guard and prevents Slash from doing any damage or advancing position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Slash accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Slash throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

It looks like we're going to have a standup here. Neither fight is doing enough on the ground.
Slash tries to clinch up.
Slash fails with the takedown

and Benson counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Damen Slash. That's going to take a lot out of him.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Benson decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Slash tries for a takedown but Benson circles away easily

and Benson counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
Benson seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Benson tries to pass to full mount but Slash defends it.
Slash throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Benson controlling the action here.
Slash slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benson trying to stand up but can't free himself from Slash's guard.
Benson wants to control from the top but Slash keeps moving.
Slash manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Benson taking shots to the head.
Slash looking to control but Benson is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Benson is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Slash looking to control but Benson is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Rudy Benson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
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. Let's get this one finished - here comes the final round!

Slash scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Benson tries to clinch up
and Slash counters with a stiff right hand.
Slash with a poor takedown

and Benson counters with a shoot takedown. Slash fights it but they end up in guard.
Benson showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Slash looking for a sweep. Not yet Slash, not yet.
Slash is working hard here to advance position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Slash thows some rabbit punches from the bottom but they don't do any damage.
Benson postures up and lands a big shot to Slash's brow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benson tries to stand but Slash is controlling from the bottom.
Slash wants to sweep here but Benson controlling him for the moment.
Slash manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

Slash is working on an americana here. Ooh, that looks pretty nasty! Nope, Benson has managed to escape the submission attempt.
Benson wants to hold on but Slash pushes him away.
Benson wants to use the cage to get back to his feet here.
Benson wants to hold on but Slash pushes him away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.
Slash with the ground and pound from mount.
Slash avoids the attempt from Benson to control.
Slash throwing sloppy strikes, which aren't doing any damage.
Poor strikes thrown by Slash there. More accuracy and less frantic strikes would help!
Slash can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Benson is looking to escape.
Slash avoids the attempt from Benson to control.
The referee warns Benson that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Slash punishing his opponent with strikes.
Benson is in all sorts of trouble here.
Slash 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.
Slash looking to control but Benson is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
Rudy Benson has got the better of the ground game so far.
Slash punching from mount but Benson doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Benson is in all sorts of trouble here.
Slash is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Benson can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
Benson is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
A nice elbow there by Slash.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Benson gets back to half guard.
Benson tries to roll over but Slash keeps him under control.
Benson preventing any damage for now, controlling his opponent's head.
Slash tries to pass to full mount but Benson defends it.
Benson is not content to let Slash control the position.
Slash throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Damen Slash has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Benson tries to roll over but Slash keeps him under control.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Rudy Benson.
I've got Benson winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 27:30
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Rudy Benson!