PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Bennie Bishop (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Frank Romero (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Bishop
vs
Romero

172 cm
24
144 lbs
6 - 1 - 0

177 cm
20
140 lbs
5 - 1 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ White Belt
Decent boxing
Knockout power

•‡• LION Clothing •‡• [CBK]
BUY ONE,GET TWO

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the bantamweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 6 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Bennie Bishop!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 1 - 0, fighting out of London, Frank Romero!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fotheringham, Paul Tew and William Gold.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bishop thuds a left hand into Romero's body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Bishop. Romero does a little dance to reset his feet.
Bennie Bishop seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bishop looks to score with a jab to the body but Romero is just out of range.
Bishop throws a jab when Romero was well out of range.
Bishop connects with a body shot.
Romero steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Bishop.
Bishop thows a body shot but no joy.
Bishop scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
A looping hook to the body misses from Bishop. Romero does a little dance to reset his feet.
Bishop misses with a wild body shot.

Bishop looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Romero is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Bishop missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
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.
Romero trying to hold on to Bishop's head to control him but Bishop postures up.
Bishop lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Bishop is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Romero is trying to maintain the position but Bishop is very close to passing his half guard.
Bishop thows a huge punch but Romero dodges it nicely.
The fighters are tangled up in the ropes here. We might need a restart if the fighters can't break free themselves.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bishop scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Bishop throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Romero looks like he's trying to stand up.
Romero avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Bishop.

Bishop is working for a kimura but Romero is defending it quite comfortably.
Bishop slips a nice elbow through Romero's hands, connecting with Romero's forehead.
Bishop prevents Romero from standing back up.

Bishop is thinking about going for an arm triangle but he can't free his leg.
Bishop is thwarting Romero's attempts to control the position.
Romero pushes Bishop off looking to stand but Bishop dives back in and keeps control.
Bishop 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 two minutes gone in the round.

Bishop seems to be working for a kimura but Romero defends the submission attempt.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Romero has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Bishop is working away from the top position though.
Bishop working some ground and pound from close in. He's looking to maintain this position and strike for a while by the looks of things... although he'll probably advance to full mount in a minute now I've said that.
Bishop thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Romero's head.
Romero trying to control but Bishop postures up.
Romero wants to get back to his feet.
Romero is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Bishop scores with a couple of nice shots.
Bishop working Romero over with strikes.
Bishop missing with some ground and pound from the half guard.
Romero has hold of Bishop's hands but Bishop slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bishop sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Romero defending well though.
Romero is trying to stand.
Bishop thows a huge punch but Romero dodges it nicely.
Bishop winds up and cracks Romero with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Romero on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Bishop lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Bishop not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Bishop thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Romero's head.
Bishop not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Romero is trying to stand.
Romero really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Bishop. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Romero taking some punishment here, with Bishop in his half guard.
Bishop throwing shots but Romero is blocking nicely.
Romero is trying to stand up here but Bishop is controlling him well.
Bishop not landing any meaningful shots this time.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
A lazy left from Romero finds it's target.
Bishop takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Bishop is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Bishop looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into mount! Oh, that's bad for Romero!
Bishop unloading with bombs!
Bishop cracks Romero with a nasty head shot there - the crowd let out an audible gasp there, as the noise reverberated around the arena.
Bishop dominating with strikes here.

Romero is rocked!
Bishop unloading with bombs!
Romero is still in real trouble! Can Bishop finish him?
Bishop landing shots from mount.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Romero really wants to buck Bishop off and get back to his feet.
Bishop scores with a couple of good head shots there.
Bishop in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Bishop lands a big shot there that rocks Romero but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Romero can't escape the position.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Romero can do anything to dispel that myth.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Romero is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Bishop putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Romero misses with a straight left.
Romero seems to have recovered his senses.
Bishop shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Romero sprawls well. Romero wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Bishop gets slowly back to his feet.
Romero defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Bishop.

Bishop bobs and weaves into range and then changes levels and scores with a nice takedown into side control.
Romero is trying to improve his position.
Bishop in side control, trying to ground and pound but not landing this time.
Bishop working the head with strikes.

Bishop looking for an arm triangle but it's way too loose to do anything.
Bishop working the head with strikes.
Bishop cracks Romero with a big right hand but Romero just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Bennie Bishop overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Romero tries to escape but Bishop is in control.
Bishop working the ground and pound.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bishop creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Bishop grinds an elbow into Romero's temple.
Bishop landing a few strikes.
Romero is trying to improve his position.
Bishop throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Romero is trying to buck Bishop off.
You can see the frustration on Romero's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Bishop scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Romero to see if he's OK.
Bishop lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Romero down.
Bishop is chipping away with strikes.
Romero is trying to buck Bishop off.
Bishop grinds an elbow into Romero's temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bishop lands a nice forearm strike.
Bishop lands some shots froms side control.
Romero is trying to control Bishop's posture but Bishop avoids it.
Bishop is working Romero over with some ground and pound from side control.
An elbow from Bishop crashes against the mat.
An elbow from Bishop crashes against the mat.

Bishop is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Romero is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Bishop looking to punish the body of his opponent here but Romero is avoiding damage well.
Romero struggling a bit here.
Bishop lands a few punches from side control.
Romero pushes Bishop away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Bishop gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bishop cracks Romero with an elbow. That is naaassty.
The strikes coming from Bishop are missing the target in this wave of attacks.
Bishop tries to score with some ground and pound. Romero controls his posture well this time though and the shots don't do any damage.
Bishop lands a few punches from side control.
Bishop throws a strike aimed at the side of Romero's head but Romero avoids it well.
Bishop postures up a little and throws a couple of hammerfists but they don't connect properly.
Romero parries the strikes from Bishop easily there. Bishop is wary of posturing up too much because it might enable Romero to escape.
Bishop creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Romero can't do much from the bottom here.

Well, the referee has seen enough. Neither fighter is active enough on the ground so he's stood them back up.
Bishop fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Bennie Bishop. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bishop throws a hook but Romero avoids it easily.
Romero throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Bishop.
Romero lunges at Bishop with a hook that half lands and is half blocked by Bishop's hand.
Romero on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Romero misses with a jab, cross combination.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Romero walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
Bishop looks to score with a jab to the body but Romero is just out of range.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Bishop, as that shot connected.
Bishop fails to land the takedown.
Nice uppercut there from Romero.
Bishop scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Romero doesn't seem bothered though.
Bishop uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Romero.
Bishop thows a body shot but no joy.
Frank Romero is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Bishop misses with a body shot.
Bishop throws a body punch but Romero moves out of range.
No luck for Bishop with that takedown attempt.
Romero doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
Bishop avoids the body shot from Romero.
Bishop lands a glancing blow to the side of Romero's head.
Romero takes one to the chin there.
Bishop ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Romero moves away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Romero jabs at Bishop's body.

Bishop gets a takedown into half guard.
Bishop is nestled in close to Romero, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.

Bishop is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Romero defends it well.
Bishop throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Bishop throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Bishop thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Romero's head.
Bishop prevents Romero from standing back up.
Bishop missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Bishop winds up and cracks Romero with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Romero keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Bishop fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.
Bishop is looking to wear down Romero with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Romero throws out a loose jab but Bishop uses good head movement to avoid it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bishop misses with a wild body shot.
A left lands for Romero.
Romero misses with a jab, cross combination.
Frank Romero is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Nice shot lands for Romero.
Bishop swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Bishop moves into range and connects with a jab.
Bishop uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Romero.
Bishop misses with a body punch
and Romero counters with a left and a right... And another left! Bishop is down! He's done! The ref dives in to save him and that's the end of the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:30 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Frank Romero!
Frank Romero is the new bantamweight champion!