PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Pete Wentz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Garrick Ballantyne (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Wentz comes to the cage accompanied by Dance, Dance. Both fighters really staring each other down here, as Garrick Ballantyne enters the cage!

Wentz
vs
Ballantyne

175 cm
33
163 lbs
23 - 13 - 0

182 cm
33
202 lbs
21 - 12 - 0

Good wrestling
World class MT
Cardio machine

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

TFP Graphics - Pit Inc

Brute

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 23 - 13 - 0, fighting out of New York, Pete Wentz!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 21 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Garrick Ballantyne!
The judges for this bout are James Atkins, James Ackerman and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Ballantyne connects with a body shot that sends Wentz's belly button to the back.
Ballantyne throws a lazy right hand but Wentz sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Ballantyne misses with a head kick.
Wentz connects with a looping right hand.
Ballantyne throws a lazy head kick
and Wentz counters with an inside leg kick.
Ballantyne moves away from the strike by Wentz.
Wentz throws a wild body kick that Ballantyne sees coming a mile off.
Wentz lands with a right hand.
Ballantyne fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Ballantyne buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Ballantyne slips a straight right by Wentz.
Ballantyne darts in and out, connecting with a jab.

It looks like Pete Wentz has been cut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballantyne throws a low kick, looking for Wentz's leg but Wentz calmly moves out of range.
Good leg kick by Ballantyne there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.
Nice jab there from Wentz.
Ballantyne throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Wentz counters with an inside leg kick.
Wentz shoots in for a takedown but Ballantyne shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Wentz throws a poor cross that misses
enabling Ballantyne to counter with a crisp jab.
Wentz throws a shot to the body.

Wentz drives through with a takedown into guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Wentz stopping the sweep attempt from Ballantyne.
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!
Wentz postures up in Ballantyne's guard and throws a big left but Ballantyne blocks it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wentz is looking to work some ground and pound but Ballantyne has wrist control.
Ballantyne is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

Wentz avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Wentz is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Wentz trying to control but Ballantyne is working from the bottom.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballantyne looking to hit a scissor sweep but Wentz is one step ahead there.
Wentz looking to sit in guard and control but Ballantyne gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Wentz tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Wentz is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Ballantyne tries to free his leg and advance position but Wentz is retaining full guard.
Wentz manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wentz punching from mount but Ballantyne doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Wentz dominating with strikes here.
Wentz lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Ballantyne can do anything to dispel that myth.
Wentz misses with a head shot.
Wentz is still in mount, landing shots to his trapped opponent. Ballantyne can't stay in a position like this for much longer.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Wentz takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Ballantyne wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Wentz.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Pete Wentz will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Pete Wentz's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Ballantyne with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Ballantyne goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Ballantyne misses with a hook
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Wentz throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Wentz thuds a mid kick into his opponent's body. That will wear on Ballantyne if he has to take too many more of those.
Ballantyne takes one on the chin but keeps coming.
Wentz just misses with a punch to the body.
Ballantyne connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Wentz's hands.
Wentz misses with a body kick.
Good leg kick by Wentz there. It's the ones that make that thud noise that hurt and that was an almighty thud.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ballantyne connects with a single shot there.
Ballantyne takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Wentz walks into a stiff left hand from Ballantyne.
Wentz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Ballantyne moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Wentz swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Ballantyne has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Wentz doesn't react quick enough there as he takes a shot to the body.
A telegraphed right hand from Wentz misses the target.
Wentz lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Ballantyne rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Wentz moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Ballantyne looks to land a right hand but Wentz moved out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Wentz with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Ballantyne to score with a decent uppercut.
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!
Wentz delivers a nice body kick.
Garrick Ballantyne is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Wentz shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
Ballantyne misses with a leg kick
and Wentz counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
An inside leg kick from Wentz misses.
Wentz blocks a leg kick.
Ballantyne takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Wentz steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ballantyne.
Wentz misses the shot to the body.
Wentz keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Ballantyne.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballantyne tries to move into range but Wentz moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Wentz lands with a nice body punch.
Ballantyne has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Wentz.
Ballantyne uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Wentz.
Ballantyne connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Ballantyne lands a really nice looking cross but Wentz seems unphased.

Wentz fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Ballantyne to the ground. Wentz is now in Ballantyne's guard.
Wentz working some strikes from top position.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Wentz passes Ballantyne's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Ballantyne trying to control from the bottom.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Wentz not doing much here.
Ballantyne regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Wentz.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Wentz here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Wentz landing some decent shots from guard.
Wentz throwing strikes from guard but Ballantyne blocks nicely.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Wentz with a flurry of punches that miss.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Pete Wentz will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Pete Wentz'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. This is the final round!

Wentz misses with a leg kick
letting Ballantyne counter with a right hand.
Wentz throws a leg kick but Ballantyne checks it.
Wentz works the jab nicely.
Wentz lands a nice leg kick that just misses Ballantyne's sensitive parts.
Wentz throws a leg kick but Ballantyne sees it coming and moves out of range.
Ballantyne pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Ballantyne misses with a body shot.
Ballantyne's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Ballantyne goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Wentz fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Wentz shoots in for a double leg but Ballantyne sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Wentz moves into range and lands a nice leg kick.
Wentz changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ballantyne tries to avoid it but Wentz manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ballantyne to the ground. Ballantyne escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Wentz throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Ballantyne misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Wentz.
Wentz ducks under a wild hook from Ballantyne.
Ballantyne lands with an overhand left.
A swing and a miss from Wentz.
Wentz throws a leg kick which misses Ballantyne's front leg but catches the back leg as Ballantyne tries to avoid it.
Ballantyne displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Wentz throws out the jab.
Wentz lands a leg kick that knocks Ballantyne off balance momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ballantyne misses with a left hand
and Wentz counters with a stiff right hand.
Ballantyne throws a poor cross that misses
and Wentz counters with a good low kick that Ballantyne was not able to check.
Wentz sizes up Ballantyne with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Wentz just misses with a punch to the body.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ballantyne takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Wentz lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Ballantyne connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Garrick Ballantyne has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Wentz connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Wentz steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Ballantyne.
Ballantyne avoids the head kick by Wentz.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ballantyne misses with a low kick.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Wentz.
Wentz scores with a kick to the midsection.
Ballantyne misses with a left hand
and Wentz counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Wentz throws an overhand right that lands on Ballantyne's shoulder, as Ballantyne tries to avoid the shot.
Wentz buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Wentz throws a leg kick which misses Ballantyne's front leg but catches the back leg as Ballantyne tries to avoid it.
Ballantyne misses with an uppercut.
Wentz connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ballantyne drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Ballantyne misses with a combination
and Wentz cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Wentz dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Wentz lands a body shot.
Ballantyne throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Wentz cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Wentz changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Ballantyne tries to avoid it but Wentz manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Ballantyne to the ground. Ballantyne escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Pete Wentz. That's going to take a lot out of him.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Ballantyne throws a low kick but Wentz avoids it.
Wentz takes a swing at Ballantyne's ribcage but misses.
Ballantyne jabbing away but nothing is landing.

And that's the end of the fight!
Pete Wentz showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Wentz, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 James Atkins scores the fight 29:28
Judge James Ackerman scores the fight 29:28
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Pete Wentz!
An out of breath Pete Wentz thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.