PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Erik Bennett (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Aulis Tyrmaaja (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Aulis Tyrmaaja was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Bennett
vs
Tyrmaaja

183 cm
27
182 lbs
18 - 7 - 0

178 cm
23
185 lbs
8 - 1 - 0

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
Lethal high kicks
Good gas tank

Milwaukee's Best 160 SALE $140

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 18 - 7 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Erik Bennett!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Aulis Tyrmaaja!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Dmitry Maklakov and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tyrmaaja misses with a low kick.
Bennett checks a leg kick nicely.
Bennett wants to land a leg kick but Tyrmaaja is out of range.
Tyrmaaja misses with a leg kick

so Bennett counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Bennett throws a big right hand that misses.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Bennett is stalling in the full guard.
Bennett won't allow Tyrmaaja to sweep him here.
Bennett in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Bennett lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Tyrmaaja is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Tyrmaaja working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Bennett.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Bennett wants to stand and escape but instead Tyrmaaja has hit a sweep and he's now on top in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bennett looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Bennett is trying to keep Tyrmaaja in close.
Tyrmaaja trying to control but Bennett is working from the bottom.
Bennett is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.
Tyrmaaja trying to control but Bennett is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up, due to lack of action by Aulis Tyrmaaja.
Bennett displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Tyrmaaja throws out the jab.
Bennett throws a nice inside leg kick.
Bennett takes one to the side of the head.
Tyrmaaja tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bennett paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Tyrmaaja gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.

Bennett shoots in and bounces Tyrmaaja off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Bennett throws a big right hand that misses.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bennett throws a big right hand that misses.
Tyrmaaja wants to sweep but no luck.
Bennett wants to control from the top but Tyrmaaja keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tyrmaaja is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Tyrmaaja is trying to hold Bennett in close to prevent damage but Bennett has managed to pass into half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Tyrmaaja manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Bennett is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Tyrmaaja told us pre-fight that he has been working on his escapes in training. Let's see if he can call on some of his new skills to get back to his feet.
Bennett trying to control but Tyrmaaja is working from the bottom.
Tyrmaaja is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Bennett loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tyrmaaja wants to sweep but no luck.
Tyrmaaja is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Tyrmaaja preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Bennett trying to control the position from guard on top but Tyrmaaja is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Bennett looking to pass the guard.
Bennett is fighting to break Tyrmaaja's control of his arms but Tyrmaaja is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Good standup being displayed there by Bennett as he connects with a hook.
Tyrmaaja tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bennett paws at him with a jab and circles away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erik Bennett dominated that round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action!

Bennett checks a leg kick nicely.
Bennett scores with a jab to the head.
Bennett misses with a straight left.
Tyrmaaja takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Bennett keeps the fight on the outside.
Tyrmaaja uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Bennett.
Tyrmaaja throws a low kick but it's checked well by Bennett.
Tyrmaaja's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Bennett connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Tyrmaaja scrambles back to his feet.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Bennett.
Bennett 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.
You can see the frustration on Tyrmaaja's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Bennett fails to land a wild elbow strike.
Tyrmaaja gets one leg under and gets the fight to half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tyrmaaja keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Tyrmaaja tries to roll over but Bennett keeps him under control.
Bennett thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Bennett throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Bennett slips a nice elbow through Tyrmaaja's hands, connecting with Tyrmaaja's forehead.
Bennett uses his free foot to push down on Tyrmaaja's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Tyrmaaja.

Bennett looking to secure an arm triangle but Tyrmaaja defends it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tyrmaaja is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Tyrmaaja taking shots to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Bennett landing punches.

Tyrmaaja is rocked!
Tyrmaaja throwing punches from his back but nothing is landing.
Bennett landing strikes from the mount and Tyrmaaja is in trouble!
Tyrmaaja is trying desperately to improve position.
Tyrmaaja sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bennett seems to be taking a bit of a break to think of his next move. He lands a short punch in the meantime.
Bennett landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Bennett throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.
Bennett throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

Bennett is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Tyrmaaja has managed to free his arm - good work.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Bennett lands a nice short elbow.

Bennett is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Bennett throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bennett missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bennett throwing shots but Tyrmaaja is blocking nicely.
Tyrmaaja has hold of Bennett's hands but Bennett slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Tyrmaaja keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Bennett thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Tyrmaaja's head.
Tyrmaaja tries to roll over but Bennett keeps him under control.
Ground and pound from Bennett.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Tyrmaaja tries to roll over but Bennett keeps him under control.
Tyrmaaja is not content to let Bennett control the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Erik Bennett dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. This is the final round!

Bennett lands a body shot.
Tyrmaaja displays good takedown defense there as he swats away a double leg from Bennett.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Bennett.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Tyrmaaja crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Bennett - the referee stops the clock and Tyrmaaja gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Bennett. Tyrmaaja manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Bennett fakes a jab and then connects with a hook.

Bennett shoots in and bounces Tyrmaaja off the cage to secure the takedown into guard.
Bennett throws a strike but Tyrmaaja rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Bennett is looking to sweep but instead, Tyrmaaja has passed into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bennett makes his way to full guard. A much better position for Bennett.
Tyrmaaja looking to control the position here, rather than advance.
Tyrmaaja throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Tyrmaaja trying to control but Bennett is working from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tyrmaaja throws a big elbow that misses.
Bennett wants to sweep here but Tyrmaaja controlling him for the moment.
Bennett is working hard here to advance position.
Tyrmaaja postures up in Bennett's guard and throws a big left but Bennett blocks it.
Tyrmaaja postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Aulis Tyrmaaja has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Tyrmaaja wants to control from the top but Bennett keeps moving.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tyrmaaja throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Bennett controlling the position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Tyrmaaja tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Bennett manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tyrmaaja lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Erik Bennett is winning the standup battle so far.
Tyrmaaja tries a head kick but it misses.
Bennett tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Tyrmaaja was well out of range. Poor timing from Bennett.
Tyrmaaja tries to clinch up but Bennett circles away and keeps his distance.
Tyrmaaja will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
A jab from Bennett does it's job there.
Tyrmaaja throws a low kick but Bennett avoids it.
Aulis Tyrmaaja is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

Tyrmaaja gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Erik Bennett is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bennett is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bennett throwing strikes from guard but Tyrmaaja blocks nicely.
Bennett throws a big elbow that misses.
Bennett is in close to Tyrmaaja's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Tyrmaaja is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Tyrmaaja keeping moving, preventing Bennett from controlling successfully.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Tyrmaaja trying to keep a closed guard but Bennett is proving a slippery customer.

And that's the end of the fight!
Erik Bennett showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Bennett has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Sergei Dronov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dmitry Maklakov scores the fight 30:27
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Erik Bennett!
After the fight, Erik Bennett was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.