PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Cruz Beck (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Richard Pence (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cruz Beck has a significant reach advantage - let's see if he can make it count.

Beck
vs
Pence

191 cm
24
140 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

179 cm
22
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Cruz Beck!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Richard Pence!
The judges for this bout are Yasuomi Hirokawa, Kenichi Hosakawa and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Pence closes the distance and clinches.
Pence tries to break free but Beck pushes him back against the cage.

Pence manages to break the clinch.

Beck pushes Pence up against the cage in a clinch.
Pence tries to land a knee to the head but misses.

Pence breaks the clinch.
Pence misses with a head kick.
Beck blocks a head kick by Pence.
Pence misses with a two punch combination.
A head kick misses from Pence.
Beck looks to throw the jab but Pence is out of range.
Beck on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Beck takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.
Beck lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Richard Pence seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pence throws a head kick that misses.
Beck avoids the head kick by Pence.
Beck displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Pence throws out the jab.

Beck closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Pence to the mat! Pence manages to get full guard.
Pence being controlled here, momentarily.
Beck throwing strikes from guard but Pence blocks nicely.
Pence is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Beck throwing strikes but missing.
Beck will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pence trying to control the position.
Beck tries to free his leg and advance position but Pence is retaining full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Beck throws a big elbow that misses.
Beck works over Pence with some ground and pound from guard.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Beck accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Pence looking to sweep here. No luck so far.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pence not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
Beck throws a big right hand that misses.
Pence keeping moving, preventing Beck from controlling successfully.
Beck keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Pence's head.
Beck controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Beck trying to control but Pence is working from the bottom.
Beck working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Beck trying to control the position from guard on top but Pence is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Cruz Beck just wasn't active enough.
Pence tries to close the distance and clinch up but Beck swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Pence tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Beck manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Pence tries a head kick but it misses.
Pence misses with a head kick.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Pence throws a sloppy head kick and Beck moves out of range easily.
Beck avoids the head kick by Pence.
Pence looks winded!
Beck tries to clinch up.
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 Cruz Beck will probably get the nod.
That's time! Beck's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Pence misses with a lunging right hand
and Beck counters with a one-two to the body.
Pence will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
The fight stays on the outside here - Pence looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Pence misses with a two punch combination.
Beck blocks a head kick by Pence.
Pence tries to close the distance and clinch but Beck swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Pence tries to clinch but Beck is having none of it.
Beck avoids the clinch attempt nicely.

Beck instigates a clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Beck has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Pence is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Beck tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.

Pence breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Beck closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Pence quickly recovers to half guard.
Beck working Pence over with strikes.
Pence wants to improve his position but Beck is controlling well.
Beck thows a huge punch but Pence dodges it nicely.
Beck throwing shots but Pence is blocking nicely.
Beck controlling the action here.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Pence trying to control from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Beck thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Beck winds up and cracks Pence with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Beck missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Beck thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Pence's head.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Pence blocking the ground and pound attempt from Beck.
Beck missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Beck throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Pence is looking for a sweep. Beck is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Pence is breathing heavily.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Beck lands a nice short elbow.
Beck tries to pass the half guard into mount. Pence knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Beck not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Pence is trying to stand back up but Beck is controlling him
Beck sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pence defending well though.
Ground and pound from Beck.
Beck sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pence defending well though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pence has hold of Beck's hands but Beck slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Beck looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Pence with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Beck 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.
Pence has hold of Beck's hands but Beck slips his arm to the side and lands an elbow.
Beck scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
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!
Beck looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Beck winds up and cracks Pence with a swinging punch to the side of the head.
Beck looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Pence with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Beck sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pence defending well though.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Cruz Beck dominated that second round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A head kick misses from Pence.
Pence throws a nice looking combination but Beck bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Pence tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Beck manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Beck shoots in but Pence avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Pence fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Beck keeps the fight on the outside.
Pence wants to clinch up but Beck keeps it at a distance.
Pence misses with a looping right.
Pence throws a head kick that misses.
Pence throws a sloppy head kick and Beck moves out of range easily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Pence throws a head kick that misses
and Beck counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Pence takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Beck tries to clinch up.
A head kick by Pence misses
and Beck counters with a right hand to the body.

Beck closes the distance and pushes Pence back into the cage.
A bit of stalling here from Beck.
Beck using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Pence has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Beck is working for takedown but Pence is calmly controlling the position for now.
Beck jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Pence walks away with a smile on his face. Beck gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Cruz Beck. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Beck throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Pence's waist but Pence gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Beck off to one side.
Pence moves in looking to clinch but Beck pushes him off.
The fight stays on the outside here - Pence looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Pence fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

Beck decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Beck really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Beck 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.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Beck lands strikes from half guard.
Beck thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Beck sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Pence defending well though.
Beck is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Beck thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Pence's head.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Beck drops an elbow to the side of Pence's head.
Pence keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Pence is trying to stand up here but Beck is controlling him well.

Beck decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Beck tries to close the distance and clinch but Pence swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Pence keeps the fight on the outside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Pence throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Pence tries to clinch up.
Pence misses with the combination.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Pence enables Beck to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Pence manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Pence avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Richard Pence has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Pence working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Beck.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Pence preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Cruz Beck is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Beck with a nice head shot there.

And that's the end of the fight!
Cruz Beck showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Beck, 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 Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Ren Mimura scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Cruz Beck!