PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Benny Bannessi (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Slick Rick (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Benny Bannessi had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Bannessi
vs
Rick

187 cm
22
179 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

193 cm
24
170 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Determined

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 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Benny Bannessi!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Slick Rick!
The judges for this bout are Elvis Blanc, Dillan Fox and Ian Loll.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Rick throws a head kick but Bannessi moves out of range.
Rick is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.
Bannessi misses with a few strikes there.
Bannessi circles away from the clinch attempt.
Rick wants to clinch.
Bannessi misses with a wild body shot.
Bannessi looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Bannessi just misses with a punch to the body.
Rick swings away with a counter right hand but no contact made.
Bannessi falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rick counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Bannessi scores with a hook to the body. Rick takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Bannessi leaves Rick with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bannessi lands with a shot to the body.
Rick fails to land the takedown.
Rick with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Bannessi to score with a decent uppercut.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bannessi looks to score with a jab to the body but Rick is just out of range.
Rick shoots in for a takedown but Bannessi shows good takedown defense there and keeps this one on the feet.
Bannessi swung with a counter punch to the body but it didn't connect.
Benny Bannessi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Slick Rick.
Bannessi circles away from the clinch attempt.
Bannessi misses with a wild combination.
Bannessi throws a hook to the side of Rick's head but Rick sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Rick feints the counter takedown.
Bannessi fails to land with a series of punches.
Bannessi sets himself, and Rick steps forward looking for the clinch! Bannessi avoids it this time.
Rick tries for a takedown but Bannessi sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Bannessi lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

It looks like Slick Rick has been cut.
Rick avoids a punch combination nicely.
Rick walks into a left hand.
Rick fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
A punch combination from Bannessi misses.
A combination from Bannessi does no damage.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Rick lands a nice hook to Bannessi's body. Bannessi takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bannessi scores with a body shot.
Bannessi lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Bannessi scores with a nice head shot.
Bannessi is breathing heavily.
Bannessi misses with the combination.
Rick fails with the takedown.
Rick takes a swing at Bannessi's ribcage but misses.
Rick takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Rick tries to clinch but Bannessi is having none of it.
A head kick misses from Rick.
Bannessi throws a nice looking combination but Rick bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Rick fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bannessi is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Rick.
Rick doesn't fully commit to the body shot counter.
Bannessi loads up on a big right hand but Rick slips the punch.
Bannessi moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Rick misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rick throws a series of punches but Bannessi moves out of range.
Benny Bannessi seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Bannessi keeps the fight on the outside.
Rick shoots in looking for a takedown but Bannessi manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Rick's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Bannessi rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Rick moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Rick fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Bannessi looks to land a combination but Rick avoids it well.
Rick will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Bannessi lands a straight punch to the body, keeping Rick at a distance.
Bannessi looks to throw the jab but Rick is out of range.
Rick is looking to clinch.
Rick fails with a takedown attempt.
Bannessi will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bannessi throws a right and a left that both miss.
Benny Bannessi is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Rick fails with an attempt to clinch.
Rick tries to clinch up.
Bannessi misses with a series of wild punches.
Decent striking displayed by Rick there.
Rick slips under a jab.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Bannessi works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Bannessi throws a hook but Rick blocks it.
Rick doesn't manage to clinch there - Bannessi circles away.
Rick tries to clinch there but Bannessi circles away.
Rick shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Bannessi sprawls well. Bannessi wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Rick gets slowly back to his feet.
Rick dodges the punch combination from Bannessi.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benny Bannessi dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Slick Rick's cut.
That's time! Back to the action!

Bannessi looks to score with a jab to the body but Rick is just out of range.
Rick looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Bannessi lands the left hand.
Rick throws a hook but Bannessi blocks it.
Rick avoids a punch combination nicely.
Donk. Bannessi catches Rick right on the button with a cross.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with eachother but Rick might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, Bannessi has got the better of the exchanges.
Rick tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Bannessi manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Bannessi stuffs the takedown.
Rick shoots in but Bannessi avoids the takedown attempt easily.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rick is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Bannessi.
Bannessi fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
And Rick tries to counter it with a takedown but Bannessi pushes his down on his head and steps out.
Horrible takedown attempt by Rick or perhaps it was just good defense by Bannessi, which made it look bad.
Benny Bannessi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Slick Rick.
Bannessi keeps the fight on the outside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bannessi just misses with a punch to the body.
Rick is loading up here, looking for a big counter of his own.
Bannessi scores with a one two! Rick had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Bannessi is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rick can do to turn this around?
Bannessi displaying good standup as he scores with a three punch combination.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bannessi misses with a body punch
and Rick counters with a straight right hand.
Bannessi stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Bannessi wants it to stay on the feet.
No luck for Rick with that takedown attempt.
Bannessi throws an off balance right hand
letting Rick counter with a right hand.
Rick tries to clinch but Bannessi moves out of range.
Bannessi scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Bannessi tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Rick was well out of range. Poor timing from Bannessi.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Rick! But no joy.
Bannessi blocks a head kick by Rick.
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!
Bannessi waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Rick.
Rick tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Bannessi defends well and Rick ends up having to push Bannessi into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Bannessi swings for the body but Rick moves out of range.
Benny Bannessi is winning the standup battle so far.
Bannessi misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Benny Bannessi is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Rick misses with a head kick.
A right-left combo lands from Bannessi.
Rick tries to bum rush Bannessi with a series of wild strikes but Bannessi uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Bannessi swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.
Rick keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
As Bannessi backs off Rick throws a huge counter combo but Bannessi manages to avoid it all.
Bannessi thuds a left hand into Rick's body.
A combination from Rick does no damage.
Bannessi misses with a wild combination.
Rick throws a series of punches but Bannessi avoids them all with ease.
It looked like Bannessi wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Rick will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Bannessi swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Rick counters with a two punch combo.
Bannessi misses with a series of wild punches.

Rick closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Bannessi did well to prevent Rick getting side control.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rick wants to control but Bannessi is keeping him busy.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Rick throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
Rick wants to control but Bannessi is keeping him busy.
Bannessi knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Rick on the ground.
Rick throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Rick trying to control from half guard but Bannessi is working away.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Rick shoots in looking for a double leg takedown. Bannessi defends it nicely.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Rick rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Bannessi moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Bannessi lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Rick backs up against the cage.
Bannessi has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Bannessi there as he acknowledges the shot.
Bannessi throws a series of punches but Rick avoids them all with ease.
Rick tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Bannessi was well out of range. Poor timing from Rick.
Bannessi was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Rick fails with a takedown attempt.
Rick takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Rick fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Bannessi avoids it really well and circles away.
Bannessi thuds a left hand into Rick's body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benny Bannessi dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Slick Rick's cut.
That's time! Bannessi's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. This is the final round!

Rick doesn't manage to clinch there - Bannessi circles away.
Bannessi scores with a hook to the body. Rick takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Rick throws a series of punches but Bannessi avoids them all with ease.
Bannessi is looking to wear down Rick with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
Bannessi misses with the combination.
Bannessi checks a leg kick.
Rick tries to clinch up but Bannessi circles away and keeps his distance.
Bannessi lands a jab, followed by a cross and another cross, as Rick backs up against the cage.
Bannessi ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Rick moves away.
Rick moves out of range as Bannessi strikes.

Rick closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Bannessi did well to prevent Rick getting side control.
Bannessi is not content to let Rick control the position.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bannessi keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Rick throwing shots but Bannessi is blocking nicely.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
A bone on bone clash there as Bannessi blocks the leg kick.
Rick tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bannessi paws at him with a jab and circles 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.
Rick tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bannessi swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Bannessi misses with a double jab.
Rick misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Bannessi.
Rick is looking to clinch.
Bannessi throws a series of punches but Rick moves out of range.
Bannessi keeps the fight on the outside.
Bannessi falls off balance throwing a combination
and Rick counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Rick fails with a takedown attempt.
Slick Rick has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Rick fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Rick ducks under a wild hook from Bannessi.
Rick goes for a double leg but Bannessi avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Bannessi continues to drive forward.
Benny Bannessi has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Slick Rick.

Rick shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Rick was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Bannessi bucks up and tries to throw Rick off but instead Rick has got his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rick missing with strikes.
Rick misses with a punch to the head.
Rick throwing lazy shots from the back mount that aren't doing any damage.

Rick is cranking Bannessi's head sideways - that looks painful. He's managed to get his other arm under the chin and this looks bad for Bannessi! He's tightened the choke and Bannessi is tapping out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:58 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Slick Rick!