PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Evan Benson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hector Cruz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Hector Cruz has the power to score a knockout today if he connects clean with Evan Benson's chin.

Benson
vs
Cruz

180 cm
25
130 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

165 cm
24
135 lbs
0 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Intelligent

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 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Evan Benson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Hector Cruz!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Bart Greer and Michael Johnstone.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Benson darts in and clinches Cruz up against the cage.
Benson looks exhausted already! Oh dear, he should have come in in better shape than this!
Cruz goes for a takedown in the clinch but Benson prevents it.
Benson prevents Cruz from breaking the clinch.
Cruz takes a knee to the side of the body.
Benson tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Cruz working some nice short punches in the clinch.
Benson prevents Cruz from breaking the clinch.
Cruz tries to circle away but Benson has him pinned against the cage.
Cruz misses with a knee strike.
Cruz can't break the clinch.
Cruz wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Cruz wants to break the clinch but can't.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Benson gets through Cruz's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Cruz tries to pull guard but Benson holds him up against the cage and eventually Cruz drops back down to his feet.
Benson misses with an elbow strike.
Cruz has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Benson trying to land knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cruz looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Benson unloads a knee to the mid-section. Cruz lets out a prehistoric sounding urrrrgh.
A frustrated look appears on Cruz's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Benson really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Benson has Cruz pressed against the cage, preventing Cruz from circling away and getting back to striking at range.

Cruz drags the fight down to the ground.
We could do with one of the fighters taking the initiative a bit more on the ground - they're both waiting to capitalize on a mistake.

Cruz working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Benson doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Benson manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Benson won't allow Cruz to get back to his feet.
Benson has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.

Cruz has scooted to the edge of the canvas and used the cage to get back to his feet. Benson has stuck on his opponent and is forcing him back against the cage.

Cruz drags the fight down to the ground.
Cruz is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Benson prevents Cruz from getting back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cruz is trying to control the position but Benson postures up.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Cruz pushes Benson off and gets back to his feet.
Cruz throws a series of punches but Benson avoids them all with ease.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Cruz tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Cruz cracks Benson with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.

Cruz lands a left and a right that send Benson crashing to the mat, dazed. Cruz thinks about following him to the mat but decides to wave him back up to his feet!

Benson is rocked!

It looks like Evan Benson has been cut.
You can follow us on Twitter at...Ooooooh Benson got wobbled bad by a big combination! Cruz presses forward with punches and knees until Benson stumbles to the ground! The ref watches Benson closely before deciding to step in and end the fight!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:32 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Hector Cruz!