PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Mike Bennett (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Genki Sodo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Bennett might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Stronger, Kanye West. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Bennett
vs
Sodo

182 cm
20
155 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

176 cm
21
154 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Prefers ground

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Yakuza Supplements
Bushido Clothing

Shinryaku MMA Gear
Mustang Fight Food

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Mike Bennett!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Genki Sodo!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Yuuki Gou and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Bennett forces Sodo back against the cage and clinches.
Bennett misses with a hook from the clinch.
Sodo blocking some punches.
Bennett jumps guard but Sodo stands there with Bennett around his waist. Bennett gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Bennett throws a knee to the head but misses.
Bennett keeps control of Sodo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Bennett prevents the takedown attempt.

Sodo breaks the clinch.
Sodo tries to clinch but Bennett is having none of it.
Bennett slips a straight right by Sodo.
Sodo scores with a punch to the head.
Bennett misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Bennett will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Mike Bennett. That's going to take a lot out of him.

Sodo shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.

Bennett keeping busy on the bottom but Sodo has passed one foot through into half guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Sodo wants to work for an arm triangle but Bennett is really keeping half guard well and defending the submission attempt.
Sodo throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bennett has a hand on Sodo's thigh, trying to get back to full guard. Sodo takes advantage of the position though and mounts him!
Bennett is trying desperately to improve position.
Bennett stops Sodo from taking his back. Still, being mounted isn't any better.
Bennett keeping his composure momentarily, calmly looking to get back to half guard.
Sodo tries to control but Bennett wriggling away.
Bennett has given up his back - I don’t know if this is a deliberate ploy to try and escape or if he is just struggling down there.
Bennett is breathing heavily.
Bennett tries to escape the position - he's now mounted. Is that better or worse? Hard to tell!
Sodo punching from mount but Bennett doing a good job of avoiding damage.
A nice elbow there by Sodo.
Bennett is working to get back to half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Bennett tries to improve his position but instead Sodo has taken his back!
Bennett is keeping busy.
Sodo throwing wild punches that miss their target.
Sodo doesn't have the hooks in and Bennett manages to turn into his guard.

Bennett gets to his feet - Sodo follows without any prompting.

Sodo instigates a clinch.
Bennett keeps control of Sodo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.

Bennett has picked Sodo up - he's going for a ride! Bennett dumps his opponent to the mat with a thud and settles into half guard.
Sodo is looking to improve his position.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
Bennett trying to control the action but Sodo is working from the bottom.
Bennett not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.

Bennett postures up and decides to stand up, from the half guard. The ref calls for Sodo to stand up.

Bennett moves into the clinch.
Sodo takes a knee right on the jaw!
Sodo managing to block the knees to the body from Bennett.
Sodo with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Sodo misses with an elbow over the top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Sodo can't break the clinch.
Bennett wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Bennett tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Sodo smiles and moves away.

Bennett gets the takedown into side control.

Bennett decides to stand back up.
Nice sprawl there from Sodo as Bennett shoots in.
Sodo circles away from the clinch attempt

and Sodo counters by clinching up.
Bennett misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Sodo.

Sodo breaks from the clinch.
Sodo circles away from the clinch attempt
and Sodo counters with a body kick that stops Bennett in his tracks momentarily.
Bennett tries to clinch but fails miserably

and Sodo counters with a nice shoot takedown that brings the fighters to the ground.
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!

Bennett throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Sodo landing with the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bennett wants to sweep here but Sodo controlling him for the moment.
Bennett is working hard here to advance position.
Bennett looking to control.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Sodo accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Sodo must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Sodo stopping the sweep attempt from Bennett.

Bennett working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Sodo doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Sodo manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.

Sodo avoids a guillotine attempt easily.
Sodo wants to pass the guard but Bennett is keeping the position.

Sodo avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Sodo trying to stand up but can't free himself from Bennett's guard.
Bennett looking for a sweep. Not yet Bennett, not yet.

Bennett working for a triangle but Sodo defends it easily.
Sodo looking to pass the guard.
Sodo trying to control but Bennett is working from the bottom.
Sodo has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Bennett is proving hard to escape from.
Bennett manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Sodo manages to get himself to full guard.

Bennett drops back looking for a leg! Sodo is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Sodo manages to kick Bennett off! Bennett jumps back into Sodo's guard.

That's six 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.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Sodo is on top in guard.

Bennett is looking for a triangle but Sodo pushes his legs off easily.
Bennett wants to sweep but no luck.

Sodo gets to his feet - Bennett follows without any prompting.
Bennett looks to clinch
and Sodo counters with a good, hard body kick but Bennett shrugs it off.
Bennett tries to grapple but his opponent circles
enabling Sodo to counter with a crisp jab.

Bennett has Sodo up against the cage in a clinch.
Bennett takes an elbow to the forehead.
Sodo tries to break the clinch but Bennett is controlling the position.
Sodo wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
Sodo takes a knee right on the jaw!
Bennett wants a takedown but no success here.
Bennett misses with a knee strike.

Sodo jumps guard.

That's seven minutes gone in the round.
Bennett trying to control the position from guard on top but Sodo is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Bennett tries to free his leg and advance position but Sodo is retaining full guard.
Bennett trying to control but Sodo is working from the bottom.
Sodo wants to stand up but Bennett is controlling him.
Sodo manages to land a sweep and now he's in mount on top!
Sodo looking to ground and pound his opponent to a finish here.
Bennett is trying to escape the mount.
Bennett takes a big shot to the head but keeps on trying to improve his position.

That's eight minutes gone in the round.
Bennett can't escape the position.
Bennett tries to buck Sodo off but he can't manage it.
Bennett is looking to get to half guard.
Bennett gets back to half guard.

Bennett looking for submissions from an awkward position here.
Bennett works his way to full guard. Good work.
Sodo is looking to stand up but Bennett won't let him.
Bennett is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Bennett not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Sodo is staying active underneath Bennett, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

Sodo actively working from the bottom here.
Bennett tries to pass the half guard into mount. Sodo knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

That's nine minutes gone in the round.
Sodo throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Sodo throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Sodo slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
Sodo striking off his back but it's not causing Bennett any problems.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
Bennett doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Sodo counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

Sodo closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Bennett struggling a bit here.
Bennett manages to get back to half guard.
Bennett slips a foot under and gets full guard. Nice work.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Sodo postures up to throw the ground and pound strikes but they don't connect.
Bennett trying to control the position.

Bennett has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Sodo can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Genki Sodo will probably get the nod.
That's time! Bennett's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Bennett clinches but Sodo breaks the clinch
and Sodo counters with a thumping low kick.
Bennett is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Sodo looks to land a combination but Bennett avoids it well.
Bennett fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bennett explodes with a nice body kick and back out of range. Nice work.
Bennett closes the distance but Sodo moves to the side
and Sodo counters with a thumping low kick.
Sodo swats away the attempt to clinch by Bennett.
Bennett doesn't manage to clinch there - Sodo circles away.

Bennett has Sodo up against the cage in a clinch.
Sodo wants to break free but Bennett has control.

Bennett breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Nice sprawl there from Sodo as Bennett shoots in.

Bennett has Sodo up against the cage in a clinch.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bennett throws an elbow that misses.
Bennett prevents Sodo from breaking the clinch.

Sodo gets a trip takedown into half guard.
Bennett moves into full guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bennett lands a beautiful switch and he's in full mount! That could spell trouble for Sodo!
Sodo is looking to get to half guard.
Bennett thowing strikes but they're hitting the gloves, not doing any damage.
Bennett tries to stand up but he's trapped just for the moment.
Sodo working to try and regain half guard.
Bennett trying to control but Sodo is having none of it.
BOOM! Bennett connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Bennett scores with a couple of good head shots there.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bennett wants to control the pace but Sodo is squirming around nicely.
Sodo wants to improve position but instead he's given up his back.
Sodo tries to roll but Bennett sticks to his back.

Bennett working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.

Bennett is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Sodo defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.

Bennett working from the back looking to end the fight with a rear naked choke. Sodo is doing well to defend. Bennett seems to have got his hand under the chin though and he's sunk the choke in! Sodo is forced to tap and this one is over!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:47 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Mike Bennett!