PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Rody Garbrandt (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Benjamin Brooks (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Benjamin Brooks has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Garbrandt
vs
Brooks

169 cm
18
135 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

168 cm
26
142 lbs
3 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Enjoys gardening

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 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Rody Garbrandt!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Benjamin Brooks!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, Dillan Fox and Robert Douchet.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Garbrandt throws a series of punches but Brooks avoids them all with ease.
Garbrandt looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Brooks will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Garbrandt throws a body punch but Brooks moves out of range.
Garbrandt looks to score with a jab to the body but Brooks is just out of range.
Garbrandt throws a right hand that Brooks ducks under and follows up with a left that Brooks also avoids with ease.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Brooks.
Garbrandt misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Brooks.
Garbrandt throws a right and a left that both miss.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Brooks closes the distance and clinches.
Brooks working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Brooks escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Garbrandt throws a jab but it's blocked by Brooks.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garbrandt scores with a sloppy right hand. Brooks should have avoided that one.
Garbrandt throws a series of punches but Brooks moves out of range.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Brooks is defended easily by Garbrandt.
Rody Garbrandt has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Benjamin Brooks.

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Brooks is working for a takedown up against the cage. He can't get it on this occasion though.

Brooks breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Garbrandt throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Garbrandt throws a wild combination but nothing lands.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Garbrandt misses the jab.

Brooks has managed to clinch.
Brooks looking for a takedown.
Brooks lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.

Brooks's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.

Brooks forces Garbrandt back against the cage and clinches.
Brooks tries for a takedown but Garbrandt manages to get underhooks.

Brooks jumps guard and drags Garbrandt to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Brooks is on top in guard.

Brooks is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Brooks is pushing down on Garbrandt's leg trying to pass to half guard. Garbrandt is fighting to maintain full guard but Brooks has managed to sneak the leg through.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brooks passes to full mount!
Brooks controlling from mount.
Garbrandt holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Brooks tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Garbrandt blocking the ground and pound.
Brooks punching from mount but Garbrandt doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Brooks tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brooks throwing strikes here but Garbrandt is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Brooks content just to control the position here.
Brooks throwing shots from mount but they're not landing.
Garbrandt wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Brooks.
Garbrandt is breathing heavily.
Garbrandt blocking the ground and pound.
Brooks controlling the pace for now.

Brooks looking to secure an arm triangle but Garbrandt defends it well.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benjamin Brooks dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Garbrandt throws a sloppy body shot

and Brooks counters by clinching up.
Brooks can't get the takedown.

Brooks pulls guard successfully.
Garbrandt has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Brooks is proving hard to escape from.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Brooks is on top in guard.

Garbrandt knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Brooks on the ground.

Brooks stands and steps away. Garbrandt gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Garbrandt throws a body punch but Brooks moves out of range.
Brooks has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Garbrandt throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Brooks.
Garbrandt will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Brooks feints the counter takedown.
Brooks looks to land a right hand but Garbrandt moved out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Garbrandt throws a body shot but no joy.
Garbrandt avoids the head kick by Brooks.
It looked like Garbrandt was looking amped, ready to throw a big counter but didn't commit.

Brooks closes the distance and clinches.
Brooks lands with a light punch inside.

Brooks ties up his opponent against the cage and manages to drag the fight down to the ground. Brooks no doubt will be looking to work submissions from his guard.
Brooks manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Garbrandt manages to get himself to full guard.

Brooks engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Let's hope that Brooks has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Brooks lands a couple of digs.
Brooks working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Brooks slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Brooks is pushing down on Garbrandt's leg trying to pass to half guard. Garbrandt is fighting to maintain full guard but Brooks has managed to sneak the leg through.
Brooks takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Garbrandt blocking the ground and pound attempt from Brooks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Brooks content to sit in half guard and control for a moment.
Brooks moves nicely into side control.
Brooks staying calm.
Benjamin Brooks has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are getting on the fighters' backs, as the pace has dropped off in the last minute or so.
We're seeing a lot of stalling here from Brooks.

Brooks thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.
Brooks throwing shots but missing, from side control.
Brooks is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Garbrandt's shoulder. That is not cool.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Garbrandt throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Garbrandt misses with an uppercut. Brooks saw that one coming.
Brooks throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Garbrandt's waist but Garbrandt gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Brooks off to one side.
Garbrandt throwing a counter right hand but Brooks manages to avoid it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benjamin Brooks showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Brooks shoots in for a takedown but Garbrandt shows good takedown defense.
Garbrandt misses with a double jab.
Garbrandt throws a nice looking combination but Brooks bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Brooks shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Garbrandt sprawls well. Garbrandt wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Brooks gets slowly back to his feet.
Garbrandt misses with a wild combination.
Brooks steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Garbrandt.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Garbrandt throws a nice looking combination but Brooks bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Brooks throws out a counter right but Garbrandt avoids it with no problem.

Brooks rushes Garbrandt and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Brooks is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Garbrandt pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Rody Garbrandt has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Benjamin Brooks.

Brooks escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Rody Garbrandt is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Brooks closes the distance and clinches up with Garbrandt, looking for a takedown. Brooks pushes Garbrandt against the cage but Garbrandt circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Brooks has closed the distance and engaged Garbrandt in a clinch.
Garbrandt wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Garbrandt wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Brooks has him pressed against the cage.

Brooks jumps into guard, dragging Garbrandt to the mat.
Garbrandt tries to stand but Brooks is controlling from the bottom.
Brooks has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Brooks bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Garbrandt's guard.

Brooks postures up in Garbrandt's guard and throws a big left but Garbrandt blocks it.
Garbrandt utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Brooks sitting in guard, not really doing much.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Brooks cracks Garbrandt with a solid left hand.
Brooks slips nicely into half guard.
Brooks missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Brooks decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Brooks clinches with his opponent.

Brooks's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Brooks changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Garbrandt tries to avoid it but Brooks manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Garbrandt to the ground. Garbrandt escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Brooks closes the distance and clinches.
Brooks using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Brooks stalls.

Brooks pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Brooks fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Garbrandt looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Brooks fails with a takedown attempt.
Garbrandt seem to be loading up, looking for a big counter.
Garbrandt looks to land a left hand but Brooks moved out of range nicely.
Garbrandt slaps away a takedown attempt from Brooks, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Garbrandt throws a series of punches but Brooks avoids them all with ease.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Brooks goes for a double leg but Garbrandt avoids the attempt and the two fighters end up clinched against the cage as Garbrandt continues to drive forward.

Brooks clinches.
Brooks lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Garbrandt backwards.
Brooks lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Garbrandt backwards.
Garbrandt prevents the takedown attempt.
Brooks is pushing Garbrandt up against the cage, for a bit of lean and pray action. Action being used the in the loosest possible sense of the word.
Brooks tries for a takedown. No joy.
Rody Garbrandt has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Benjamin Brooks is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Brooks has Garbrandt pushed against the cage.

And that's the end of the fight!
Benjamin Brooks comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I've got Brooks winning every round here. Surely the decision will go his way and he'll pick up a well deserved decision victory. 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 27:30
Judge Dillan Fox scores the fight 27:30
Judge Robert Douchet scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Benjamin Brooks!