PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Benton Velasquez (ranked 24669 p4p, 0 weight class) and Arthur Drent (ranked 4632 p4p, 357 weight class). Arthur Drent will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Velasquez
vs
Drent

212 cm
19
278 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

188 cm
18
250 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Benton Velasquez!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Arthur Drent!
The judges for this bout are Shirou Masuda, Yukihiro Shimada and Kenichi Hosakawa.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Drent shoots in for a double leg but Velasquez sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Velasquez shoots in for a takedown but Drent shows good takedown defense.
Drent raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.

Drent shoots in for a takedown and gets it. Let's see what he's got on the mat.
Velasquez manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Drent manages to get himself to full guard.

Velasquez gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Drent closes the distance and clinches up with Velasquez, looking for a takedown. Drent pushes Velasquez against the cage but Velasquez circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.
Velasquez will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
Arthur Drent seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Drent tries to clinch up
and Velasquez counters with a head kick.
Drent fails with the takedown
and Velasquez counters with a stiff right hand.
Benton Velasquez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Arthur Drent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Drent, right into the meat.
Velasquez stuffs a takedown. It's all about dictating where the fight takes place and Velasquez wants it to stay on the feet.
Drent misses with a kick to the body.
Drent avoids the head kick by Velasquez.
A telegraphed takedown attempt from Drent is defended easily by Velasquez.
Drent looks to clinch
and Velasquez counters with a stiff right hand.

Velasquez fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Drent to the ground. Velasquez is now in Drent's guard.

Drent has his feet on Velasquez's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Velasquez fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Drent sprawls well initially but Velasquez persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
Drent should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Drent looks winded!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Velasquez is looking for a kimura here.
Drent is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.

Velasquez is working for a kimura but Drent is defending it quite comfortably.

Velasquez is looking for a kimura but Drent is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Velasquez to get the leverage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Velasquez decides to stand and escape the position.
Drent throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Drent tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Velasquez manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Drent fails with a takedown attempt.
Drent has his takedown stuffed

and Velasquez holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Velasquez pulls guard successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Velasquez controlling the position.
Velasquez wants to stand up but Drent is controlling him.
Drent throwing strikes from guard but Velasquez blocks nicely.
Velasquez pulls Drent in close to prevent any damage.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benton Velasquez dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Drent gets his takedown attempt stuffed easily

so Velasquez counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Velasquez is standing up over Drent. Drent looks to escape but Velasquez dives into side control.

Velasquez thinks about going for a far side armbar but bails out and retains the dominant position instead.

Velasquez stands up and we're back to a striking position.
Drent misses with a takedown attempt

so Velasquez counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Velasquez wants to control from the top but Drent keeps moving.
Velasquez wants to get up but he can't break Drent's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drent keeping moving, preventing Velasquez from controlling successfully.
Drent is breathing heavily.

Velasquez drops back looking for a leg! Drent is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Drent manages to kick Velasquez off! Velasquez jumps back into Drent's guard.
Drent is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

Velasquez is positioning himself well to prevent Drent advancing to mount.
Velasquez is trying to maintain the position but Drent is very close to passing his half guard.
Velasquez keeps control of the position for the meantime.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Velasquez gets back to full guard.
Drent preventing the sweep.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Velasquez is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Drent postures up and lands a big shot to Velasquez's brow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Velasquez looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Velasquez is wriggling around but Drent manages to pass to half guard.
Velasquez wants to improve his position but Drent is controlling well.
Velasquez controlling the leg, holding on to half guard.
If this pace continues, the referee will definitely step in and force a standup.
Drent really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Velasquez. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Drent trying to pass the guard but Velasquez defending well.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's four 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.
Drent tries for a takedown but Velasquez circles away easily

and Velasquez counters with a shoot takedown. Drent fights it but they end up in guard.
Benton Velasquez has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Arthur Drent.
Velasquez trying to control but Drent is working from the bottom.

Drent has a loose triangle. He'll be looking to tighten that up but Velasquez can see exactly what he's planning and manages to posture up and free himself.
Drent keeping moving, preventing Velasquez from controlling successfully.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Drent throwing strikes off his back to little effect.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benton Velasquez dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! Ladies and gentlemen, this is the final round!

Drent tries to sprawl but Velasquez drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Velasquez wants to stand but Drent has hold of a leg and an arm, so he's trapped for now.
Drent is looking to improve his position.

Velasquez is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.

Velasquez decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Drent manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Velasquez on his heels. He'll look to pass Velasquez's guard now, I'm sure.

Velasquez has managed to wall walk up one of the corner posts to get back to his feet. Drent is pushing him up against the cage, looking to control the position.
Drent takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Drent has hold of a leg and is looking for a trip takedown. Velasquez avoids it nicely though and we remain in the clinch.
Drent goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Velasquez is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Drent can do to turn this around?

Velasquez gets control of Drent's arms and successfully pulls guard. Velasquez will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
Velasquez is avoiding any damage by keeping wrist control.

Velasquez has his feet on Drent's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.
Velasquez throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Drent just misses with a punch to the body.

Drent gets the takedown into side control.

Velasquez sneaks out the side door and pushes Drent away - he's back to his feet. The crowd show their appreciation for the escape.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Velasquez avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
A counter left hand to the body from Velasquez misses its target.
Drent keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
Drent throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Velasquez's waist but Velasquez gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Drent off to one side.
Drent slaps away a takedown attempt from Velasquez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Velasquez pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Velasquez scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Velasquez is working for a kimura but Drent is defending it quite comfortably.
Velasquez seems to have lost interest with the ground game and is thinking about standing back up.

Velasquez looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Velasquez tries to stand but can't do so whilst Drent controls his leg.

Velasquez is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Drent sees it coming and defends easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.

Drent is defending against the submission attempts here by Velasquez.
Drent wants to control but Velasquez is keeping busy.

Velasquez is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Drent defends it well.
Drent trying to control here.

And that's the end of the fight!
Benton Velasquez showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Velasquez has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yukihiro Shimada scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Benton Velasquez!