PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Boris Volkonof (ranked 3609 p4p, 168 weight class) and Joseph Benevidez (ranked 5091 p4p, 208 weight class). Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Volkonof
vs
Benevidez

150 cm
25
135 lbs
2 - 0 - 0

169 cm
18
140 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Big heart

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Granite chin

UnderGround Supplements

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 2 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Boris Volkonof!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Joseph Benevidez!
The judges for this bout are Colin Fray, Paul Gruel and Ryoma Takatsuka.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benevidez changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Volkonof tries to avoid it but Benevidez manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Volkonof to the ground. Volkonof escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
It appears Volkonof was looking to counter with a kick there.

Volkonof clinches.
Benevidez looking to slow down the pace here.
Benevidez has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Benevidez pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.

Volkonof has dropped down and is working for a takedown. Benevidez is trying to keep an underhook but Volkonof manages to get the takedown into half guard.
Volkonof takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Volkonof is keen to just control but Benevidez is a slippery customer.
Nice strikes from Volkonof there.
Volkonof not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Volkonof trying to control from half guard but Benevidez is working away.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Volkonof lands a nice short elbow.
Benevidez trying to control here.
Volkonof controlling the pace.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benevidez tries to get to full guard but Volkonof has control of the leg.
Benevidez flails away from the bottom but he's not doing any damage.
Benevidez really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Volkonof. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Volkonof is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Volkonof working Benevidez over with strikes.
Benevidez on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Benevidez is looking to escape.
Still in half guard, Volkonof seems content to control.
Benevidez wants to sweep but Volkonof has passed to side control!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkonof working the head with strikes.
Benevidez is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Benevidez is trying to control Volkonof's posture but Volkonof avoids it.
Volkonof is working Benevidez over with some ground and pound from side control.

Volkonof is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Benevidez knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
Volkonof gets to mount! Benevidez was on the offensive and wasn't defending properly.
Volkonof wants to control the pace but Benevidez is squirming around nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Volkonof looking to finish Benevidez with some ground and pound. This is bad for Benevidez!
Benevidez wants to hold on but Volkonof pushes him away.
BOOM! Volkonof connects with a massive shot to the dome!
BOOM! Volkonof connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Benevidez tries to lock up and control but Volkonof gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Benevidez tries to reverse the position but Volkonof maintains control.
Volkonof controlling from mount.
Volkonof landing strikes from the mount.
Volkonof prevents Benevidez from getting the reversal.
Volkonof landing strikes from the mount and Benevidez is in trouble!
Benevidez wants to hold on but Volkonof pushes him away.
Volkonof is landing with some decent strikes but Benevidez is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Volkonof lands a couple of good shots and Benevidez has given up his back, trying to escape the position!
Benevidez grimaces as he takes a shot to the body.
Volkonof has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Benevidez.
Volkonof lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Benevidez hold on?!
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Benevidez wants to control his opponent's hands but Volkonof gets his hands free.
Oooh a big shot gets through from Volkonof. Many more shots like that and the referee will have to think about stepping in!
Volkonof trying desperately to keep hold of the dominant position.

Volkonof is working really hard to secure the rear naked choke. Benevidez defends successfully for a significant amount of time. Both fighters are looking very determined.
Volkonof really has the hooks in deep now - there seems like no escape for Benevidez.
Benevidez is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Boris Volkonof dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Horrible takedown attempt by Benevidez or perhaps it was just good defense by Volkonof, which made it look bad.
Benevidez fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Benevidez throws a body kick but he was well out of range there.
Volkonof tries to work over Benevidez's front leg with a kick but Benevidez checks it.
Boris Volkonof seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Volkonof shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Volkonof was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Benevidez bucks up and tries to throw Volkonof off but instead Volkonof has got his back!
Volkonof has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Volkonof is landing with strikes from the back.
Benevidez looking very determined here, making life difficult for Volkonof.
Volkonof seems to have improved his submission grappling technique since last time we saw him. Let's see if he can pull off a submission.
Volkonof scores with punches to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Volkonof has his hand under the chin of his opponent looking for the choke. He's nearly got it! This one could be all over! But no, Benevidez has freed his hand and lives to survive another… well, another couple of seconds at least!
The referee is taking a good look at Benevidez as he is on the wrong end of some big shots from Volkonof!
Volkonof punches Benevidez on the ear.
Volkonof lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Volkonof.
Benevidez is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Volkonof.

Volkonof working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.
Volkonof lands a couple of good shots to his opponent's body and a final shot to the head. Good little attack there by Volkonof.
Benevidez looking very determined here, making life difficult for Volkonof.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Volkonof lands with a big left hand that may well have hurt his opponent. Can Benevidez hold on?!

Benevidez is in a bad position with Volkonof working for a choke. Benevidez manages to spin nicely into guard and the danger is over for the moment.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Benevidez wants to stand but Volkonof is controlling his posture from full guard.
Benevidez loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Volkonof pulls Benevidez in close to his closed guard and prevents Benevidez from doing any damage or advancing position.
Volkonof throwing some rather feeble looking strikes off his back.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Volkonof pulls Benevidez in close to prevent any damage.
Benevidez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Volkonof swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Volkonof pulls Benevidez in close to prevent any damage.
Benevidez wants to pass the guard but Volkonof is keeping the position.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Volkonof is on top in guard.

Benevidez controls Volkonof momentarily but Volkonof frees himself.
Volkonof sneaks a leg through and gets to half guard. That was like a knife through butter how easily he passed Benevidez's guard.
Volkonof is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Volkonof is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Volkonof looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Volkonof is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
Volkonof slows the pace down in half guard.
Volkonof trying to advance position but Benevidez counters by regaining guard.
Volkonof trying to control but Benevidez is working from the bottom.
Volkonof controls from within his opponent's guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Boris Volkonof dominated that second round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Benevidez tries to drive through with a takedown attempt but Volkonof defends well and Benevidez ends up having to push Volkonof into the cage where they will battle it out in the clinch.
Volkonof lands with a shot to the body.
Volkonof's corner calls for a 1-2. Volkonof obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Volkonof throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Benevidez stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Volkonof just misses with a punch to the body.
Benevidez shoots in looking for a takedown but Volkonof manages to keep the fight standing, pushing Benevidez's face into the canvas for good measure before circling away.
Volkonof is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Benevidez can do to turn this around?
Benevidez has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Volkonof finds it's way round the side to connect with Benevidez's head.
Volkonof getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Volkonof misses with a wild body shot.

Benevidez tries to keep at a distance but Volkonof has taken the fight into the clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Volkonof - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
A nice right hand lands inside from Volkonof.
Volkonof lands a nice shot to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Benevidez is trying to push Volkonof away but Volkonof has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Benevidez has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Volkonof uses from the top position.
Benevidez takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Volkonof stays in close to Benevidez's body and controls the position.
Volkonof postures up.
Volkonof stands and throws Benevidez's legs to the side, diving into side control.
Volkonof cracks Benevidez with a big right hand but Benevidez just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Volkonof looks up at the clock and then as Benevidez takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Volkonof smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Volkonof connects with a decent looking elbow from side control that caused Benevidez some visible discomfort.

Volkonof is working for what looks like an arm triangle here. Benevidez is trying to escape and Volkonof transitions quickly into an armbar! He's slapped it on tight and Benevidez is forced to tap! Nice work there by Volkonof! Very nice indeed!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:57 of round 3, we have a winner by way of Submission (Armbar). Boris Volkonof!
Boris Volkonof really struggled to get his t-shirt on before his hand was raised. Making sure that UnderGround Supplements logo gets some air time is pretty tricky when you're all sweaty.