PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Edmundo Benton (ranked 24326 p4p, 0 weight class) and TJ Tate (ranked 4601 p4p, 0 weight class). Edmundo Benton had a look across the cage there at his opponent. He definitely means business

Benton
vs
Tate

209 cm
19
278 lbs
2 - 4 - 1

196 cm
19
255 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Experienced

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Determined

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 - 4 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Edmundo Benton!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, TJ Tate!
The judges for this bout are Yukihiro Yamamoto, Shirou Masuda and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benton tries for a takedown but Tate sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Tate raises up his leg as if looking to counter with a high kick.
Tate throws a right and a left that Benton avoids nicely.

Tate manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Benton on his heels. He'll look to pass Benton's guard now, I'm sure.
Benton has his hands on Tate's head, controlling the position.
Tate throws a big right hand that misses.
Tate must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.
Tate slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tate in side control, just content to control the action for now.
Benton tries to buck Tate off but Tate is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tate is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Benton is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

Tate wants to work for a kimura but he's foiled early by Benton, who protects the arm well.
Benton is trying to control Tate's posture but Tate avoids it.
Benton is looking to work his way out of this bad position but Tate is controlling him well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Benton can't do much from the bottom here.
Benton takes a nasty elbow to the side of the head.
Check out the look on Tate's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Tate taking a breather here.
Tate's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Benton struggling a bit here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate controls the position.
Let's hope that Tate 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.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.
Tate working away.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.

Tate closes the distance and pushes Benton back into the cage.

Tate manages to break the clinch.
Tate avoids the head kick by Benton.
Benton doesn't manage to clinch there - Tate circles away.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Benton tries to sprawl but Tate drives through with a takedown into half guard.

Benton manages to escape and get back to his feet!

Tate shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Tate showed some decent athleticism there.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Tate uses his free foot to push down on Benton's thigh. Eventually he works his other foot free and he's advanced to mount - this is trouble for Benton.
Tate looking to control and managing it successfully.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
It looks like Tate might be adopting somewhat of a lay and pray gameplan here, which I'm sure won't go down too well with the paying fans in attendance... Or the ring announcers come to think of it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

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

Benton instigates a clinch.
Benton fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Benton taking a breather.
Benton tries a knee to the head but Tate blocks it.

Tate gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.

Benton pushes Tate off for just long enough to get back to his feet. Very athletic spring there.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

The fight moves into the clinch position.

Tate gets control of Benton's arms and successfully pulls guard. Tate will no doubt be looking for submissions off his back.
TJ Tate has got the better of the ground game so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tate bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Benton's guard.

Tate tries to free his leg and advance position but Benton is retaining full guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Benton seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.
Tate stops Benton from standing up.
Tate pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Benton is keeping the position for now.
Tate's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's two 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.
Tate is fighting to break Benton's control of his arms but Benton is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Benton tries to strike from the bottom.
Tate showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
Benton is pulling down on Tate's head. It's preventing any offense from Tate, at least for the moment.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Tate shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Benton manages to create a bit of space in order to work his way back to his feet. Tate keeps hold of his opponent and drives him back against the cage.

Tate breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.

Benton has taken the fight to the clinch.
Benton displaying some good clinch control by pressing Tate up against the cage.
Tate has Benton pressed against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Tate has hold of one of Benton's legs. Benton is fighting the takedown attempt but Tate gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Benton is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Tate trying to control the position from guard on top but Benton is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Tate working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Edmundo Benton will probably get the nod.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. And we move into the final round!

The fight stays on the outside here - Benton looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Tate swats away the attempt to clinch by Benton.
TJ Tate seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benton wants to clinch.
Tate misses with a double jab.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Tate scores with a takedown into Benton's guard.
Tate wanted to stand there but Benton had control of the position.
Tate's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benton is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Tate is stalling in the full guard.

Benton escapes his hips to the side and looks to be working for an armbar. Tate gives him a little smile and shakes his head. No chance.
Tate is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.
Benton seems keen to control rather than go for a submission, at least for now.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Tate moves into the clinch successfully.
Benton digs a right hand underneath Tate's ribcage. Tate let out a lung full of air as it connected.

Tate gets double underhooks and manages to take the fight to the ground.

Benton has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Tate off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
Benton tries to clinch but Tate moves out of range.
Tate fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tate avoids the head kick by Benton.

Tate throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Benton was covering up waiting for the punch and Tate finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Tate takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Tate working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Tate looking to control the position here, rather than advance.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Tate avoids a guillotine attempt easily.

Benton throws his legs up looking to secure a triangle. Oh, that looks pretty tight, I gotta say! Tate escapes and throws Benton's legs to the side, diving into side control!
Tate scores with a couple of short elbows.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Tate scoring with punches from side control.
Tate wants to stand but Benton is controlling his arm.

And that's the end of the fight!
TJ Tate comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Tate has won this one but let's see whether the judges agree with me. 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 Yukihiro Yamamoto scores the fight 27:30
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 28:30
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... TJ Tate!