PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Henson Benderson (ranked 1778 p4p, 1640 weight class) and Tom Thomas (ranked 91 p4p, 84 weight class). Benderson comes to the cage accompanied by The Time is Now. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Benderson
vs
Thomas

168 cm
40
145
29 - 29 - 0

160 cm
38
140
27 - 24 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
KO power

Excellent grappler
World class MT
Good gas tank

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 29 - 29 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Henson Benderson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 27 - 24 - 1, fighting out of London, Tom Thomas!
The judges for this bout are Chris Edwards, Richard Clark and Andrew Berry.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benderson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Thomas throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Benderson on the side of the head.
Thomas uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Benderson.
Thomas misses with a two punch combination.
Benderson throwing a counter right hand but Thomas manages to avoid it.
Thomas throws an overhand right that lands on Benderson's shoulder, as Benderson tries to avoid the shot.
Thomas circles away from the clinch attempt.
Thomas uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Benderson.
Benderson definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Thomas lands a lovely overhand right.
Thomas lands with a thumping leg kick.
Thomas lands a really nice looking cross but Benderson seems unphased.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Nice cross by Thomas.
A slow jab from Thomas misses its intended target.
Thomas blocks a jab.
Thomas is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Benderson with a body shot.
Benderson takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benderson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Thomas throws a jab when Benderson was well out of range.
And Benderson counters with a quick kick to the body but Thomas blocks it.
Thomas doesn't manage to clinch there - Benderson circles away.
Nice uppercut lands for Thomas. That snapped Benderson's head back.
Thomas throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Thomas throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Benderson.
Thomas tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Benderson moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Benderson misses with an uppercut. Thomas saw that one coming.
Thomas misses with a body punch
and Benderson counters with a head kick. That will keep Thomas thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Thomas is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Thomas throws a nice inside leg kick.
Thomas tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benderson swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Thomas! But no joy.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Benderson's head.
Nice straight punches there by Benderson. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Benderson.
Benderson takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Benderson throws a hook but Thomas blocks it.
Benderson misses with a body shot.
Thomas with a hook.
Nice straight punches there by Benderson. You know Roy Jones Jr respects the hands of Benderson.
Benderson misses with a right hand
and Thomas counters with a leg kick.
Thomas throws a lazy uppercut
and Benderson counters with a lovely straight right hand!

Thomas moves into the clinch.
Benderson prevents a body shot from Thomas.
Thomas lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Benderson trying to stall but Thomas improves his position.
Thomas swings wildly with an uppercut but Benderson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Benderson blocking some punches.
Benderson blocks an uppercut.

Thomas escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Benderson moves away from the strike by Thomas.
Benderson scores with a nice head shot.
Good shot there by Thomas.
Benderson staying out of range there.
Nice jab there from Thomas.
Benderson takes a shot to the nose. Hopefully that hasn't broken it.
Thomas is landing a lot of head punches in this opening round! Benderson had better start moving his head a bit unless he wants his face to turn into mush.
Benderson takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Thomas displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Benderson throws out the jab.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Thomas! But no joy.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benderson connects with a crisp jab.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Good standup being displayed there by Thomas as he connects with a hook.
Thomas ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
A cross from Thomas lands.
Thomas misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Benderson.
Benderson misses with a straight left.
A cross from Thomas lands.
Thomas scores with the left hand. Benderson knows he should have avoided that one.
Benderson gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Benderson throws the left hand but Thomas avoids the punch easily.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Thomas! But no joy.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Thomas throws a head kick but Benderson moves out of range.
As Thomas backs away, Benderson returns fire with a leg kick that just misses.

Benderson gets tackled into the cage by Thomas. Thomas maintains the clinch.
Thomas avoiding damage as Benderson throws knees to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Tom Thomas dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Thomas throws a lazy uppercut
and Benderson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Thomas smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Benderson takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Benderson keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Thomas gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Thomas fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
A shot in the inside from Thomas.
Benderson tries a knee to the head but Thomas blocks it.
Thomas lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Benderson backwards.
Benderson scores with a shot to the side of Thomas's head.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Benderson blocking some punches.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Benderson lands a knee to the head.
Thomas doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Thomas tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.

That's one minute gone in the round.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Thomas.
Thomas misses with a hook from the clinch.
Thomas misses with a body punch.
Benderson blocks an uppercut.

Thomas pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Tom Thomas seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benderson misses with a hook
and Thomas counters with a nice body shot.
Benderson misses with an uppercut.
Benderson uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Thomas.
Benderson throwing a counter right hand but Thomas manages to avoid it.
Tom Thomas seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Benderson throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Thomas sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Benderson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Thomas throws a hook but Benderson blocks it.
A little feinted left hand from Benderson on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
Good shot there by Thomas.
Thomas takes a jab on the nose. He smiles like he loves it and keeps coming.
Benderson looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benderson throws a lazy right hand but Thomas sees it coming a mile off and sidesteps it easily.
Thomas throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Thomas throws a hook to the side of Benderson's head but Benderson sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Thomas fakes and then throws a beautiful body shot. Benderson looks a bit winded and takes a step backwards to take a breath.
Benderson lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.
Thomas scores with the left hand. Benderson knows he should have avoided that one.
Thomas connects with the punch.
Thomas cracks Benderson with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Benderson is looking to clinch.
Benderson swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Benderson looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
Thomas lands with a good body shot.
The fight stays on the outside here - Thomas looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Thomas lands with a nice body punch.
Thomas connects with a single shot there.
Thomas bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Benderson's head.
Benderson steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Thomas.
Benderson pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Benderson blocks a jab.
A jab from Thomas does it's job there.
Thomas connects with an inside leg kick.
Thomas's corner calls for a 1-2. Thomas obliges with the 1 part as he scores the single shot and moves back out of range.
Benderson misses with a wild body shot.
Benderson misses with a straight right.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benderson slips a straight right by Thomas.
A quick step to the side and Benderson tries to counter with a shot to the body but it doesn't connect.
Thomas has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Thomas tries to work over Benderson's front leg with a kick but Benderson checks it.
Nice jab there from Thomas.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Thomas throws a jab but it's blocked by Benderson.
Benderson throws a big shot that misses.
Thomas lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Benderson tries to clinch up but Thomas circles away and keeps his distance.
Benderson is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Benderson stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Thomas dips to his left and cracks Benderson with an uppercut!
Thomas throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Thomas avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Thomas dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
And that is the end of the round. The fighters go back to their corners.

Tom Thomas showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Thomas tries to close the distance and clinch but Benderson swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Benderson tries to move into range but Thomas moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Thomas works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Thomas ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Benderson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Thomas keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Thomas listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Thomas throws a nice inside leg kick.
Thomas catches Benderson with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Thomas throws a hook but Benderson blocks it.
Thomas connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.
Benderson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Thomas manages to avoid it.
Thomas tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Benderson was well out of range. Poor timing from Thomas.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Good leg kick by Thomas.
Thomas cracks a nice hook into Benderson's ribs.
Good standup being displayed there by Thomas as he connects with a hook.
Thomas scores with a jab.
Thomas lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Benderson circles away quickly and effectively.
Benderson throwing a counter right hand but Thomas manages to avoid it.
Benderson on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Thomas fakes a jab and throws a low kick but Benderson checks it well.
Benderson misses with a lunging right hand
and Thomas cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Thomas moves out of range as Benderson strikes.
Benderson throws a front kick aimed at Thomas's knee but Thomas avoids it well.
Thomas looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Thomas swings for the body but Benderson moves out of range.
Thomas tries a head kick but it misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benderson smiles there as he lands a nice right hand right on the button.
Benderson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
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!
Benderson misses with a straight left.
Thomas feints and then cracks Benderson's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow Benderson down.
Thomas displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Benderson throws out the jab.
The crowd cheers as Thomas lands an impressive looking overhand right. Benderson doesn't seem phased though.
Thomas connects with a body shot.
Benderson dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Benderson swings widly with a right hand
and Thomas counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Thomas connects with a good right hand that stumbles Benderson. Benderson circles away out of range and recomposes himself.
Benderson takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
Thomas misses with a double jab.
Benderson swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Thomas clinches up with Benderson and pushes him back against the cage.
Thomas has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Benderson seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Thomas can turn it around.
Benderson tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Thomas has a couple of punches blocked by Benderson.
Benderson blocks a body shot from Thomas.
Benderson is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.
Benderson blocking some punches.
Benderson misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Thomas.

Thomas manages to break the clinch.
Benderson throws a nice looking combination but Thomas bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Thomas keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.

Thomas has managed to clinch.
Benderson is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Tom Thomas seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
A head punch on the inside from Thomas fails to land.
Thomas lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Tom Thomas is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A hook to the body from Thomas.
Benderson lands a right hand that snaps the head of Thomas backwards.
With the two fighters working up against the cage, Benderson just misses with a elbow thrown towards Thomas's brow.
Thomas blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Henson Benderson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Thomas lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Benderson backwards.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Benderson throws an elbow but it misses.

Thomas escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Thomas keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

And that's the end of the fight!
Tom Thomas comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Thomas has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Chris Edwards scores the fight 27:30
Judge Richard Clark scores the fight 27:30
Judge Andrew Berry scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Tom Thomas!
After winning the bout, Tom Thomas thanked all his fans and promised he'd do even better in his next fight. The crowd seemed to love his humility.
In defeat, Henson Benderson stepped up to the mic, saying 'Damn...'.