PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Xhek Roci (ranked 3142 p4p, 3511 weight class) and Roy Bender (ranked 214 p4p, 226 weight class). Xhek Roci had real problems making weight for this fight. After initially coming in at 136.9lbs, he had two hours to make the official fight weight. He made it but it will have taken a lot out of him to cut those extra few pounds. Xhek Roci looks tired to me. Hopefully he has got enough gas left in the tank to put in a good performance.

Roci
vs
Bender

174 cm
25
145
2 - 0 - 0

170 cm
19
135
2 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Big right hand

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 2 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 Hilo, Xhek Roci!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Los Angeles, Roy Bender!
The judges for this bout are Dean Styles, Lou da Vinci and Reed Andrews.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Roci clinches up against the ropes.

Roci escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.

Roci takes the fight into the clinch.
Bender working aggressively here.
Roci tries to pull guard but Bender holds him up against the ropes and eventually Roci drops back down to his feet.
Roci fails to pull the fight into his guard.
Roci definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Bender tries to break free but Roci pushes him back against the ropes.
Bender throws a head punch that misses.
Bender lands with a right to the head.
Bender tries to throw a body punch but Roci avoids it by throwing Bender back against the ropes.
Roci tries to pull guard but Bender forces him back to his feet, against the ropes.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Xhek Roci. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Roci keeps control of Bender as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Roci tries to pull guard but Bender won't allow it.
Roci jumps guard but Bender turns him against the ropes and keeps the fight standing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bender tries to break the clinch but Roci is controlling the position.
Bender looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Bender working hard to break the clinch.
Bender digs a right hand underneath Roci's ribcage. Roci let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Roci is breathing heavily.
Bender throws a punch but it's blocked by Roci.
Bender can't find room to land a body shot as Roci controls the action.
Bender wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Roci has him pressed against the ropes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Roci displaying some good clinch control by pressing Bender up against the ropes.
Roci blocks an uppercut.
Bender misses with a body punch.
Bender tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Roci's elbow.
Roci swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Bender misses with the head strike.
An uppercut to the body lands inside from Bender.
Bender tries a body shot but Roci blocks it.
Bender misses with the head strike.
Roci tries to work over Bender's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Bender gets through Roci's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Roci has Bender pressed against the ropes, preventing Bender from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Roci swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Roci is trying to pull guard but Bender turns him against the ropes and we stay in the clinch.
Roci is trying to pull guard but Bender has him pressed against the ropes.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Bender has Roci pressed against the ropes, preventing Roci from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Roci blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Bender has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Roci seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Bender can turn it around.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bender is working Roci over against the ropes.
Roci has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Bender has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Bender lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.

Bender manages to break the clinch.
Roci is looking to clinch.

Roci darts in and clinches Bender up against the ropes.
A short right from Roci.
Bender lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Roci swings wildly with an uppercut but Bender uses good head movement to avoid it.
Bender misses with a body punch.
Bender misses with a punch to the body.
Roci misses with a short punch on the inside.
Bender tries to throw a body punch but Roci avoids it by throwing Bender back against the ropes.
Bender has a couple of punches blocked by Roci.
Bender wants to break free but Roci has control.
Roci misses with the head strike.
Bender prevents a body shot from Roci.
Bender fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Roci is trying to break the clinch but Bender is controlling him.
Roci tries to pull guard but Bender holds him up against the ropes and eventually Roci drops back down to his feet.
Bender throws a head punch that misses.
Bender blocks an elbow strike.
Bender tries to circle away but Roci has him pinned against the ropes.
Bender misses with a punch on the inside.
Bender lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Bender is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the ropes.
A shot in the inside from Bender.
Still in the clinch, Bender scores with a nice short uppercut.
Bender lands with a short shot to the head.
Bender lands on the inside with an uppercut.
A head punch on the inside from Bender fails to land.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Bender tries a body shot but Roci blocks it.

Roci pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Roci tries to clinch there but Bender circles away.
Bender let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Roci is looking to clinch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Roci fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bender let fly with a counter punch to the body but it didn't land.
Roci tries to close the distance and clinch but Bender swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
As Roci backs off Bender throws a huge counter combo but Roci manages to avoid it all.
Roci tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Bender counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Bender keeps the fight on the outside.
Bender now looks to counter with a shot at the body.
Roci moves to clinch but Bender breaks away
and Bender counters with a straight right hand.

Roci is rocked!
Bender keeps the fight on the outside.
Oh Roci is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Roci tries to clinch but Bender moves out of range.
Bender appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Roci tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Bender makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Roci seems to have got his legs back now.

That's five minutes gone in the round.
Roci wants to clinch but Bender slips to the side
and Bender scores with a counter punch that sends Roci to the canvas! Bender smells blood - he's punishing Roci with more strikes and the ref has stopped it! Roci has no idea where he is - he's tackled the ref... oh dear, poor guy, the crowd is in hysterics!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 5:09 of round 1, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Roy Bender!