PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Andres Bonifacio (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and TJ Hooke (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Bonifacio
vs
Hooke

225 cm
25
215 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

181 cm
28
211 lbs
4 - 12 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
KO power

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Andres Bonifacio!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 12 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, TJ Hooke!
The judges for this bout are Hirohito Nitta, Kenichi Hosakawa and Shirou Masuda.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hooke swings for the body but Bonifacio moves out of range.
Bonifacio fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bonifacio slips a straight right by Hooke.
Hooke throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Bonifacio.
Hooke slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Some wild striking there from Bonifacio.
Bonifacio takes one to the chin there.
Hooke misses with a two punch combination.
Hooke lands with a shot to the body.
Hooke keeps the fight on the outside.
Hooke misses with a jab, cross combination.
Hooke swinging wildly here.
TJ Hooke seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Hooke falls off balance throwing a combination
letting Bonifacio counter with a right hand.
Hooke swings for the body but Bonifacio moves out of range.
Bonifacio throws a head kick that misses.
Hooke darts in and out, connecting with a jab.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Hooke jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Hooke throws the left hand but Bonifacio avoids the punch easily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Bonifacio looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

Bonifacio has Hooke up against the cage in a clinch.

Bonifacio jumps guard and drags Hooke to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Bonifacio seems keen to control Hooke's posture.
Bonifacio really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.
Hooke prevents Bonifacio from getting back to his feet.
Hooke tries to stand but Bonifacio is controlling from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bonifacio pushes Hooke off and scrambles back to his feet.
Hooke closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Hooke lands a slapping body shot.
Hooke takes a swing at Bonifacio's ribcage but misses.
Hooke misses with the combination.
Hooke looks gassed!
A combination from Hooke does no damage.

Bonifacio closes the distance and clinches.
Hooke wants to get back to striking at distance but Bonifacio won't allow it.
Bonifacio makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bonifacio wants to break free but Hooke has control.
Hooke wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.

Hooke manages to break the clinch.
Bonifacio lands three nice shots there - that looked like it hurt!
TJ Hooke is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Hooke avoids the head kick by Bonifacio.
Bonifacio tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Hooke manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Bonifacio is looking to clinch but Hooke is avoiding it.
Hooke moves into range and throws a combination. A nice jab followed by a hook to the body.
Hooke avoids the head kick by Bonifacio.
Bonifacio looks to land a combination but Hooke avoids it well.
Hooke misses with a combination

and Bonifacio counters with a shoot takedown. Hooke fights it but they end up in guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bonifacio working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Bonifacio postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Bonifacio advances position into side control!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Hooke taking a bit of punishment here - Bonifacio scoring with strikes.
Hooke really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Bonifacio. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Bonifacio content to control the pace. The referee will try and keep them active though.
Bonifacio 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.
Bonifacio landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Hooke is working to avoid the ground and pound but Bonifacio connects with a decent elbow.
Bonifacio lands a decent elbow from side control.

Bonifacio is looking to finish here, going for an Americana. Hooke knows the correct defense though, so he's OK.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Bonifacio lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Hooke down.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Andres Bonifacio 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.

Bonifacio bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Hooke's head backwards.
Hooke throws out a loose jab but Bonifacio uses good head movement to avoid it.
Bonifacio fails in his attempt to clinch.
Hooke avoids a punch combination nicely.
Hooke throws a combination that misses

and Bonifacio counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Hooke being controlled here, momentarily.
Hooke wants to stand but Bonifacio is controlling the position.

Bonifacio gets to his feet. Hooke looking to butt scoot but the ref puts an end to that. On your feet son!
Bonifacio tries to clinch there but Hooke circles away.
Bonifacio looks to land a combination. Hooke sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Bonifacio fails with an attempt to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bonifacio has a takedown stuffed.
Hooke swings for the body but Bonifacio moves out of range.

Bonifacio closes the distance and clinches.
Bonifacio fails to pull guard.
Bonifacio is looking to break free of the clinch but Hooke has double underhooks.

Hooke breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Bonifacio misses with a body kick.
Bonifacio wants to clinch.
Hooke falls off balance throwing a combination

and Bonifacio counters by moving into the clinch. Good anticipation by Bonifacio.

That's two 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.
Hooke wants to break free but Bonifacio has control.
Bonifacio tries to jump guard but he falls flat on his backside. Hooke smiles and moves away.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Andres Bonifacio. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Sloppy strikes from Hooke. Those never looked like landing.
Hooke defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Bonifacio.
Hooke misses with a looping left.
TJ Hooke seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Bonifacio throws a series of punches but Hooke moves out of range.
Hooke lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Bonifacio circles away quickly and effectively.
Hooke fails to land with a series of punches.
Hooke digs a good hook to Bonifacio's body.
Hooke throws a left and a right that both miss
and Bonifacio counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Hooke throws a series of punches but Bonifacio moves out of range.
Bonifacio misses with a few strikes there.
Andres Bonifacio is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Bonifacio shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.
Hooke throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Bonifacio counters with a series of strikes. Hooke will be more careful next time no doubt.
Bonifacio stalks Hooke and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Hooke's face. Hooke staggers backwards, shaken.
Bonifacio is looking to clinch.
Bonifacio will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Hooke swings for the body but Bonifacio moves out of range.
Hooke falls off balance throwing a combination
and Bonifacio counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Hooke misses with a combination

and Bonifacio counters with a takedown into side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bonifacio cracks Hooke with a big right hand but Hooke just smiles back at him and invites him to have another go.
Hooke takes a couple of big shots there - the referee warns him that he has to defend himself better.
Bonifacio prevents Hooke from escaping the position.
Hooke is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.

Bonifacio decides to stand back up. Bonifacio steps back and let's Hooke get back to his feet.
Hooke just misses with a punch to the body.
Hooke is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Bonifacio rather than just go for the knockout.
Hooke closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Hooke dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Hooke throws a hook but Bonifacio blocks it.
Hooke keeps the fight on the outside.
Hooke showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Bonifacio.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Andres Bonifacio dominated that second round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Hooke misses with a jab to the body
and Bonifacio counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Bonifacio lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Hooke circles away quickly and effectively.
Hooke fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Bonifacio manages to avoid it.
Bonifacio fails with an attempt to clinch.
Bonifacio uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Hooke.
Bonifacio is looking to clinch but Hooke is avoiding it.
Bonifacio on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Bonifacio displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Hooke throws out the jab.
Hooke scores with a reasonable looking shot to the body. Bonifacio doesn't seem bothered though.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bonifacio avoids a punch combination nicely.
Bonifacio throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Hooke pushing out the jab but it's not landing.

Bonifacio shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in full mount! That's better than Bonifacio was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bonifacio looking to control and managing it successfully.
Andres Bonifacio overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Hooke tries to buck Bonifacio off but he can't manage it.
Bonifacio tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
BOOM! Bonifacio connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Bonifacio with the ground and pound from mount.
BOOM! Bonifacio connects with a massive shot to the dome!
Bonifacio will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Bonifacio working Hooke over with strikes here.
Hooke is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bonifacio raining down hammerfists from mount.
Hooke is trying to get to the cage to help him get back to his feet.
Bonifacio content just to control the position here.
Hooke tries to buck Bonifacio off but he can't manage it.
Bonifacio wants to control the pace but Hooke is squirming around nicely.
You get the feeling that Hooke really doesn't like being in this position too much.
Bonifacio working the ground and pound effectively.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bonifacio lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.
Bonifacio putting on the heat here with some good ground and pound!
Hooke really wants to buck Bonifacio off and get back to his feet.
Bonifacio lands a big shot there that rocks Hooke but he's holding on and managing to survive for now.
Bonifacio postures up and cracks his opponent a couple of times before moving back into close ground control. Hooke looks a forlorn figure.

Hooke defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Bonifacio.
Bonifacio lands a big elbow.
You get the feeling that Hooke really doesn't like being in this position too much.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bonifacio controlling the pace for now.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

Bonifacio has hold of Hooke's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Hooke manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.
Bonifacio pausing momentarily but resumes with a couple of decent strikes that do a bit of damage.
The referee warns Hooke that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Andres Bonifacio is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Bonifacio lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Hooke hang on?
TJ Hooke has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bonifacio punishing his opponent with strikes.

And that's the end of the fight!
Andres Bonifacio showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Bonifacio, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. 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 Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 30:27
Judge Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Shirou Masuda scores the fight 30:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Andres Bonifacio!