PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Jose Aldo (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Benjamin Benson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Aldo comes to the cage accompanied by UFC - Face the Pain. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Aldo
vs
Benson

171 cm
26
145 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

180 cm
20
165 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Jose Aldo!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Benjamin Benson!
The judges for this bout are Matti Vanhoillinen, Marco Blurström and Ben Zyskovitsi.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
A looping hook to the body misses from Benson. Aldo does a little dance to reset his feet.

Aldo drives through and clinches with Benson against the cage.
Aldo lands with a short shot to the head.
Benson wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Aldo has him pressed against the cage.

Benson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Aldo lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

It looks like Benjamin Benson has been cut.
Benson takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Benson throws a head kick that misses.
A telegraphed right hand from Aldo misses the target.

Aldo clinches with his opponent.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Benson has had enough of the clinch but Aldo keeps him there for the moment.
Benson wants to break free but Aldo has control.

Aldo pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Aldo tries to clinch up but Benson circles away and keeps his distance.
Good exchange - Aldo coming out on top.
Aldo throws a low kick, looking for Benson's leg but Benson calmly moves out of range.
Benson avoids a punch combination nicely.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo misses with a double jab.
Aldo fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
Benson lands a vicious shot with the stealth of a sniper and the strength of a viper. Are vipers that strong? I can think of lots of things that are stronger than a viper - not many rhyme with sniper though.
Aldo throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Benson.
Aldo punishes Benson's body with a nice straight punch.
Some wild striking there from Aldo.
Aldo throws a left and a right that both miss
and Benson counters with a series of strikes. Aldo will be more careful next time no doubt.
Benson swats away the attempt to clinch by Aldo.
Aldo cracks a nice hook into Benson's ribs.
Benson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Aldo is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Aldo fails to land with the punch combination there - jab, cross, hook, miss, miss, miss.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Nice shot by Aldo.
Benson cracks Aldo with a right hand to the side of the head.
Aldo misses with a combination
and Benson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Aldo throws a right hand that misses
letting Benson counter with a right hand.
Aldo gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Aldo connects with a lovely right hand, straight down the pipe.
Benson defending well as Aldo loads up on a big left hand.
Aldo clobbers Benson with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Benson lands with a kick to the temple. Aldo shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"
Aldo misses with a hook. Benson ducked under it nicely.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Aldo throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Benson counters with a straight right hand.
Benson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Benson takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Aldo is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Aldo lands with an overhand left.
A slapping body kick lands there for Benson.
Benson lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Aldo circles away quickly and effectively.
Benson looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Crunch! Benson slams his shin into Aldo's torso.
Aldo is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Aldo slips a straight right by Benson.
Aldo works over Benson's head and body with a nice combination.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Benson throws a right and a left that both miss.
Benson turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benson throws a head kick but Aldo moves out of range.
Some wild striking there from Aldo.
Aldo throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Benson counters with a nice low kick that buckles Aldo's knee momentarily.
Benson throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Aldo's head.

Aldo fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Benson, pushing him back against the cage.
Benson keeps control of Aldo as he tries to wriggle out of the double underhooks.
Benson can't break the clinch.
Aldo is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.

Benson breaks from the clinch.
Benson misses with a double jab.
The crowd are going absolutely nuts as the round comes to an end - what a fantastic round of action!
Benson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Aldo swinging wildly here.
Aldo misses with a hook.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jose Aldo dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Benjamin Benson's cut.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business.

A combination from Aldo does no damage.
Jose Aldo is winning the standup battle so far.
A punch combination from Aldo misses.
Aldo tries to bum rush Benson with a series of wild strikes but Benson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Aldo swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Aldo throws a right and a left that Benson avoids nicely.

Aldo has closed the distance and engaged Benson in a clinch.
It really doesn't seem like the step up in weight is hurting Aldo here at all. He's more than holding his own against the bigger man.
Aldo wants to break the clinch but can't.
Benson has had enough of the clinch but Aldo keeps him there for the moment.

Aldo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Aldo tries to close the distance and clinch up but Benson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Aldo misses with the combination.
Aldo on the wrong end of a kick to the body.
A looping hook to the body misses from Benson. Aldo does a little dance to reset his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo misses with an uppercut
and Benson counters with a good, hard body kick but Aldo shrugs it off.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Benson misses with a combination
and Aldo connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Aldo sizes up Benson with a pawing jab and scores with a straight right down the middle.
Aldo takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Benson connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Aldo's hands.
Benson showing good head movement there, avoiding the strikes from Aldo.
Benson has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Aldo is looking to clinch but Benson is avoiding it.
Aldo misses with a lunging right hand
and Benson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Aldo blocks a head kick by Benson.
Aldo misses with a two punch combination.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A telegraphed right hand from Aldo misses the target.
Benson swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Jose Aldo seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benson jabs away that one connects to the head of his opponent.
Aldo falls off balance throwing a combination
and Benson counters with a right hand to the body.
Aldo thows a body shot but no joy.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Benson goes for a high kick. It partially lands.
Jose Aldo is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Benson throws a half hearted mid kick.
Benson lands a front kick.
A big right from Aldo misses.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Benson.
Benson drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benson throws a quick head kick that skims the top of Aldo's head.
Aldo uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Aldo walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Benson checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.

Aldo rushes Benson and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
Aldo has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.

Aldo escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Benson throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Aldo misses with a series of wild punches.
Aldo throws a series of punches but Benson moves out of range.
Benson dodges the punch combination from Aldo.
Benson throws a head kick that misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Benson counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Aldo throws a nice looking combination but Benson bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Benson throws a series of strikes that have Aldo backpedaling.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Aldo throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Benson counters with a nice uppercut.
Benson scores with a nice looking left hook and follows it up with an uppercut!

Aldo is rocked!
A slow jab from Aldo misses its intended target.
Benson tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Aldo was well out of range. Poor timing from Benson.
Jab from Benson.
Oh Aldo is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Aldo throws a body punch but Benson moves out of range.
Benson lands with a thumping leg kick.
Aldo seems to have got his legs back now.
Aldo tries to bum rush Benson with a series of wild strikes but Benson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Benjamin Benson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Benjamin Benson's cut.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action. This is the final round!

The fighters circling - Aldo throws out the jab but it was never going to land.
Aldo ducks down and throws a hook to the body.
Aldo connects with a single shot there.
Aldo misses with a body shot.
A punch combination from Aldo misses.
Benson pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Aldo rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Benson counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Aldo missing with a left hand there. Benson was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Benson uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Aldo.
Aldo misses with the combination.
Benson checks the leg kick nicely there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Aldo has his head slapped from side to side by a 3 punch combination. That must have hurt him.
Benson misses with a series of wild punches.
A lazy left from Aldo finds it's target.
Benson throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Aldo misses with a body shot.
A combination from Aldo does no damage.
Aldo throws a series of punches but Benson moves out of range.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Benson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Aldo.
Benson takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Aldo tries to clinch up.
Aldo stalks Benson and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Benson's face. Benson staggers backwards, shaken.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Aldo takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Aldo tried to score with a low kick but Benson checks it.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Aldo thows a left - swing and a miss!
A punch combination from Benson misses.
Aldo misses with a looping left.
No joy there for Aldo, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Aldo works the jab nicely.
Benson misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Aldo misses with a left hand
enabling Benson to counter with a crisp jab.
Benson tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Aldo, as that shot connected.
A telegraphed right hand from Aldo misses the target.
Aldo misses with a double jab
and Benson connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Aldo staying out of range there.
Aldo missing with a left hand there. Benson was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Aldo throws a hook but Benson blocks it.
Benson tests Aldo's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Benson misses with a body shot.
Benson cracks Aldo with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Aldo has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Aldo there as he acknowledges the shot.
Aldo throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Aldo feints a straight left to the body, then turns around with a flashy move and hits Bensons jaw with a dramatic spinning back fist!
Benson lands a head kick. Aldo smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
A combination from Aldo does no damage.
Benson goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.

Aldo clinches up with Benson and pushes him back against the cage.

Aldo breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Aldo tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Benson was well out of range. Poor timing from Aldo.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Aldo throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Benson counters with a flying knee. Nice.
Aldo swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Benson counters with a nice uppercut.
Benson throws a series of punches but Aldo moves out of range.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Jose Aldo.
I think Aldo has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Marco Blurström scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jose Aldo!