PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Ron Paul (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Michael Benoit (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Benoit has chosen Praise as his entrance music. The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Paul
vs
Benoit

172 cm
35
135 lbs
18 - 15 - 0

170 cm
40
140 lbs
34 - 13 - 1

Good wrestling
World class MT
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class boxer
Good gas tank

GREEN!160

Kemists ↑ 5x160Q - $149-199

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 18 - 15 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Ron Paul!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 34 - 13 - 1, fighting out of Montreal, Michael Benoit!
The judges for this bout are Chad Campbell, Steve Montenegro and Russell Pearce.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benoit moves out of range of the body kick.
Benoit throws out a counter right but Paul avoids it with no problem.
Jab, jab by Benoit - just one landing.
Benoit throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Paul sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Benoit chopping away at his opponent's legs.
Paul slips a jab from Benoit.
Paul checks the leg kick.

Benoit gets a clinch.
Paul throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Benoit blocks it with crossed arms.
Paul effectively controlling the action here.
Paul creates a bit of space for himself and sneaks an elbow through Benoit's defenses.
Benoit lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
A head punch on the inside from Benoit fails to land.
Benoit doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Benoit avoids a wild elbow strike from Paul.
Paul lands an elbow inside.
Paul working Benoit over with knees to the body.
I was talking to Paul's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Benoit takes an elbow to the forehead.
Paul throws a knee to the head but misses.
The referee is keeping an eye on Paul - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benoit stalling in the clinch.
A left hand lands to the body for Benoit.
Paul misses with a hook to the ribs.
Paul blocks an uppercut.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Benoit takes a knee to the side of the body.
Benoit misses with the head strike.
Paul misses with a punch to the body.
Benoit throws a blind hook that connects with the side of Pauls head.
Paul crunches a lovely knee into Benoit's ribcage.
Benoit works on Paul's body with a couple of short punches.
Paul is trying to stall.
Paul blocks an uppercut.
Benoit working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Paul throws an elbow that misses.
Benoit scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Paul lands an elbow inside.
Benoit has a couple of punches blocked by Paul.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Benoit avoiding damage as Paul throws knees to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benoit lands a body shot.
Benoit throws a punch but it's blocked by Paul.
Paul tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Benoit has been looking to improve his clinch game in recent weeks. Paul seems to have the measure of him in the clinch so far, so let's see if Benoit can turn it around.

Benoit breaks the clinch.
Benoit misses with a hook. Paul ducked under it nicely.
Benoit scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Benoit fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Paul manages to avoid it.
Paul half commits to a counter takedown before pushing away, out of range.
Benoit fails to land with a series of punches.

Benoit moves into the clinch.
Paul lands an elbow that stopped Benoit in his tracks for a moment.
Benoit misses with a hook from the clinch.
Paul being controlled against the cage.
Paul misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Benoit.
Benoit lands a body shot.
Benoit on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Benoit working aggressively here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benoit tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Benoit lands with a short shot to the head.
Benoit fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Benoit wants to stall.
Paul tries to land a knee to the head but Benoit blocks with his arms.
Benoit lands a nice shot to the body.
A short uppercut from Benoit.
Benoit tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Paul's elbow.
Paul letting Benoit take a breather here.
A short uppercut from Benoit.
Benoit lands with a right to the head.
Benoit tries to work over Paul's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Paul using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Benoit scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Paul misses with an elbow strike.
Paul lands a glancing elbow in the clinch.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Benoit working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Benoit blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Nice body punch from Benoit.
Paul gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Paul missing with knees to the body.
Benoit tries to work over Paul's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A head punch on the inside from Benoit fails to land.
Paul landing knees to the body.
Benoit lands a right hand.
Paul tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Benoit avoids it.
Paul scores a nice knee to the body.
Benoit tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Paul tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Benoit avoids it.
Benoit dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Paul fails to land.
Benoit goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Benoit.
Benoit makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Benoit misses with some punches.
Paul takes a shot to the head.
Benoit looking to slow down the pace here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Benoit dominated that round.
That's time! Paul's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Benoit keeps the fight on the outside.
Paul misses with the body kick
and Benoit counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.
Benoit looks to throw the jab but Paul is out of range.
Benoit has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Benoit blocks the body kick.
Paul moves out of range of the strikes.

Paul tries to keep at a distance but Benoit has taken the fight into the clinch.
Still in the clinch, Benoit scores with a nice short uppercut.
Benoit lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Paul blocks an uppercut.
Benoit throws a head punch that misses.
A body shot lands from Benoit.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
A short right from Benoit.
Paul tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Benoit avoids it.
With the fighters clinched against the cage, Benoit creates a bit of distance for himself and scores with a nice uppercut.
Benoit on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Paul looking to stall.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Benoit.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benoit tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Benoit lands a hook to the side of the head.
Paul taking a breather.
Paul tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Benoit avoids it.
Benoit managing to block the knees to the body from Paul.
Paul blocks a body shot from Benoit.
Benoit lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Paul or not.
Paul throws a head punch that misses.
Benoit working aggressively here.
Paul gets an overhook and lands an elbow to the side of the head.
Benoit misses with a hook from the clinch.
Benoit gets through Paul's defenses to land a nice punch to the side of the head.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Paul missing with knees to the body.
Paul blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Benoit wants to stall.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benoit misses with a short punch on the inside.
Paul controlling the action here for a moment.
A right hand to the body from Benoit.
Both guys are working to get underhooks.
Paul prevents a body shot from Benoit.
Paul misses with some punches.
Benoit avoids the elbow strike from Paul, against the cage.
Paul wants to stall.
Paul blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Paul.
Benoit wants to stall.
Benoit tries to work over Paul's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Benoit goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Benoit throws a punch but it's blocked by Paul.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Paul blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Paul misses with an elbow over the top.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benoit fails to land with a short punch on the inside.
Paul doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Benoit lands a hook to the side of the head.
Paul holding his opponent close, against the cage.
Benoit dodges an elbow strike from Paul.
Benoit working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Both fighters working to control the clinch.
Benoit tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Benoit lands a right hand that snaps the head of Paul backwards.
Benoit misses with a punch on the inside.
Paul is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Benoit is defending well for now.
Benoit tries a body shot but Paul blocks it.
Paul tries to land knees in the clinch but Benoit avoids the damage to the body.
Benoit lands with a light punch inside.
Paul blocking some punches.
Benoit's corner are urging him to control the action in the clinch for a moment, rather than mount any serious offense. I'm sure the crowd appreciate those instructions... not.
Paul crunches a lovely knee into Benoit's ribcage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A short right from Benoit on the inside.
Paul misses with a hook to the ribs.
Paul tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Benoit avoids it.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Benoit on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Benoit.
Paul blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Benoit avoids the elbow strike from Paul, against the cage.
Stalling in the clinch from Benoit.
Michael Benoit seems to be working more effectively in the clinch in the fight so far.
Benoit lands a nice shot to the body.
Paul misses with a hook to the ribs.
Paul throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Benoit trying to control the position but instead, Paul has worked for underhooks and has pushed Benoit into the cage.
Benoit can't find room to land a body shot as Paul controls the action.
Benoit swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Paul throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
Benoit lands a right hand that snaps the head of Paul backwards.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Benoit.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Michael Benoit showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

A swing and a miss from Benoit.
Benoit scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Paul tries to clinch but Benoit moves out of range.
Nice uppercut there from Benoit.
Benoit misses with a hook
and Paul counters with a kick to the head that grazes his opponent. Benoit is lucky that one didn't land flush.
Paul staying out of range there.
A jab lands there for Benoit.
Benoit throws a hook but Paul avoids it easily.
Paul shoots in but no luck this time.
It seemed like Benoit was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Benoit avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Paul throws the kick towards the body but Benoit avoids it.
A swing and a miss from Benoit.
Benoit throws out a leg kick but Paul moves out of range and Benoit only half commits.
A low kick from Benoit misses
and Paul counters with a thumping low kick.
Benoit connects with a looping right hand.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A jab from Benoit misses.
Benoit works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Paul looks for the body kick but Benoit saw that one coming.
Benoit turns his hip over beautifully as he lands a nice leg kick.
Benoit avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Paul fails to land the takedown.
Benoit throws a front kick aimed at Paul's knee but Paul avoids it well.
Paul throws a sloppy head kick and Benoit moves out of range easily.
A big right from Benoit misses.
Benoit with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Michael Benoit is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Paul blocks a jab.
Paul is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Benoit.
Benoit takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.
Paul fails with an attempt to clinch.
Paul tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Benoit manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from Paul.
Benoit throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Paul.
Paul goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Paul has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Benoit finds it's way round the side to connect with Paul's head.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Paul misses with a body kick.
An inside leg kick lands from Paul.
Paul takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
A punch combination from Benoit misses.
Paul tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Benoit manages to circle out of the way.
Paul ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Nice uppercut lands for Benoit. That snapped Paul's head back.
Benoit catches Paul with a nice straight right. He seems pissed - ooooh, it's on now! On like donkey kong!
Benoit just misses with a punch to the body.
Paul walks into a stiff left hand from Benoit.
Paul throws a series of punches but Benoit avoids them all with ease.
Benoit throws out a counter right but Paul avoids it with no problem.
Michael Benoit seems to be getting the better of the standup.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benoit scores with a one two! Paul had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
Benoit works the jab nicely.
Paul moves away from the strike by Benoit.
Michael Benoit seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Paul misses with a looping right.
Paul on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Benoit lands with a cross.
Paul avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Benoit slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
Good exchange - Benoit coming out on top.
Benoit loads up on a big right hand but Paul slips the punch.
Paul tries to bum rush Benoit with a series of wild strikes but Benoit uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Paul throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Benoit.
Benoit is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Paul with a body shot.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Paul blocks a jab.

Benoit closes the distance and clinches.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head punch on the inside from Benoit fails to land.
Benoit works on Paul's body with a couple of short punches.
Paul missing with knees to the body.
A short left from Benoit.
A nice right hand lands inside from Benoit.
Paul throws a nice elbow but it doesn't land.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Benoit.
Ron Paul has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Michael Benoit is fighting for a decision - hopefully he's judged it right and he's actually winning the fight.
Paul with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Paul misses with a body punch.
Paul changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Benoit fights it off and pushes away nicely.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Ron Paul. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Paul looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Benoit fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
Michael Benoit comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Benoit 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 Chad Campbell scores the fight 27:30
Judge Steve Montenegro scores the fight 27:30
Judge Russell Pearce scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Michael Benoit!
Michael Benoit thanked the fans post fight for their support.