PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Henson Benderson (ranked 1895 p4p, 212 weight class) and Rico Cole (ranked 3424 p4p, 333 weight class). Benderson comes to the cage accompanied by The Time is Now. Henson Benderson could well score a knockout today. He has the power to get to Rico Cole's chin.

Benderson
vs
Cole

168 cm
26
148 lbs
11 - 6 - 0

182 cm
25
156 lbs
11 - 5 - 1

Good wrestling
Great elbows
Insanely flexible

Good wrestler
World class MT
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 11 - 6 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Henson Benderson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 11 - 5 - 1, fighting out of London, Rico Cole!
The judges for this bout are Tarja Halkonen, Ben Zyskovitsi and Johanna Lukiainen.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cole walks into a jab.
A head kick misses from Benderson.
Cole throws the kick towards the body but Benderson avoids it.
Benderson bobs and weaves and throws out a fast jab that snaps Cole's head backwards.

Benderson gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.

Cole's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Cole will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Benderson looks to land a right hand but Cole moved out of range.
Cole tries to clinch but Benderson moves out of range.
Benderson has been talking about how he's improved his wrestling in the run up to the fight so let's see if that's enough to sway the balance.
Benderson circles away from the clinch attempt.
Cole stalks Benderson and leaps in with a furious combination of punches. Uppercuts and crosses smash into Benderson's face. Benderson staggers backwards, shaken.
Benderson scores with a nice strike.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Cole bobs and weaves and unloads with a good uppercut.
A slow jab from Cole misses its intended target.
A solid body kick from Cole.
Cole moves to clinch but Benderson breaks away
enabling Benderson to counter with a crisp jab.
Benderson is looking to clinch but Cole is avoiding it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cole with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Benderson to score with a decent uppercut.
Benderson swats away the attempt to clinch by Cole.
Cole goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Cole tries to bum rush Benderson with a series of wild strikes but Benderson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Cole gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Cole throws a series of punches but Benderson avoids them all with ease.
Cole tries to bum rush Benderson with a series of wild strikes but Benderson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Cole lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Benderson feints a jab promting Cole to slip. Benderson then demonstrates his capabilities by jabbing again. Cole slips again and ducks right into an uppercut.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Benderson throws a shot from downtown. Cole moves away and avoids it.
Cole unleashes a big counter combination but Benderson bobs and weaves and avoids any damage.
Cole is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Benderson scores with a sloppy right hand. Cole should have avoided that one.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benderson looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Cole goes to the watering hole and comes back with a big thumbs up from the judges as he scores a three punch combo.
Cole tries to clinch up
and Benderson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Benderson is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
Cole tries to clinch up
and Benderson counters with a nice leg kick.
Benderson scores with a straight right hand, right through his opponent's guard.
Cole lands an overhand right.
Benderson looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Cole falls off balance throwing a combination
and Benderson counters with a straight punch to the midsection.
Cole keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Cole tries to clinch but Benderson moves out of range.
Benderson lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benderson is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Cole.
Benderson throws a head kick that Cole semi-blocks.

Cole is rocked!
Rico Cole seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Cole checks a low kick from Benderson.
Cole is still on wobbly legs! Can Benderson finish him?
Benderson scores with a hook.
Nice defenses there by Cole.
Benderson misses with a low kick.
Cole seems to have recovered his senses.
A jab from Benderson finds it's way through Cole's defenses.
Cole throws a looping overhand right but Benderson ducks down to avoid it.
Cole lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cole tries to clinch but Benderson is having none of it.
Cole ducks under a wild hook from Benderson.
Benderson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Cole manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Benderson has closed the distance and engaged Cole in a clinch.
Benderson can't find room to land a body shot as Cole controls the action.
Benderson lands an elbow inside that Cole shrugs off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A head punch on the inside from Cole fails to land.
Cole lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Cole misses with a punch to the body.
Benderson with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Benderson tries to stall but Cole uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Benderson unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Benderson throws a vicious knee straight up the middle but Cole blocks it with crossed arms.
Come on Benderson - let's have some action - none of this stalling nonsense.
The pace really dropping off here, momentarily.
Benderson prevents a body shot from Cole.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Benderson landing some nice looking knees to the body.

Cole breaks from the clinch.
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 Henson Benderson will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Benderson has taken the fight to the clinch.
Benderson stalling against the cage.
Cole tries to work over Benderson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
A frustrated look appears on Cole's face as he tries to break the clinch.
Benderson tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Cole swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Benderson lands a nice elbow.
Cole has had enough of the clinch but Benderson keeps him there for the moment.
Benderson using the Thai clinch to land knees to the body.
Some stalling of biblical proportions here from Benderson.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cole misses with a hook to the ribs.
Benderson dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.

Cole pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
A head kick misses from Benderson.
Cole tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Benderson paws at him with a jab and circles away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benderson throws the left hand but Cole avoids the punch easily.
Benderson bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of Cole's head.
Rico Cole is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Benderson comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Cole slips under a jab from Benderson.
Benderson scores with a sloppy right hand. Cole should have avoided that one.
Benderson throws a two punch combo that lands nicely.
Benderson takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Benderson swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Cole.
Benderson slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Cole fails to land with a series of punches.

Benderson closes the distance and pushes Cole back into the cage.
Benderson tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
The two fighters are working to gain dominance in the clinch.
Cole doesn't land with the attempted body shot.

Benderson drops Cole with a big knee straight up the middle! Cole is covering up against the cage but manages to escape and gets back to his feet!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benderson dodges the punch combination from Cole.
Cole throws a right hand that Benderson ducks under and follows up with a left that Benderson also avoids with ease.
A lazy left from Benderson finds it's target.
Benderson throws a head kick that misses.
Cole has used his reach advantage pretty well so far tonight.
Cole scores with a head kick.
Good exchange - Benderson coming out on top.
Cole lands with a shot to the body.
Benderson throws a nice inside leg kick.
Cole connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Benderson momentarily.
Cole lands with a kick to the temple. Benderson shrugs as if to say "is that all you've got?"

Benderson is rocked!
Cole looking to land some kicks to the body here.
Henson Benderson is winning the standup battle so far.
A decent looking cross lands there for Benderson.
A nice combination there by Cole.
Oh Benderson is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Benderson throws a hook but Cole avoids it easily.
Cole tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Benderson seems to have got his legs back now.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benderson with a nice looking leg kick. You could hear that one land in a back row.
Cole misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Benderson lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Benderson uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Cole has time to react.
Cole tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
Cole slips under a jab.
Cole avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Cole walks into a straight right hand from Benderson.
Cole throws a series of punches but Benderson moves out of range.
Cole fails in his attempt to clinch.
Cole throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Cole misses with the combination.
Cole avoids the head kick by Benderson.
It seemed like Cole was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Cole moves out of range of the strikes.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benderson circles away from the clinch attempt
and Benderson counters with a lovely straight right hand!
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Benderson thows a left - swing and a miss!
A little jabbing left from Cole on the counter but it doesn't find it's target.
Benderson with a nice cross.

Benderson rushes Cole and pushes him back against the cage in a clinch.
The referee is keeping an eye on Benderson - much more stalling and he will separate the fighters.
Benderson looking to slow down the pace here.
Cole struggles to land a body shot inside as Benderson controls his hands.
Cole tries a body shot but Benderson blocks it.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Benderson using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Cole has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Benderson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Cole can do to turn this around?
Cole lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Benderson.
Benderson stalling in the clinch but Cole improves position.
Henson Benderson has scored more points in the clinch so far.

Cole breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Henson Benderson dominated that second round.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Benderson swats away the attempt to clinch by Cole.

Benderson has closed the distance and engaged Cole in a clinch.
Benderson using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Cole has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Cole managing to block the knees to the body from Benderson.
Cole tries to work over Benderson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cole has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Cole tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Cole wants to break the clinch but can't.
Benderson blocks an uppercut.
Cole pushes Benderson back against the cage and unloads with a body punch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Cole misses with a body punch.
Cole taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Cole tries to work over Benderson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cole lands a right hand that snaps the head of Benderson backwards.
Benderson lands a body punch in the clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cole misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Cole doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Cole goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Benderson blocks a body shot from Cole.
Cole is trying to break the clinch but Benderson has him pressed against the cage.
Cole has had enough of the clinch but Benderson keeps him there for the moment.
Cole has thrown a lot of knees so far in this fight and we're lead to believe that's something he's been working on the gym prior to this fight.
Benderson content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Cole tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
A real battle for position is taking place between these two warriors.
Benderson prevents a body shot from Cole.

Cole manages to break the clinch.
Benderson lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
Cole is looking to clinch.
Benderson misses with an uppercut. Cole saw that one coming.
Benderson dodges the punch combination from Cole.
A little feinted left hand from Benderson on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Donk. Benderson catches Cole right on the button with a cross.

Benderson rushes Cole and presses him up against the cage.
Cole misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Cole is trying to break free.
Cole lands a nice looking hook to the body, against the cage.
Henson Benderson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cole tries to land a knee to the head but Benderson blocks with his arms.
Benderson lands a nice shot to the body.

Cole breaks from the clinch.

Benderson has Cole up against the cage in a clinch.
Benderson prevents a body shot from Cole.
Benderson blocks an uppercut.
Cole just leaning against Benderson, taking a breather.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cole tries to work over Benderson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cole is trying to break the clinch but Benderson is controlling him.
Cole tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Benderson's elbow.
Cole has Benderson pressed against the cage.
Benderson with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Cole struggles to land a body shot inside as Benderson controls his hands.
Cole tries to throw a body punch but Benderson avoids it by throwing Cole back against the cage.
Cole stalling in the clinch but Benderson improves position.
Cole working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Cole is leaning against Benderson and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Cole tries to throw a body punch but Benderson avoids it by throwing Cole back against the cage.
Cole wants to get back to striking at distance but Benderson won't allow it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benderson blocks a body shot from Cole.
Cole tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Benderson's elbow.
Benderson connects with a nasty looking knee right to Cole's face.
Cole struggles to land a body shot inside as Benderson controls his hands.
Cole tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Benderson's elbow.
Cole has Benderson pressed against the cage.
Rico Cole has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Cole stalling.
Cole tries to throw a body punch but Benderson avoids it by throwing Cole back against the cage.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Cole tries to work over Benderson's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Cole tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Benderson's elbow.
Cole tries a body shot but Benderson blocks it.
Cole misses with a punch to the body.

And that's the end of the fight!
I would just about give that final round to Rico Cole.
Well Benderson has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tarja Halkonen scores the fight 29:28
Judge Ben Zyskovitsi scores the fight 29:28
Judge Johanna Lukiainen scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Henson Benderson!
Henson Benderson very nearly forgot to thank Humanoid Nutrition (160Q for 180$) amongst all the excitement of his win but just as the interview came to a close, he screamed their name. Hopefully he'll get a few nice freebies in the mail as a thank you.