PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Jason Cooper (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Chris Benoit (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Cooper's entrance music is 2 Times Terror - Ikävässä paikassa. A fine choice. Benoit has chosen Whatever - Our Lady Peace as his entrance music. Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Cooper
vs
Benoit

190 cm
23
262 lbs
7 - 2 - 0

180 cm
25
234 lbs
8 - 5 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Very strong

BJJ Purple Belt
Counter striker
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Jason Cooper!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 8 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Chris Benoit!
The judges for this bout are Yves DeLean, William Peck and Trevor Gratis.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benoit shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Cooper sprawls well. Cooper wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Benoit gets slowly back to his feet.
Jason Cooper seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

Benoit gets a takedown into half guard.
Cooper is not content to let Benoit control the position.
Cooper has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Benoit is working away from the top position though.

Benoit is trying for a guillotine from the top but the pressure isn't in the right place so Cooper is just riding it out for now. Benoit eventually gives up the hold.
Benoit is thwarting Cooper's attempts to control the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benoit is trying to control. Cooper wants to improve his position but can't escape this time.
Benoit works his foot free and advances to mount.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cooper tries to hold on but Benoit pushes him away.
Cooper on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Cooper tries to get out of the position.
Cooper holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Benoit tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Cooper slips a leg in and gets back to half guard.
Cooper is trying to maintain the position but Benoit is very close to passing his half guard.
Benoit frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooper tries to reverse the position but Benoit maintains control.
Cooper regains half guard.
Cooper has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Benoit is working away from the top position though.
Benoit is looking to take a break and control but Cooper is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Benoit works his foot free and advances to mount.
Cooper wants to hold on but Benoit pushes him away.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooper gets back to half guard.
Cooper moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Cooper trying to control the position.
Benoit throwing strikes but missing.
Benoit wants to control from the top but Cooper keeps moving.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Cooper holds on and takes a little breather.
Cooper wants to sweep but no luck.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Cooper throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Cooper tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Benoit was well out of range. Poor timing from Cooper.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Benoit fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Benoit slips under a jab.
Cooper lands a glancing blow to the side of Benoit's head.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jason Cooper dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Cooper misses with a body shot.

It looks like Chris Benoit has been cut.

Benoit gets a takedown into half guard.
Cooper is not content to let Benoit control the position.
Cooper is trying is best to control the position here.
Benoit is trying to control the action in half guard but Cooper is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Cooper manages to get to full guard.
Cooper wants to sweep here but Benoit controlling him for the moment.
Cooper is working hard here to advance position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benoit trying to control but Cooper is working from the bottom.
Cooper tries to strike from the bottom.
Benoit trying to control but Cooper is working from the bottom.
Benoit slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Sloppy strikes there by Benoit.
Benoit working away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Neither fighter has done anything of merit for a good minute or two here and the crowd are not happy about it.

Neither fighter is doing enough for the referee's liking and he's decided to stand them back up.
Cooper with a body punch. A glancing blow.
Benoit fails with a takedown attempt.
Cooper throws the left hand but Benoit avoids the punch easily.
Cooper loads up on a big right hand but Benoit slips the punch.
Cooper swings for the body but Benoit moves out of range.
Benoit blocks a jab.
Benoit shoots for a double leg takedown but Cooper sprawls well. He's pushed Benoit's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.
Cooper throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Benoit sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Nice defenses there by Benoit.
Cooper throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Cooper misses with a body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooper throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Benoit stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Benoit is breathing heavily.

Cooper forces Benoit back against the cage and clinches.
Cooper pushes Benoit back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Benoit has a body lock and is looking for a takedown. Cooper is bouncing around trying to prevent the takedown and somehow he has indeed managed to stay on his feet.
Jason Cooper has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Chris Benoit.
Cooper lands with a quick shot inside that doesn't really do much damage.
Cooper is leaning against Benoit and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Cooper content to slow the pace in the clinch.
Cooper lands a nice uppercut.
Cooper stalling in the clinch.
A hook to the body from Cooper.
Cooper lands with a light punch inside.
Cooper'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.
Cooper lands with a short head shot on the inside.
Cooper lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Benoit.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Cooper effectively controlling the action here.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Cooper breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Cooper cracks Benoit with an open hand slap.
Cooper ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Benoit moves away.
Cooper cracks Benoit with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
Chris Benoit is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
A thudding body kick lands there by Cooper!
Jason Cooper is winning the standup battle so far.
Cooper lands a nice hook to Benoit's body. Benoit takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.
Cooper throws a body punch but Benoit moves out of range.
Cooper misses with a straight left.
Cooper throws the left hand but Benoit avoids the punch easily.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Benoit takes one to the side of the head.
Cooper cracks Benoit with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.
Cooper scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Jason Cooper dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Chris Benoit's cut.
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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Cooper has managed to clinch.
Cooper taking a breather.

Cooper escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Cooper misses with a wild body shot.
Benoit slips a jab from Cooper.
Benoit shoots in for a double leg but Cooper sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cooper. Benoit does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cooper works Benoit's body with a nice hook.
A big right from Cooper misses.
Cooper throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Benoit sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Nice body punch from Cooper.
Cooper swings for the body but Benoit moves out of range.

Cooper fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Benoit, pushing him back against the cage.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cooper works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Cooper breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Benoit avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Cooper is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Benoit can do to turn this around?
Cooper scores with a nice strike.
A looping hook to the body misses from Cooper. Benoit does a little dance to reset his feet.
Cooper missing with a left hand there. Benoit was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Cooper throws out a loose jab but Benoit uses good head movement to avoid it.
Cooper looks to throw the jab but Benoit is out of range.
Cooper jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Cooper misses with a wild body shot.
Benoit moves out of range as Cooper strikes.
Cooper walks forward and throws out a flicking leg kick. Benoit checks it nicely though, as he moves to the side.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cooper ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Benoit moves away.
Benoit is looking to clinch.
Cooper swings for the body but Benoit moves out of range.
Cooper looks to score with a jab to the body but Benoit is just out of range.
Cooper swings and misses with a hook to the body.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Benoit.
Cooper misses with an uppercut.
Cooper throws a hook but Benoit blocks it.
Benoit avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Benoit shoots for a takedown but Cooper saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Jason Cooper has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Chris Benoit.
Cooper tries to clinch up but Benoit circles away and keeps his distance.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cooper misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Benoit.

Benoit shoots in for a takedown and gets it.

Benoit is trying a forearm choke… I don't think that's going to do much at this level of the game.
Cooper regains full guard. Nicely done.
Cooper looking for a sweep. Not yet Cooper, not yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benoit being controlled here momentarily.
Benoit throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Cooper keeping moving, preventing Benoit from controlling successfully.

Benoit drops back, looking for a kneebar! Cooper looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Cooper looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Cooper!
Chris Benoit has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Jason Cooper is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Benoit is looking to regain half guard here but Cooper keeps moving and retains side control.
Cooper happy to just control the position for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Jason Cooper showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Cooper, 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 Yves DeLean scores the fight 30:26
Judge William Peck scores the fight 30:27
Judge Trevor Gratis scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Jason Cooper!