PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Alek Mitchell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gabriel Benitez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have really solid chins. Will we see a standup war or will they both decide that a knockout is unlikely and try to win the fight elsewhere?

Mitchell
vs
Benitez

179 cm
21
167 lbs
6 - 5 - 0

180 cm
21
165 lbs
4 - 5 - 0

Good takedowns
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Heavy handed

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 6 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Alek Mitchell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gabriel Benitez!
The judges for this bout are Robert Douchet, Gregory Folan and Steve Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Mitchell lands a jab to Benitez's midsection.
Benitez cracks Mitchell with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Benitez shoots in but Mitchell avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Benitez fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Mitchell on the side of the head.
Benitez throws a wild body kick that Mitchell sees coming a mile off.
Benitez stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from Mitchell.
Benitez is looking to clinch.
Mitchell keeps the fight on the outside.
Benitez getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Benitez tries to clinch there but Mitchell circles away.
Mitchell swings for the body but Benitez moves out of range.
Horrible takedown by Benitez or perhaps it was just good defense by Mitchell which made him look bad.
Benitez takes a step towards his opponent and connects with a left hand, before circling away.

Mitchell scores with a takedown into Benitez's guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Mitchell's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!

Mitchell drops back looking for a leg! Benitez is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Benitez manages to kick Mitchell off! Mitchell jumps back into Benitez's guard.

Mitchell is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mitchell looking to pass the guard.
Benitez wants to get back to his feet but Mitchell is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Mitchell trying to control but Benitez is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Benitez wants to get back to his feet but Mitchell is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Mitchell trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Mitchell controlling from the top position.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up, due to lack of activity on the part of Alek Mitchell.

Mitchell scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Benitez is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Benitez looks gassed!
Benitez prevents Mitchell from improving position.

Mitchell tries for an arm triangle. That looks pretty tight to me. Is this one over!?! Possibly, maybe, no Mitchell has let go of the choke. Obviously it wasn't as tight as we thought!
Benitez is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Mitchell wants to control but Benitez is keeping him busy.
Benitez is putting a lot of effort into getting back to his feet here.
Mitchell trying to control the action but Benitez is working from the bottom.
Benitez wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Mitchell controls the position.
Benitez is trying to buck Mitchell off.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.

Mitchell tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.

Mitchell tries for a kimura but Benitez is defending well.
Mitchell tries to move into full mount but can't pass Benitez's legs.

Mitchell working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Benitez wants to get back to his feet but Mitchell drags him back down.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Alek Mitchell dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Benitez tries to close the distance and clinch but Mitchell swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Mitchell cracks a nice hook into Benitez's ribs.
Benitez misses with a looping right.
Benitez scores with a shot to the body.

Benitez shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Mitchell's guard.
Mitchell has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Benitez stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Mitchell swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Mitchell keeping moving, preventing Benitez from controlling successfully.
Benitez throws a strike but Mitchell rolls with it and manages to sweep. Now he's in guard on top.
Benitez wants to stand and escape but Mitchell is having none of it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mitchell trying to control but Benitez is working from the bottom.
Mitchell slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Benitez wants to stand but Mitchell is controlling the position.

Mitchell drops back looking for a leg! Benitez is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Benitez manages to kick Mitchell off! Mitchell jumps back into Benitez's guard.
Mitchell slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Mitchell trying to control the position from guard on top but Benitez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Mitchell stops Benitez from standing up.

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.
Mitchell trying to control the position from guard on top but Benitez is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Alek Mitchell just wasn't active enough.
Mitchell on the wrong end of a nice hook.
Benitez missing with a left hand there. Mitchell was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Mitchell keeps the fight on the outside.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Benitez, as that shot connected.
Benitez tries to clinch there but Mitchell circles away.
Nice defenses there by Benitez.
Benitez wants to clinch.
Benitez tries to clinch but Mitchell moves out of range.
Gabriel Benitez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benitez moves in looking to clinch but Mitchell pushes him off.
Benitez keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Decent striking displayed by Mitchell there.
Mitchell has his head snapped back a nice jab. A little nod from Mitchell there as he acknowledges the shot.
Mitchell walks into a jab.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benitez throws out a powerful jab.
Benitez tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Mitchell on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Mitchell takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Mitchell misses the shot to the body.
Mitchell works Benitez's body with a nice hook.

Mitchell shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Mitchell prevents Benitez from standing back up.
Mitchell tries to pass the half guard into mount. Benitez knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.

Mitchell is looking for a kimura here.

Mitchell looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Mitchell stops Benitez from getting back to his feet.
Benitez is refusing to be controlled, as Mitchell sits in half guard.

Benitez manages to escape and get back to his feet!
A bone on bone clash there as Benitez blocks the leg kick.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Mitchell.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Benitez throws his opponent off and manages to get back to his feet! Nicely done!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Gabriel Benitez showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's the end of the round. The referee orders the cornermen out of the cage so we can get back down to business. This is the final round!

Mitchell takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Mitchell fakes high and shoots in for a takedown but Benitez avoids it really well and circles away.
Benitez is looking to clinch but Mitchell is avoiding it.

Benitez gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Mitchell won't allow Benitez to get back to his feet.
Mitchell wants to control from the top but Benitez keeps moving.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Mitchell slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Alek Mitchell wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Mitchell fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Benitez tries to clinch but Mitchell is having none of it.
Mitchell throws a big shot that misses.
Benitez fails with a takedown attempt.
Benitez tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in the close the distance. Mitchell manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Benitez tries to clinch up but Mitchell circles away and keeps his distance.
Benitez throws a nice outside leg kick.
Benitez with a poor takedown

and Mitchell counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Benitez!
Mitchell tries to control but Benitez wriggling away.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benitez is looking to get back to his feet - it's going to be hard from this position.
Mitchell controlling from mount.

Mitchell working for a guillotine from mount but Benitez is in no mood to give up.
Benitez's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.
Mitchell wants to take Benitez's back but he can't do it this time.
Benitez is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Mitchell looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
Benitez wants to get back to his feet.
Benitez is squirming around, avoiding Mitchell's attempts to control the action.
You get the feeling that Benitez really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Mitchell working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Mitchell trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
You get the feeling that Benitez really doesn't like being in this position too much.

Mitchell gets to his feet and calls his opponent to stand. Here come the fireworks!
Benitez closes the distance but Mitchell moves to the side

and Mitchell counters with a shoot takedown. Benitez fights it but they end up in guard.
Benitez is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Mitchell is controlling him.
Mitchell stands and throws Benitez's legs to the side, diving into side control.

Mitchell working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

Mitchell is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Benitez is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.

And that's the end of the fight!
Alek Mitchell showed his dominance in that final round.
I think Mitchell 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 Robert Douchet scores the fight 29:28
Judge Gregory Folan scores the fight 29:28
Judge Steve Smith scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Alek Mitchell!