PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight MMA rules bout between Curt Henning (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Matija Balentic (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Henning comes to the cage accompanied by Mr. Perfect. Matija Balentic will no doubt be trying to keep this one on the feet, where he has a distinct advantage.

Henning
vs
Balentic

190 cm
22
250 lbs
3 - 2 - 0

200 cm
22
250 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

Good wrestling
Counter striker
Cuts easily

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Powerful

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 3 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Curt Henning!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Matija Balentic!
The judges for this bout are Paul Aken, Wagner Zegers and Patrick Alders.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Balentic tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Matija Balentic seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Henning blocks a head kick by Balentic.
Henning avoids the head kick by Balentic.

Henning changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Balentic looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Henning landing a few strikes.
Balentic is working hard to escape and get back to his feet. After a battle for position, Henning asserts his dominance and retains side control.
Balentic is using up a lot of energy trying to get back to his feet. Perhaps he should improve his position first.
Henning passes to full mount! That's big trouble for Balentic!
Balentic wants to get back to his feet.
Henning tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Henning breaks from Balentic's wrist control and lands an elbow.
Balentic tries to buck Henning off but he can't manage it.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Balentic looks gassed!
Henning looking to control and managing it successfully.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balentic is trying to stand up.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Henning controlling the position easily from mount.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Curt Henning wasn't doing enough on the ground.
Balentic throws a sloppy head kick

and Henning counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Henning.
Henning is stalling in the full guard.
Henning trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henning slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
Henning is in close to Balentic's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Balentic is looking to stand up but Henning isn't so interested in that idea.

Henning gets to his feet - Balentic follows without any prompting.

A momentary lapse in concentration from Balentic enables Henning to shoot in and score with a neat double leg. Balentic manages to secure a closed guard as the fighters hit the mat.
Henning controls from within his opponent's guard.

Henning stands and steps away. Balentic gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!

Henning closes the distance and clinches.
Henning prevents Balentic from breaking the clinch.
Henning lands a hook that snaps the head of Balentic backwards.

Henning turns his back and goes for a hip toss. It's a bit messy but it gets the job done and Henning manages to end up in side control.
Henning staying calm.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henning lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Balentic down.
Henning controlling the position.
Balentic wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
The referee is asking the fighters to pick up the pace.
Balentic stops Henning from passing to mount.
Henning taking a breather here.

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.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Curt Henning just wasn't active enough.

Henning shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Henning looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Balentic with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Henning takes a deep breath and rests his weight momentarily on top of his opponent, to control the position.
Henning stops Balentic from getting back to his feet.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Henning controlling the action here.
We've had a lack of effective grappling in the last minute or so, which could well see a referee standup.

Henning gets to his feet - back to striking we go!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Curt Henning dominated that round.
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.

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

Henning has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Balentic uses from the top position.
Henning avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
Balentic working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.
Henning preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Henning utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Balentic stands up over Henning, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Henning wants to stand and escape but Balentic is having none of it.
Balentic throws and elbow that misses. Henning uses the momentum to reverse the position. He's now in Balentic's guard. Nice move by Henning!
Henning prevents Balentic from getting back to his feet.
Henning knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Balentic on the ground.
Balentic is breathing heavily.
Henning is just sitting in guard, looking to avoid any submissions.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Balentic wants to get back to his feet but Henning is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Henning controls from within his opponent's guard.

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

Henning darts in and lands a nice takedown into half guard.
Balentic pushes Henning off looking to stand but Henning dives back in and keeps control.
Henning content to control rather than advance.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henning lands with an elbow from half guard - that looked like it hurt.

Henning stands up and beckons Balentic to join him on the feet.
A head kick by Balentic misses

and Henning counters by moving into the clinch.
Henning lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Balentic backwards.

Henning jumps guard and drags Balentic to the mat. He's obviously going to be looking for submissions off his back.
Henning is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Henning on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Henning tries to get out of the position.
Balentic postures up in Henning's guard and throws a big left but Henning blocks it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Balentic in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Balentic throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Henning works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Balentic accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Curt Henning overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Henning is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Balentic missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Henning wants to get back to his feet but Balentic is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Balentic has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Balentic's corner. There ya go! There ya go!

That's four 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.
Balentic throwing strikes but missing.
Henning utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Balentic throws a big right hand that misses.
Henning utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Balentic trying to land body shots but he keeps hitting the mat.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

Henning wriggles free and stands up.
Balentic throws a left and a right that both miss

and Henning counters with a takedown into full mount! That could mean trouble for Balentic!
Balentic tries to buck Henning off but he can't manage it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Curt Henning dominated that second round.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Balentic tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.

Balentic tries to sprawl but Henning drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Balentic is trying to stand.
Well, if Henning is going to just lie there, perhaps we should talk about what we're having for dinner tonight… I'm having a ham and pineapple pizza… Yum. Can't wait.
Balentic looks like he's trying to stand up.
Still in half guard, Henning seems content to control.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Curt Henning just wasn't active enough.
Balentic throws a series of punches but Henning moves out of range.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

Henning has closed the distance and engaged Balentic in a clinch.

Henning is working on a single leg takedown against the cage. Balentic can't fight it off and eventually Henning manages to take the fight to the floor. Balentic looks annoyed but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henning looking to pass the guard.
Henning advances to half guard.
Henning is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Henning is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Balentic can do to turn this around?
Balentic is trying to stand.
Henning content to control rather than advance.
Balentic looks like he's trying to stand up.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Henning in particular looking to stall.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Balentic on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Balentic pushes Henning off looking to stand but Henning dives back in and keeps control.
Neither fighter is being very active at the moment, with Henning in particular looking to stall.

We're going to have a standup here because Curt Henning wasn't active enough for the referee's liking.

Henning is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Balentic's half guard.
Balentic is trying to stand.

Henning decides to stand and escape the position.

Henning looks for a takedown. He's got it. We're now in half guard.
Balentic tries to kick Henning off but Henning keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Henning keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Henning decides he's had enough of the ground and stands up.
Curt Henning is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Henning closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
Balentic is trying to stand up here but Henning is controlling him well.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Henning stalling.
The referee wants the fighters to be more active or he's going to reset them on the feet.
Balentic pushes Henning off looking to stand but Henning dives back in and keeps control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

The ref stands the fighters back up because Curt Henning just wasn't active enough.

Henning closes the distance and clinches.
Balentic wants to break free. God knows he wants to breaaaak freeee.
Henning scores with an uppercut up the middle.

Henning has hold of one of Balentic's legs. Balentic is fighting the takedown attempt but Henning gets the trip and lands the takedown into guard.
Balentic is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Henning stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Balentic swivels though and keeps the full guard.
Balentic wants to stand but Henning is controlling the position.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.

And that's the end of the fight!
Curt Henning showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Henning 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 Paul Aken scores the fight for Curt Henning!
Judge Wagner Zegers scores the fight for Curt Henning!
Judge Patrick Alders scores the fight for Curt Henning!

Curt Henning wins by unanimous decision!