PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Benjamin Benson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dante Melendez (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Benson
vs
Melendez

180 cm
21
171 lbs
4 - 3 - 0

173 cm
22
158 lbs
5 - 4 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Cardio machine

BJJ Blue Belt
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 4 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Helsinki, Benjamin Benson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 5 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Dante Melendez!
The judges for this bout are Roosa Järviläinen, Matti Vanhoillinen and Anni Minnemäki.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Melendez closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Benson moves out of range of the strikes.
Benson on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Benson fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Dante Melendez seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Melendez manages to avoid it.
Melendez misses with an uppercut.
A shot to the body from Melendez misses
and Benson counters with a two punch combo.
Benson stuffs the takedown attempt from Melendez. Melendez gets slowly back to his feet.
Benson on the wrong end of a decent looking cross there.
Benson is moving around nicely and scores here with a single head shot.
Melendez fails miserably with a takedown attempt.
Melendez ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Benson moves away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez lands a right hook to the body.
Melendez pushing out the jab but it's not landing.
Benson is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Melendez.
Benson uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Melendez.
Melendez throws out a loose jab but Benson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Benson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Melendez throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Melendez lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.
Benson does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.
Melendez misses with an uppercut. Benson saw that one coming.
Melendez throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Benson stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Benson moves away from the strike by Melendez.
Benson swings and misses with a hook to the body.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benson takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Melendez loads up on a big right hand but Benson slips the punch.
Melendez blocks a head kick by Benson.
Benson scores with a hook.
Benson throws a head kick that misses.
Melendez throws a hook but Benson avoids it easily.
Melendez getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Benson misses the jab.
Melendez missing with a left hand there. Benson was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Benson slips under a jab.
Melendez throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Benson lets the fists fly and connects with a left straight followed by a right hook.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez lands a two punch combo.
Melendez looks to land a right hand but Benson moved out of range.
Benson ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Melendez swings for the body but Benson moves out of range.
Benson keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Melendez.
Benson jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Melendez takes a swing at Benson's ribcage but misses.
Melendez cracks Benson with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
Melendez fails with a takedown attempt.
Benjamin Benson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dante Melendez.
Melendez throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benson fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Melendez manages to avoid it.
Good standup being displayed there by Melendez as he connects with a hook.
Melendez misses with a looping left.
Melendez misses with a wild body shot.
Melendez shoots in for a double leg but Benson sprawls well. That's going to sap some energy.
Benson ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Melendez moves away.
Good exchange - Benson coming out on top.
Benson misses with a looping left.
Melendez thows a left - swing and a miss!
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Benson digs a good body shot into Melendez's ribs.
Melendez misses the jab.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
A swing and a miss from Melendez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Dante Melendez will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Benson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
Melendez misses with a looping right.
Benson darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Melendez just misses with a punch to the body.
A telegraphed right hand from Benson misses the target.
Melendez blocks a head kick by Benson.
Melendez fails with a takedown attempt.
Benson slaps away a takedown attempt from Melendez, before circling back to the center of the mat.
Benson with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Melendez to score with a decent uppercut.
A looping hook to the body misses from Benson. Melendez does a little dance to reset his feet.
Melendez ducks under a wild hook from Benson.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Melendez connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed Benson momentarily.
Melendez jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Melendez changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Benson tries to avoid it but Melendez manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Benson to the ground. Benson escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Benjamin Benson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dante Melendez.
Benson misses with a body kick.
Melendez misses with a body shot.
Melendez missing with a left hand there. Benson was out of range so wasted energy throwing that one.
Benson throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Melendez misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Benson.
A left lands for Melendez.
Melendez steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Benson.
Benson scores with a crisp jab that stopped Melendez in his tracks.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Melendez swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Benson counters with an inside leg kick.
Benson leaves Melendez with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Melendez misses with a double jab.
Benson displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as Melendez throws out the jab.
Benson avoids the body shot from Melendez.
Benson throws a body punch but Melendez moves out of range.
Benson misses with a wild body shot.
Melendez with a nice cross.
Melendez is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Benson.
A big right from Melendez misses.
Melendez tries to bum rush Benson with a series of wild strikes but Benson uses good footwork to avoid the assault.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez misses with a double jab
and Benson counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Benson swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Melendez staying out of range there.
Benson moves out of range of the strikes.
Benson misses with a hook. Melendez ducked under it nicely.
Melendez misses with a straight right.
Benson takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Benson misses the shot to the body.
Benson ducks under a wild hook from Melendez.
Benson connects nicely with a jab. Noted by the judges no doubt.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melendez misses with an uppercut.

Benson gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
Melendez throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Melendez scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Melendez throwing strikes but missing.
Benson is looking to stand up but Melendez isn't so interested in that idea.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Benson working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Melendez.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Dante Melendez 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!

Melendez has a takedown stuffed.
Benson staying out of range there.
Melendez closes the distance and lands a one-two.
Benson pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Melendez throws a jab when Benson was well out of range.
Melendez shoots for a takedown but Benson saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Benson bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
A big right from Melendez misses.
Benson uses good head movement to avoid the hook from Melendez.
Benson misses with a hook.
Benson uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from Melendez.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benson fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and Melendez has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
Melendez walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
A big right from Melendez misses.
Benson misses the shot to the body.
Benson misses with a jab, cross combination.
Benson lands with an uppercut that bounces Melendez off the cage and back into range.
Benson swinging wildly here.
Melendez throws out a loose jab but Benson uses good head movement to avoid it.
Melendez throws a hook to the side of Benson's head but Benson sees it coming and ducks under it beautifully.
Benson throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Melendez cracks a nice hook into Benson's ribs.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Melendez.
Benjamin Benson has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Dante Melendez.
Melendez looks to throw the jab but Benson is out of range.
Benson takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Benson throws a head kick that misses and slips in the process. He scrambles back to his feet and the fighters circle.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Melendez misses with a right hand
and Benson counters with a head kick. That will keep Melendez thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Benson ducks under a wild hook from Melendez.
Melendez tries for a takedown but Benson sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Melendez checks a leg kick.
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!
A big left from Benson misses.
Melendez keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Melendez tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Benson swivels and escapes.
Benson throws a shot from downtown. Melendez moves away and avoids it.
Melendez lands a glancing blow to the side of Benson's head.
Melendez swings wildly with a right hand that was never going to find it's target.
Melendez misses with a jab, cross combination.
Benjamin Benson is looking to keep the fight on the feet at all costs.
Benson slips a straight right by Melendez.
A punch combination from Benson misses.
Melendez misses with a wild body shot.
Melendez throws a left and a right that both miss
and Benson counters with a good right hand that lands right on the jaw.

Melendez gets a takedown into half guard.
Benson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Melendez.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Melendez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Benson's head.
Melendez thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Benson's head.
Benson knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Melendez on the ground.
Melendez trying to advance position but Benson counters by regaining guard.
Melendez throwing strikes from guard but Benson blocks nicely.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Melendez lands a couple of decent looking shots.

And that's the end of the fight!
Dante Melendez comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Melendez 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 Roosa Järviläinen scores the fight 27:30
Judge Matti Vanhoillinen scores the fight 28:30
Judge Anni Minnemäki scores the fight 27:30

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