PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Fernandez Bush (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Fringe Benefits (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fringe Benefits has the eye of the tiger tonight.

Bush
vs
Benefits

193 cm
24
203 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

192 cm
25
212 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Solid boxing
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Good kicks
Determined

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the light heavyweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Fernandez Bush!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Sydney, Fringe Benefits!
The judges for this bout are Chris Dean, Hugh Johnson and Ron Honeybunn.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benefits tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Benefits stuffs the takedown attempt from Bush. Bush gets slowly back to his feet.
Benefits throws a combination that misses
and Bush counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Fringe Benefits seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benefits defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Bush.
Benefits looks for a takedown here. Will he get it? Bush is fending him off so far but Benefits persists. Nope, Bush circles away and we're back to standing.
Benefits has been working on his striking defense in training and it's paying off as Bush is landing a low percentage of strikes.
Benefits tries for a takedown but Bush sees it coming a mile off and avoids it easily.
Bush throws a looping left and ducks down for a takedown. He's got his arms around Benefits's waist but Benefits gets an underhook and avoids the takedown by throwing Bush off to one side.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fernandez Bush. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Bush dives in for a single leg takedown but Benefits sprawls and the fighters end up clinched against the cage.
Benefits throws a sloppy head kick and Bush moves out of range easily.
Bush misses with a takedown attempt - Benefits sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Benefits lands a slapping body shot.
Bush changes levels and looks for a double leg takedown. Benefits tries to avoid it but Bush manages to keep hold of a leg and drag Benefits to the ground. Benefits escapes though and pops straight back up to his feet.
Bush takes a step back and watches a body kick go sailing past his mid section.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benefits looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Benefits fails in his attempt to clinch.
Bush swings and misses with a hook to the body.
Benefits throws a counter combo.
Benefits goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Benefits fails with an attempt to clinch.
Benefits lands a jab followed by a nice looking cross.
Benefits misses with a two punch combination.
Bush throwing a counter right hand but Benefits manages to avoid it.
Benefits looks winded!
Bush avoids the head kick by Benefits.

Bush moves into the clinch.

Bush drags the fight down to the ground.

Bush throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Bush tries to strike from the bottom.

Bush is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Benefits defends well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bush is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.
Bush has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Benefits in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Bush has control of Benefits's left arm, preventing Benefits from doing any damage.
Bush continues to stall.
Benefits throwing strikes from guard but Bush blocks nicely.
Bush controlling Benefits's posture.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.
Benefits shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Bush sprawls well. Bush wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Benefits gets slowly back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Bush has managed to clinch.
Bush tries to break free but Benefits pushes him back against the cage.
Benefits is trying to work out of this bad position, with his back against the cage.
Bush lands a nice uppercut.
Benefits wants to get back to striking at distance but Bush won't allow it.
Benefits looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Bush wants to take the fight to the mat but Benefits manages to get underhooks and keep the fight in the clinch.
Benefits misses with a short punch on the inside.

Bush jumps guard.
Bush looking to control the pace of the fight rather than finish it.
Bush bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Benefits's guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benefits can't do much from the bottom at the moment, as Bush controls the pace.
Benefits preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
Bush is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Bush in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Bush stays in close to Benefits's body and controls the position.
Bush missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
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 Fernandez Bush will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action!

Bush fails with a takedown attempt.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Benefits throws a solid leg kick but Bush takes the impact on his shin and smiles at Benefits.
Benefits swinging wildly here.
Bush closes this distance looking for a takedown but Benefits circles away.
Benefits misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.

Bush clinches up with Benefits and pushes him back against the cage.
Benefits can't break the clinch.
Benefits tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Bush avoids it.
Benefits wants to strike at distance but he can't break free of the clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Benefits connects with a knee to the head.

It looks like Fernandez Bush has been cut.
Benefits wants to get back to striking at distance but Bush won't allow it.
Benefits can't break the clinch.
Benefits lands a short shot on the inside that snaps the head of Bush backwards.

Bush manages to pull guard. Let's see whether he can land a sub off his back.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A real slowdown in the pace of the fight for a moment, as Bush holds on and takes a little breather.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Bush is on top in guard.

Bush throwing strikes but missing.
Benefits being controlled here, momentarily.
Benefits is looking to get back to his feet but can't, whilst Bush is controlling him.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Bush passes Benefits's left leg - he's now in half guard.
Bush is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Bush seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Benefits for as long as he can get away with.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bush passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Benefits!
Bush controlling the pace for now.
Bush misses with a head shot.
Benefits blocking the ground and pound.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Bush content just to control the position here.
Bush punching from mount but Benefits doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Bush looking to control and managing it successfully.
Bush has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Bush looking to ground and pound but Benefits is blocking nicely.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Bush throwing sloppy strikes here. Perhaps if he tightened up his striking from such a dominant position, he'd be able to finish easier.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Fernandez Bush dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Fernandez Bush's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! And we move into the final round!

Bush keeps the fight on the outside.
Nice sprawl there from Benefits as Bush shoots in.
Benefits swings away but doesn't land with a series of punches.
Benefits misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
Bush ducks under a wild hook from Benefits.
Bush throws a quick counter head kick but Benefits was just out of range.
Benefits pulls out of a head kick attempt.
Bush tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Benefits manages to circle out of the way.
Fringe Benefits seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Bush shoots in but Benefits avoids the takedown attempt easily.
Benefits throws a big counter head kick but Bush avoids it with no problem.
Bush will have to do better than that with his takedown attempts.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Fernandez Bush. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Benefits looks to land a combination. Bush sees it coming but can only parry a couple of the shots.

Bush instigates a clinch.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Benefits can't break the clinch.
Bush pushes Benefits back against the cage and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Benefits tries to circle away but Bush has him pinned against the cage.
Benefits tries to break free but Bush pushes him back against the cage.
Benefits takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Benefits misses with an elbow strike.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bush has dropped down and is looking to force the takedown but it's defended by Benefits after a bit of a struggle.
Benefits is trying to break the clinch but Bush is controlling him.
Benefits gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Bush.

Bush manages to pull guard.
Benefits trying to control the position from guard on top but Bush is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Benefits wants to get up but he can't break Bush's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

Bush looking for a guillotine here but Benefits defends easily.
There's a bit of a scramble here and now Bush is on top in guard.

Bush decides he's had enough of playing guard and decides to stand. Come on Benefits, up you get!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Bush throws a sloppy head kick and Benefits moves out of range easily.

Bush fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Benefits, pushing him back against the cage.
Benefits tries to break free but Bush pushes him back against the cage.
Bush is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Benefits pulls him back up using the underhooks.
Bush is leaning against Benefits and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.
Bush has Benefits pressed against the cage, preventing Benefits from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Benefits misses with the head strike.
Benefits has had enough of the clinch and is looking to separate.
Benefits lands a nice knee to the body.
Bush tries for a takedown. No joy.
Benefits struggles to land a body shot inside as Bush controls his hands.
Benefits prevents Bush from breaking the clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Bush changes levels and goes for a takedown here. Benefits fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Benefits tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Bush paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Benefits throws a head kick that half lands.

Bush moves into the clinch.
Benefits landing knees to the head.
Fringe Benefits has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Benefits wants to break the clinch but can't.
Benefits misses with a knee strike.
Bush lands with a light punch inside.
Benefits stops a takedown attempt from Bush.
Benefits has had enough of the clinch but Bush keeps him there for the moment.
Benefits is trying to break the clinch but Bush is controlling him.
Benefits has a couple of punches blocked by Bush.
Benefits working hard to break the clinch.
Benefits looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benefits swings wildly with an uppercut but Bush uses good head movement to avoid it.
Benefits tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Bush avoids it.

Bush's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Benefits misses with a double jab.
Benefits tries to work over Bush's front leg with a kick but Bush checks it.
Benefits tries to close the distance and clinch up but Bush swats him away and circles back towards the center.

Bush has closed the distance and engaged Benefits in a clinch.
Benefits has Bush pressed against the cage, preventing Bush from circling away and getting back to striking at range.
Benefits can't break the clinch.
Bush wants to get back to striking at distance but Benefits won't allow it.
Bush prevents Benefits from breaking the clinch.
A head punch on the inside from Benefits fails to land.
Fernandez Bush is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Benefits has a couple of punches blocked by Bush.

And that's the end of the fight!
Fringe Benefits comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
I think Bush 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 Chris Dean scores the fight 29:29
Judge Hugh Johnson scores the fight 28:29
Judge Ron Honeybunn scores the fight 29:28

The fight is ruled a draw!