PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Benson Henderson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Bobby McBarz (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). McBarz comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Pharrell - How does it feel? kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! Rumors backstage are that the fighters have been paid to keep it standing but we know that would never happen in MMA!

Henderson
vs
McBarz

178 cm
19
179 lbs
3 - 0 - 0

183 cm
22
180 lbs
7 - 8 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 3 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Benson Henderson !
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 8 - 0, fighting out of New York, Bobby McBarz!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Tatsuya Matsuyama.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Henderson lands with a right hand.
Wow, both these guys are really going for it!
McBarz takes a swing at Henderson 's ribcage but misses.
McBarz scores with a nice strike.
McBarz just misses with a punch to the body.
Henderson cracks McBarz with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.

Henderson moves into the clinch.
Henderson working aggressively here.
McBarz blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Henderson working aggressively here.
McBarz blocking some punches.
McBarz's coach down at The Factory was telling us pre-fight that they have been working on McBarz's balance. Obviously they view that as a key factor in the outcome of this fight.
A head punch on the inside from Henderson fails to land.
McBarz is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Henderson is defending well for now.
Henderson working aggressively here.

McBarz escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
McBarz dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
McBarz misses with a straight left.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Henderson wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
McBarz will need to tighten up his combinations if he doesn't want to gas himself out, swinging at thin air.
Henderson has been working on his boxing with his coaches at Bonsai Club MMA in the buildup to the fight.
McBarz misses the shot to the body.
Nice defenses there by Henderson .
Henderson uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by McBarz.
A cross from Henderson lands.
McBarz throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Henderson is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
McBarz misses with a jab and misses with a cross straight after too.
McBarz is throwing a lot of body shots here, looking to wear down Henderson rather than just go for the knockout.
Decent striking displayed by Henderson there.
No joy there for McBarz, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
McBarz drops his hands momentarily and Henderson takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
McBarz waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Henderson .
McBarz scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
McBarz throws a right and a left that both miss.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
McBarz misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Henderson .
Henderson fails with an attempt to clinch.
McBarz swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Henderson counters with a nice uppercut.
The fight stays on the outside here - Henderson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henderson moves away from the strike by McBarz.
Henderson tries to clinch but McBarz is having none of it.
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
Henderson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
McBarz throws a sloppy body shot
and Henderson counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Henderson listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Henderson lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
McBarz throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
McBarz falls off balance throwing a combination
and Henderson makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Henderson cracks McBarz with a nice right hand that draws applause from the crowd.
McBarz jabbing away but nothing is landing.
It looked like Henderson wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
Henderson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Henderson slips a jab and a cross from McBarz.
Henderson is looking for a counter combo.
McBarz throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Henderson on the side of the head.
Henderson tries to clinch up.
McBarz is looking for the big counter here.

Henderson drives through and clinches with McBarz against the cage.
A head punch on the inside from Henderson fails to land.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henderson has a couple of punches blocked by McBarz.
Henderson tries to work over McBarz's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Henderson misses with a hook from the clinch.
Henderson throws a head punch that misses.
Henderson misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Henderson is leaning against McBarz and scores with a nice uppercut to the body.

McBarz breaks from the clinch.

Henderson moves into the clinch.
McBarz blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Henderson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Henderson scores with a shoulder strike.
Henderson misses with a hook from the clinch.
Henderson fails to land with a short punch on the inside.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henderson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Henderson working aggressively here.
Henderson doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
Henderson tries to work over McBarz's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Henderson throws a punch but it's blocked by McBarz.

McBarz breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Henderson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Henderson is really peppering his opponent's head with punches.
McBarz throws a nice looking combination but Henderson bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Henderson tries to clinch but McBarz is having none of it.
McBarz throws a body punch but Henderson moves out of range.

Henderson gets a clinch.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A head punch blocked on the inside by McBarz.
Henderson misses with a short punch on the inside.
Henderson misses with some punches.
Henderson tries to throw a body punch but McBarz avoids it by throwing Henderson back against the cage.
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 Benson Henderson will probably get the nod.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Henderson fails in his attempt to clinch.
Henderson moves into range and connects with a jab.
McBarz swats away the attempt to clinch by Henderson .
McBarz misses with a lunging right hand
and Henderson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
The fight stays on the outside here - Henderson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Henderson slips a jab and a cross from McBarz.
Bobby McBarz seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Henderson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. McBarz manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
McBarz throws a combination but it was largely blocked by Henderson .
Henderson tries to clinch there but McBarz circles away.
McBarz misses with a body punch
and Henderson connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
Henderson moves in looking to clinch but McBarz pushes him off.
It seemed like McBarz was going to counter with the hook but didn't fully commit to it.
Henderson keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from McBarz.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Henderson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
A looping hook to the body misses from McBarz. Henderson does a little dance to reset his feet.

Henderson closes the distance and pushes McBarz back into the cage.
The fighters are going at a pretty good pace and they're both starting to sweat now.
McBarz blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Henderson misses with a short punch on the inside.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henderson misses with a short punch on the inside.

McBarz breaks from the clinch.
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
McBarz throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from McBarz in the fight. On paper you would think he is the more dominant ground fighter so let's see if these unusual tactics pay off.
Henderson avoids the body shot from McBarz.
McBarz misses with a jab, cross combination.
A looping hook to the body misses from McBarz. Henderson does a little dance to reset his feet.
A looping hook to the body misses from McBarz. Henderson does a little dance to reset his feet.
Henderson uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from McBarz.
Henderson keeps his opponent at a distance with a nice jab.
Henderson is really head hunting here, hardly looking to strike to the body at all.
Henderson with a hook.
Bobby McBarz is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
McBarz misses with a wild body shot.
Henderson bobbing and weaving, closes the distance and lands a hook to the side of McBarz's head.
Henderson keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
McBarz throws a right and a left that both miss.
Sloppy strikes from McBarz. Those never looked like landing.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Henderson scores with a shot to the body.
McBarz misses with a double jab
letting Henderson counter with a right hand.
McBarz is breathing heavily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henderson tries to clinch there but McBarz circles away.
Henderson tries to clinch there but McBarz circles away.
McBarz throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
McBarz misses with a two punch combination.
McBarz throws a right and a left that both miss.
Henderson swung with a counter right hand that didn't connect.

Henderson gets a clinch.
A nice right hand lands inside from Henderson .
Henderson has a couple of punches blocked by McBarz.
McBarz blocking some punches.
Henderson working aggressively here.
McBarz blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Henderson swings wildly with an uppercut but McBarz uses good head movement to avoid it.
Henderson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Henderson tried to land a shot to the body but connects with McBarz's elbow.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henderson misses with a hook to the ribs.
Henderson misses with a hook from the clinch.
A head punch blocked on the inside by McBarz.
Henderson lands a left hand that snaps the head of McBarz backwards.
McBarz blocks a couple of punches on the inside.
Henderson tries a body shot but McBarz blocks it.

McBarz breaks from the clinch.
McBarz throws a series of punches but Henderson moves out of range.
McBarz swats away the attempt to clinch by Henderson .
McBarz lands a pitter patter jab to the forehead of his opponent.
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but McBarz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
McBarz fails to land with a series of punches.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch up but McBarz swats him away and circles back towards the center.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
McBarz circles away from the clinch attempt.
McBarz takes an uppercut right on the button but keeps his composure.
Henderson defending well as McBarz loads up on a big left hand.
McBarz circles away from the clinch attempt.
McBarz closes the distance and lands a one-two.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
McBarz misses with a double jab.
McBarz misses with a hook
enabling Henderson to counter with a crisp jab.
Henderson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. McBarz manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
McBarz with poor footwork there. He got himself in a bit of a tangle, enabling Henderson to score with a decent uppercut.
Henderson connects with a right hand. McBarz shakes it off.
Henderson tries to clinch but McBarz moves out of range.
Bobby McBarz seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
McBarz drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
McBarz swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Henderson counters with a stiff right hand.
McBarz swings for the body but Henderson moves out of range.
McBarz throws a left and a right that both miss
and Henderson counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
McBarz looks to land a combination but Henderson avoids it well.
Henderson tries to clinch but McBarz is having none of it.
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
McBarz misses with a wild body shot.
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Benson Henderson will probably get the nod.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

McBarz misses with an uppercut
and Henderson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
McBarz throws a combination that misses
and McBarz takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
McBarz lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Henderson circles away quickly and effectively.
McBarz throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Henderson tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. McBarz manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Henderson is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Henderson is looking to clinch but McBarz is avoiding it.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch but McBarz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Donk. Henderson catches McBarz right on the button with a cross.
McBarz walks straight into a jab right on the nose. That one stung - he's blinking and trying to clear his head.
A punch combination from McBarz misses.
Henderson moves in looking to clinch but McBarz pushes him off.
Henderson shuffles to his left behind two crisp jabs. McBarz eats them both and turns towards Henderson to reposition himself and eats a stinging right hand-left hook combo.
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!
McBarz jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Henderson wants to clinch up but McBarz keeps it at a distance.
Henderson fails in his attempt to clinch.
Henderson uses good footwork to avoid the strikes from McBarz.
Henderson tries to clinch there but McBarz circles away.
McBarz throws out a counter right but Henderson avoids it with no problem.
Henderson wants to clinch.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Henderson slips under a jab.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch up but McBarz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
McBarz throws a right and a left that both miss.
McBarz misses with a few strikes there.
McBarz takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
Henderson wants to clinch.
McBarz throws out a loose jab but Henderson uses good head movement to avoid it.
A little feinted left hand from Henderson on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
McBarz has a pretty nasty looking mouse under his right eye.
Henderson connects with a looping left hand that seems like it dazed McBarz momentarily.
The fight stays on the outside here - Henderson looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Henderson takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but McBarz paws at him with a jab and circles away.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from McBarz! But no joy.
Henderson takes a jab right on the nose. That must have hurt but he shrugs his shoulders and looks to return the favor.
Henderson wants to clinch.
Despite the aggression on McBarz's face he doesn't fully commit to the counter.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Henderson tries to clinch but McBarz moves out of range.
McBarz circles away from the clinch attempt.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch but McBarz swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
McBarz keeps the fight on the outside.
McBarz dodges the punch combination from Henderson .
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch up but McBarz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
McBarz misses with a wild combination.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
McBarz takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Henderson slips a jab and a cross from McBarz.
McBarz avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Henderson tries to clinch up but McBarz circles away and keeps his distance.
Henderson lands with an uppercut that bounces McBarz off the cage and back into range.

Henderson moves into the clinch.
Nice body punch from Henderson .
Henderson struggles to land a body shot inside as McBarz controls his hands.
Henderson working aggressively here.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Henderson scores with a shoulder strike.
Henderson lands punches inside but they're not really causing much damage.
McBarz blocking some punches.
Bobby McBarz has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
A head punch blocked on the inside by McBarz.
Henderson throws a head punch that misses.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Henderson .

McBarz breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
McBarz throws a series of punches but Henderson avoids them all with ease.
A little feinted left hand from Henderson on the counter but he doesn't commit to it.
McBarz rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Henderson moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Henderson tries to close the distance and clinch up but McBarz swats him away and circles back towards the center.
McBarz lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
McBarz misses with a wild combination.
McBarz misses the shot to the body.
Some wild striking there from McBarz.
Henderson is looking to counter punch.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Henderson wants to clinch up but McBarz keeps it at a distance.
McBarz lets it all go there with a big combo counter but none of the punches connected.
McBarz falls off balance throwing a combination
and Henderson counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Henderson is looking to clinch but McBarz is avoiding it.
McBarz swats away the attempt to clinch by Henderson .
McBarz throws a jab, cross combination which is slipped
and Henderson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
McBarz is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Henderson scores with a jab to the head.
Nice shot lands for Henderson .
Henderson tries to clinch up.
Henderson doesn't manage to clinch there - McBarz circles away.
McBarz throws a predictable looking body shot
and Henderson counters with a straight right hand.
McBarz misses with a combination
and Henderson counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
McBarz misses with a right hand
and Henderson counters with a stiff right hand.
McBarz misses with a double jab
and Henderson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Henderson fails with an attempt to clinch.

And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Benson Henderson .
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Henderson , 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 30:27
Judge Tatsuya Matsuyama scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Benson Henderson !
Our winner, Benson Henderson , made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.