PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a heavyweight kickboxing rules bout between Brian Baker (ranked 17924 p4p, 2240 weight class) and John Bennett (ranked 538 p4p, 250 weight class). Both fighter's entrance songs getting the crowd jumping here.

Baker
vs
Bennett

190 cm
37
220
20 - 14 - 2

187 cm
26
220
15 - 2 - 0

World class boxer
Cardio machine

World class boxer
Good gas tank

Sportivité
KAISER Nutrition - Q160

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 20 - 14 - 2, fighting out of St Petersburg, Brian Baker!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, John Bennett!
The judges for this bout are Aleksandr Martynov, Aleksei Zolotukhin and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Bennett works the jab nicely.
Bennett lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Baker slips a jab and a cross from Bennett.
Baker just misses with a punch to the body.
A low kick lands for Bennett.
Baker takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Bennett lands a glancing blow to the side of Baker's head.
Bennett with a nice cross.
Bennett throws out a powerful jab.
Baker throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Bennett throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bennett paws at his opponent with the jab and then lunges in with a straight, right on the button.

Baker has managed to clinch.
Baker lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Baker blocking some punches.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baker prevents a body shot from Bennett.
Bennett tries to land a knee to the head but Baker blocks with his arms.

Bennett pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Bennett stooping low to avoid any incoming strikes and then lunges in with an uppercut come cross that lands flush.
Baker misses with a body shot.
Bennett moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Bennett dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Donk. Bennett catches Baker right on the button with a cross.
Bennett swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Baker counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Bennett tries to clinch but Baker moves away
and Baker counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Bennett takes a swing at Baker's ribcage but misses.
Baker misses with a hook.

That's two minutes gone in the round.

Bennett gets in close and instigates a clinch.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Bennett scores with a hook to the body.
Bennett connects with a nasty looking knee right to Baker's face.

It looks like Brian Baker has been cut.
Bennett tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Bennett with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Bennett lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Baker or not.
A nice left hand lands by Baker.
A knee to the head by Bennett.
Bennett throws a head punch that misses.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bennett misses with a punch on the inside.
Baker taking a breather.
Bennett tries a knee to the head but Baker blocks it.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Bennett dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Brian Baker's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Bennett moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
Bennett connects with a single shot there.
Baker takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
Bennett takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
Baker gets cracked with a nice right hand there by Bennett.
Bennett throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Baker on the side of the head.
Baker defending well as Bennett loads up on a big left hand.
Bennett misses with an uppercut. Baker saw that one coming.
It looked like Baker was trying to counter with a body shot coming off that last attack from Bennett.
Baker takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.
Some bone on bone action there as Baker checks a low kick. Luckily it wasn't a particularly hard one.
John Bennett seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Baker on the wrong end of an overhand right that came out of nowhere.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Baker misses with a right hand
and Bennett counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
Baker lands a really nice looking cross but Bennett seems unphased.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Baker drops his hands momentarily and Bennett takes advantage with a crisp shot to the head.
Baker walks into a stiff left hand from Bennett.
Bennett lands with a good body shot.
Baker walks straight into an uppercut. Luckily it didn't land flush.
Bennett lands a glancing blow to the side of Baker's head.
Bennett misses with a wild body shot.
Baker throwing a counter right hand but Bennett manages to avoid it.
Bennett has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Nice jab there from Bennett.
Bennett with a jab.
Bennett scores with a punch to the head.
Bennett scores with a sloppy right hand. Baker should have avoided that one.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Bennett lands a nice shot to the body.
Bennett keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A combination from Bennett does no damage.
Baker throws a counter high kick but Bennett was just alert enough to avoid it.
Baker misses the jab.
Bennett looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Bennett swings for the body but Baker moves out of range.
Baker is looking to counter punch.
A jab from Bennett does it's job there.
Jab by Bennett.
Bennett lands with a hook. Baker tried to avoid it but it clipped the top of his head.
Bennett throws a shot to the body.
Bennett throws a series of punches but Baker moves out of range.
Baker was looking to counter that move with a punch but didn't quite pull the trigger.
Baker looks like he's developed a pretty tasty lump over his left eye. He'll need to avoid taking much more damage to that.
A swing and a miss from Bennett.
Baker appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
John Bennett seems to be getting the better of the standup.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Bennett lands a head shot.
Bennett darts in and out, connecting with a jab.
Bennett scores with a leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Bennett showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The cut man is working on Brian Baker's cut.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Bennett misses with a kick to the body
and Baker counters with a lovely straight right hand!

It looks like John Bennett has been cut.
Baker misses with a straight right.
Bennett looked like he wanted to counter with a punch but didn't throw it.
Bennett lands a lovely overhand right.
Bennett scores with a decent looking hook.
Baker lands a jab to Bennett's midsection.
Brian Baker has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Bennett looks to score with a jab to the body but Baker is just out of range.
Bennett lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.
Bennett slips a jab and a cross from Baker.
Bennett slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.

Bennett clinches up against the ropes.
Baker tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Bennett's elbow.
Baker doesn't land with the attempted body shot.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
A body shot lands from Bennett.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Bennett escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Baker tries to move into range but Bennett moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Bennett blocks a head kick by Baker.
A jab lands there for Bennett.
A low kick from Bennett misses
and Baker connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Bennett rushes Baker and presses him up against the ropes.
Bennett putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Baker in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
Baker leaning his opponent against the ropes.

Baker's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Baker is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Bennett.
Baker takes a hook to the side of the head. I wonder if that's got his ears ringing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
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!
Baker swings and misses with a hook to the body.
John Bennett is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Baker throws an overhand right that lands on Bennett's shoulder, as Bennett tries to avoid the shot.
Sloppy strikes from Bennett. Those never looked like landing.
Nice jab there from Bennett.
Jab, jab by Bennett - just one landing.
Bennett connects with a crisp jab.
A jab from Bennett does it's job there.
Bennett misses with a head kick.
Baker gets cracked there but stands up to it.
Bennett works his jab well there, keeping his opponent at a distance.
Bennett jabs at Baker's body.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Jab by Bennett.

And that's the end of the fight!
John Bennett comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Bennett 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 Aleksandr Martynov scores the fight for John Bennett!
Judge Aleksei Zolotukhin scores the fight for John Bennett!
Judge Illya Tyunina scores the fight for John Bennett!

John Bennett wins by unanimous decision!
John Bennett thanked the fans post fight for their support.