PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Massimo Benvenuti (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Jonah Sorentino (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Fingers crossed for an exciting fight - I'm sure both fighters are looking for a nice under the table bonus!

Benvenuti
vs
Sorentino

182 cm
25
182 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

192 cm
25
192 lbs
6 - 2 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Decent wrestler
Decent boxing
Knockout power

Island Xtreme Fight-Gear

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Massimo Benvenuti!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 2 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Jonah Sorentino!
The judges for this bout are David Hoff, Daniel Franklin and Peter Branson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Benvenuti throws a right and a left that both miss.
Benvenuti misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sorentino.
Benvenuti seems to be moving with more speed, compared to his last bout. He must have been working on that in the gym.
Sorentino throws a body punch but Benvenuti moves out of range.
Benvenuti cracks Sorentino with a good jab.
Benvenuti throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sorentino sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Benvenuti wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Benvenuti keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Benvenuti ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sorentino moves away.
Benvenuti is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Sorentino.
Benvenuti shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benvenuti misses with a looping right.
Benvenuti scores with a big left there. The judges will like that one.
Benvenuti comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.
Massimo Benvenuti seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Benvenuti lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Benvenuti fails to land with a series of punches.
Benvenuti lands a nice leg kick that just misses Sorentino's sensitive parts.
Sorentino avoids the body shot from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti throws the left hand but Sorentino avoids the punch easily.
Benvenuti swings for the body but Sorentino moves out of range.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sorentino throws a jab but it's blocked by Benvenuti.
Benvenuti lands a head shot.
Sorentino has been spending a lot of time sparring his boxing in the run up to the fight, trying to sharpen up those hands and look for a knockout.
Benvenuti throws a body punch but Sorentino moves out of range.
Sorentino slips under a jab from Benvenuti.
Sorentino moves out of range as Benvenuti strikes.
Nice defenses there by Benvenuti.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Benvenuti looks to throw the jab but Sorentino is out of range.
Benvenuti fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benvenuti moves out of range as Sorentino strikes.
Benvenuti jabs at Sorentino's body.
Sorentino misses with a body shot.
A looping hook to the body misses from Benvenuti. Sorentino does a little dance to reset his feet.

Benvenuti darts in and clinches Sorentino up against the cage.
A short right from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti lands a right uppercut that snaps the head of Sorentino backwards.
Benvenuti working aggressively here.
Benvenuti struggles to land a body shot inside as Sorentino controls his hands.
Sorentino tries to stall but Benvenuti uses the opportunity to gain a better position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A bit of stalling here from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti throws a punch but it's blocked by Sorentino.

Benvenuti breaks the clinch.
Benvenuti scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Benvenuti throws out a powerful jab.
Benvenuti throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sorentino sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Sorentino has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Benvenuti finds it's way round the side to connect with Sorentino's head.
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!
Benvenuti waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Sorentino.
A looping hook to the body misses from Benvenuti. Sorentino does a little dance to reset his feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Massimo Benvenuti dominated that round.
That's time! Back to the action!

Benvenuti scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Sorentino keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Nice body punch from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti lands a body shot.
Sorentino's hands are dropping dangerously low here and Benvenuti connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Sorentino scrambles back to his feet.
Benvenuti misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sorentino.
Jonah Sorentino is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Benvenuti is looking to land body kicks.
Benvenuti is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Sorentino can do to turn this around?
Benvenuti misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Sorentino.
Sorentino misses with a right hand
and Benvenuti counters with a right hand to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sorentino uses decent footwork to sidestep a right hand from Benvenuti.
Sorentino uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Benvenuti.
Benvenuti connects with the punch.
Benvenuti with a nice cross.
Benvenuti fakes high and swings low for a body shot but Sorentino manages to avoid it.
Benvenuti thuds his right hand into Sorentino's forehead from close range. That could be painful for both fighters.
Some wild striking there from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti cracks Sorentino with a hook to the jaw. Both fighters smile at eachother and high-five before getting back down to business.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Benvenuti scores with a punch to the head.
Benvenuti takes one to the side of the head.
Benvenuti swings wildly with a hook that is half blocked by Sorentino.
We are yet to see a takedown attempt from Sorentino 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.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
Sorentino takes one on the chin but seems OK.
Sorentino swings for the body but Benvenuti moves out of range.
Benvenuti misses with an uppercut. Sorentino saw that one coming.
Benvenuti throws a body shot but no joy.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benvenuti throws an uppercut from half a mile away. Sorentino sees it coming and avoids it easily.
Massimo Benvenuti is winning the standup battle so far.
Sorentino misses with a straight right.
Sorentino checks a low kick from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti misses the jab.
Benvenuti looks to land a left hand but Sorentino moved out of range nicely.
Benvenuti scores with a leg kick.
Sorentino keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Benvenuti.
Sorentino throws an overhand right that lands on Benvenuti's shoulder, as Benvenuti tries to avoid the shot.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Benvenuti misses with a combination
and Sorentino counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Benvenuti jabbing away but nothing is landing.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Sorentino, as that shot connected.
Sorentino ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Benvenuti moves away.
Sorentino dodges the punch combination from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti lands with a good body shot.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Massimo Benvenuti dominated that second round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Benvenuti slips a jab and a cross from Sorentino.
Benvenuti bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Benvenuti looks to land a right hand but Sorentino moved out of range.
Sorentino steps to the side to avoid the strikes from Benvenuti.
Benvenuti cracks Sorentino with an open hand slap.
Sorentino throws an ugly left hook that misses
and Benvenuti counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Sorentino thinking.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
No joy there for Sorentino, who threw a few shots but didn't land.
Benvenuti connects with a single shot there.
Sorentino moves out of range of the body kick from Benvenuti.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Benvenuti ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Sorentino moves away.
Benvenuti scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.

Benvenuti closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Benvenuti tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Benvenuti throws a hook to the body. More of an arm punch but it's all scoring with the judges.

Benvenuti breaks from the clinch.
Benvenuti listening to his corner there, landing a nice uppercut.
Benvenuti throws a combination but comes up with nothing but fresh air.
Jonah Sorentino has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts Sorentino, as that shot connected.
Benvenuti takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Sorentino rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Benvenuti counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Sorentino avoids the body shot from Benvenuti.
Sorentino throws a right and a left that Benvenuti avoids nicely.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Benvenuti is pinned up against the cage taking some big shots here. The referee is looking closely deciding whether he should stop the fight.
Benvenuti misses with a wild body shot.
Benvenuti scores with a crisp jab that stopped Sorentino in his tracks.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Benvenuti misses with a body kick.
Benvenuti tries to close the distance and clinch but Sorentino swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
Benvenuti throws a jab when Sorentino was well out of range.
Benvenuti swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Sorentino counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Benvenuti thinking.
The fight stays on the outside here - Benvenuti looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Benvenuti throws out a loose jab but Sorentino uses good head movement to avoid it.
Benvenuti rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Sorentino moves out of range and avoids them all easily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A left and a right from Benvenuti both land. Nice combination.
Benvenuti loads up on a big right hand but Sorentino slips the punch.
Sorentino punishes Benvenuti's body with a nice straight punch.
Benvenuti looks to score with a jab to the body but Sorentino is just out of range.
Benvenuti swings for the body but Sorentino moves out of range.
Benvenuti lands with a straight right. Sorentino didn't see that one coming.
Benvenuti's jab looks to have found its range, popping Sorentino under the eye.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Benvenuti throws a right and a left that both miss.

And that's the end of the fight!
Massimo Benvenuti showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Benvenuti 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 David Hoff scores the fight 30:26
Judge Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:26
Judge Peter Branson scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Massimo Benvenuti!
A pretty intense looking Massimo Benvenuti took the opportunity post-fight to ask for a shot at the title.