PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a light heavyweight MMA rules bout between Sol Fitzsimmons (ranked 695 p4p, 88 weight class) and John Bennett (ranked 1658 p4p, 213 weight class). There are an array of beautiful celebrities at ringside tonight! I wonder if any of them paid for their tickets.

Fitzsimmons
vs
Bennett

187 cm
19
215 lbs
7 - 1 - 0

187 cm
19
220 lbs
4 - 0 - 0

Decent wrestler
Solid boxing
Very strong

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Good gas tank

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, for the light heavyweight championship of the world!
Introducing the champion to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 7 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Sol Fitzsimmons!
And introducing the challenger to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, John Bennett!
The judges for this bout are Bart Greer, David Hoff and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Fitzsimmons swings for the body but Bennett moves out of range.
Fitzsimmons has been working on his boxing with his coaches at ELITE Island Gym - 19 Elite Coaches in the buildup to the fight.
Fitzsimmons attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Bennett checks a low kick. Bone on bone - not my idea of a good time.
Bennett is looking for the big counter here.
A jab from Fitzsimmons misses.

Bennett fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Fitzsimmons, pushing him back against the cage.
Bennett swings wildly with an uppercut but Fitzsimmons uses good head movement to avoid it.
Fitzsimmons swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Fitzsimmons throws a punch but it's blocked by Bennett.
Fitzsimmons looking to stall.
Bennett scores with an uppercut up the middle.
Fitzsimmons lands with a light punch inside.
Fitzsimmons creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.
Bennett misses with the head strike.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bennett dodges an elbow strike from Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons can't find room to land a body shot as Bennett controls the action.
Bennett lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Bennett blocks the elbow strike.
Fitzsimmons blocking some punches.
Fitzsimmons lands with a short shot to the head.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Fitzsimmons throws a punch but it's blocked by Bennett.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bennett swings wildly with an uppercut but Fitzsimmons uses good head movement to avoid it.
A head punch blocked on the inside by Fitzsimmons.
Bennett lands a right hand that snaps the head of Fitzsimmons backwards.
Fitzsimmons misses with a hook from the clinch.
Bennett avoids a wild elbow strike from Fitzsimmons.

Fitzsimmons manages to break the clinch.
Bennett keeping his hands up high there, blocking the jab from Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons lands a jab to the nose.
Bennett misses with a double jab
and Fitzsimmons makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Fitzsimmons throws a chopping leg kick but Bennett manages to avoid taking any serious damage.
Bennett scores with a nice right hand.
Fitzsimmons throws a leg kick that misses.
Fitzsimmons throws a right hand that misses
and Bennett counters with a stiff right hand.
Bennett cracks Fitzsimmons with a right hand to the side of the head.
This has been an exciting period of action!
Fitzsimmons takes a punch right to his stomach. That took the wind out of him momentarily.
Bennett misses with a looping left.
Fitzsimmons throws a low kick but his opponent is out of range.
Bennett has done a lot of speed work in the buildup to this fight.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Fitzsimmons uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by Bennett.
Bennett keeps the fight on the outside.
Fitzsimmons throws a lazy head kick
and Bennett counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Bennett throws a jab to the body, straight down the pipe. Boom. That sent Fitzsimmons stumbling backwards but he manages to regain his composure quickly.
Fitzsimmons on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Bennett getting the better of the striking in that exchange.
Bennett keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Bennett tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Fitzsimmons was well out of range. Poor timing from Bennett.
An attempted straight right counter from Fitzsimmons misses the target.
Bennett is the aggressor but that punch slipped nicely by Fitzsimmons.
Fitzsimmons throws out a loose jab but Bennett uses good head movement to avoid it.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Bennett! But no joy.
Fitzsimmons misses with a body shot
and Bennett counters with a lovely shot to the body.
A jab from Fitzsimmons misses.
Fitzsimmons misses with a left hand
and Bennett counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
Fitzsimmons rushes forward with a series of wild hooks but Bennett moves out of range and avoids them all easily.
Fitzsimmons lets loose with a powerful body kick. Bennett will feel that in the morning.
Fitzsimmons connects with a crisp jab.
Fitzsimmons bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A slow jab from Bennett misses its intended target.
Fitzsimmons takes a shot to the eye socket. That's gotta hurt.
Fitzsimmons takes a really solid shot there but just smiles back and shrugs his shoulders.

Fitzsimmons is rocked!
Bennett lands with an overhand left.
Oh Fitzsimmons is still all over the place! His legs are completely gone! Will he be able to recover?!!
Fitzsimmons throws a sloppy head kick and Bennett moves out of range easily.
Bennett looks to score with a jab to the body but Fitzsimmons is just out of range.
Fitzsimmons seems to have got his legs back now.

Bennett gets tackled into the cage by Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons maintains the clinch.

Fitzsimmons breaks from the clinch.
Bennett checks a leg kick nicely.
Fitzsimmons misses with an uppercut. Bennett saw that one coming.
Bennett appears to be waiting to throw a counter punch to the body.
Fitzsimmons tries to land a front kick but Bennett steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
A slow jab from Fitzsimmons misses its intended target.
Fitzsimmons takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Fitzsimmons circles away from the clinch attempt.
Fitzsimmons is looking to clinch.
Fitzsimmons ducks right into an uppercut from Bennett.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Fitzsimmons takes a shot right to the bread basket.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A looping hook to the body misses from Bennett. Fitzsimmons does a little dance to reset his feet.
Bennett fails with an attempt to clinch.
Fitzsimmons tries to score with a low kick but Bennett moves his leg out of the way.
Bennett wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
Bennett lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Fitzsimmons misses with a looping left.
Bennett avoids the clinch attempt nicely.
Bennett ducks low and lands a nice hook to the body of his opponent.
Bennett connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between Fitzsimmons's hands.
Fitzsimmons misses with a kick to the body.
Fitzsimmons tries to clinch but Bennett is having none of it.
Bennett is clearly trying to counter these attacks from Fitzsimmons with a body shot.
Bennett misses the shot to the body.
Sol Fitzsimmons seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Fitzsimmons takes an uppercut right on the jaw but it doesn't phase him.
Bennett jabs Fitzsimmons to the body, keeping him at a distance.
Bennett moves his head to the side to avoid a jab but walks straight into a cross.
Bennett wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

John Bennett dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

A lazy left from Bennett finds it's target.
Bennett digs a good body shot into Fitzsimmons's ribs.
Fitzsimmons motions for Bennett to come forward. Fitzsimmons throws a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Fitzsimmons swings away with a leg kick that misses.

Fitzsimmons closes the distance and clinches.
Fitzsimmons prevents a body shot from Bennett.
Fitzsimmons throws a head punch that misses.
Fitzsimmons tries to throw a body punch but Bennett avoids it by throwing Fitzsimmons back against the cage.
Bennett lands with a short shot to the head.
Fitzsimmons swings wildly with an uppercut but Bennett uses good head movement to avoid it.
Fitzsimmons blocks a body shot from Bennett.
A shot in the inside from Bennett.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Bennett scores with a hook to the body.
Bennett has been the more effective fighter overall so far.
Bennett lands a left hand.
Bennett blocking some punches.
A shot in the inside from Bennett.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Bennett swings away with an uppercut that misses.
Bennett makes some space for himself and lands an uppercut.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
A quick uppercut on the inside from Bennett.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Bennett can't find room to land a body shot as Fitzsimmons controls the action.
Bennett lands with a short punch from the clinch.
Fitzsimmons wants to get back to striking at distance but Bennett won't allow it.
A short right from Bennett.
Bennett lands with a light punch inside.
Fitzsimmons pushes off and fires off an elbow that misses, before clinching up again, against the cage.
Bennett struggles to land a body shot inside as Fitzsimmons controls his hands.
Bennett lands an uppercut in the clinch that drops Fitzsimmons to his knees! Bennett keeps firing more shots against his stricken opponent and the referee jumps in to save him!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:30 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). John Bennett!
John Bennett is the new light heavyweight champion!
John Bennett thanked the fans post fight for their support.