PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Luigi Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Gary Gygax (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Watanabe might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Bad Man A Step. Well, I have no idea who's going to take this one!

Watanabe
vs
Gygax

175 cm
21
160 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

175 cm
24
165 lbs
2 - 3 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Solid boxing
Experienced

Decent wrestler
Good kicks
Intelligent

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 4 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Luigi Watanabe!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 2 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Montreal, Gary Gygax!
The judges for this bout are Ian Loll, Robert Douchet and Elvis Blanc.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Watanabe misses with an uppercut
and Gygax cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Watanabe throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Gygax tries to clinch up but Watanabe circles away and keeps his distance.

Gygax closes the distance and clinches up, looking for a takedown. He shifts his weight and gets a nice trip into half guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Watanabe is pressing down on Gygax's left leg trying to get back to full guard. He's managed it.
Watanabe looking to hit a scissor sweep but Gygax is one step ahead there.
Watanabe is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.
Gygax is not content to let Watanabe control the position.
Gygax wants to control but Watanabe is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Gygax tries to get to full guard but Watanabe has control of the leg.
Gygax is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.

Watanabe is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Gygax doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Watanabe.
Gygax is looking for a sweep. Watanabe is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.

Watanabe stands up from the dominant position. He obviously fancies his chances standing.
Watanabe misses with a left hand
and Gygax counters with a thumping low kick.
Watanabe throws a poor cross that misses

and Gygax counters with a takedown into side control.
Watanabe gets back to half guard.
Watanabe is not content to let Gygax control the position.
Gygax not throwing his punches with enough precision this time.
Watanabe regains full guard. Nicely done.
Gygax wants to pass the guard but Watanabe is keeping the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe bucks up whilst keeping hold of a body lock, managing to reverse the position. Now he's in top in Gygax's guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Watanabe slips nicely into half guard.
Watanabe passes to full mount!
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!
Gygax is in a horrible position here. Watanabe smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.

Watanabe working to secure an arm triangle but it's not happening for him just yet.
Watanabe trying to control but Gygax is having none of it.

Watanabe jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Gygax manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Gygax tries to buck Watanabe off but Watanabe is having none of it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe works to advance to full mount. Gygax defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.

Watanabe looking for a guillotine from mount but Gygax is having none of it.

Watanabe jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Gygax manages to avoid the submission attempt.

Watanabe is looking for a kimura. He might have it! No, Gygax has escaped the position, nice work there.
Watanabe advances nicely into full mount.
Gygax is squirming around, avoiding Watanabe's attempts to control the action.
Gygax wants to control but Watanabe is having none of it.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Watanabe has control of Gygax's right arm, working for a kimura. It's a bit of a token attempt though and Gygax regains control of the situation pretty easily.

Watanabe looking to secure an arm triangle but Gygax defends it well.
Gygax is trying to escape the mount.

Watanabe looks like he's working for a submission but he's not found anything just yet.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Watanabe trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Watanabe working for a guillotine from mount but Gygax is in no mood to give up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Luigi Watanabe dominated that round.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Gygax tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Watanabe throws a left and a right that both miss
and Gygax counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.
Gary Gygax is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Watanabe rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Gygax counters with an inside leg kick.
Watanabe wants to land a leg kick but Gygax is out of range.
Watanabe misses with a lunging right hand

and Gygax holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.

Gygax breaks from the clinch.
Watanabe fails with a takedown attempt from distance.
Gygax avoids a lazy jab quite easily.
Watanabe misses with a right hand
and Gygax counters with a crisp hook to the side of the head.

Gygax shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Gygax showed some decent athleticism there.
Watanabe gets back to full guard.
Watanabe looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Watanabe manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Gygax manages to get himself to full guard.
Gygax tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gygax is keeping the position for now.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Gygax can do anything to dispel that myth.
Gygax striking off his back but it's not causing Watanabe any problems.
Watanabe works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Watanabe frees up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Watanabe in mount throwing good strikes here, bouncing his opponent's head off the canvas.
Watanabe avoids the attempt from Gygax to control.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Watanabe looking to control but Gygax is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Gygax is really trying hard to get back to his feet.

Watanabe working for a submission but Gygax is keeping him at bay.
Gygax is trying to escape but when you're mounted that's not too easy.
Gygax is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Watanabe tries to control but Gygax wriggling away.

Watanabe is thinking about an arm triangle here, looking to tighten it up before moving to side control. Gygax can see it coming though and defends well with a couple of strikes to the head and some good arm positioning.
The crowd growing excited in anticipation of a finish here! Right on cue, Watanabe cracks his opponent with a massive right hand that draws loud cheers!
Watanabe trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gygax's corner are shouting for him to stand up but that's bad cornering - how is he meant to stand up when he's mounted? He should be looking to improve his position on the ground before trying to stand back up.

Watanabe working for a guillotine from mount but Gygax is in no mood to give up.
Watanabe trying to control but he's not successful this time.

Watanabe jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Gygax manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Gygax wants to control but Watanabe postures up.
Gygax gives up the full mount - oops, sloppy defensive grappling there!
Watanabe trying to control but he's not successful this time.
Watanabe takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.

That's four minutes gone in the round.

Watanabe has hold of Gygax's left arm, perhaps looking for a submission. The two fighters tussle over control of the isolated limb and Gygax manages to get his arm back to his side and away from danger.

Watanabe jumps to side control looking for an arm triangle but Gygax manages to avoid the submission attempt.
Luigi Watanabe overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Gygax wants to improve his position, back to half guard but Watanabe has ideas of his own. He's got hold of Gygax's far side arm and it looks like he's got an Americana. Ohh! Ohhhh! OOOOOOOOOH! A human being's arm is not meant to bend like that! Gygax is tapping like a morse code operator on the Titanic! SOS SOS! He's out of here! Great win for Watanabe!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 4:43 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Luigi Watanabe!