PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Craig Conor (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Junichi Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Watanabe comes into a darkened arena with his song building. "One Thing Leads to Another" by The Fixx kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! The crowd giving both fighters a great reception on their way into the arena. That's good to see.

Conor
vs
Watanabe

172 cm
25
162 lbs
4 - 1 - 1

170 cm
25
160 lbs
12 - 5 - 1

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent boxer
Knockout power

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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 - 1 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Craig Conor!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 1, fighting out of St Petersburg, Junichi Watanabe!
The judges for this bout are Sergei Dronov, Fedor Mirinova and Illya Tyunina.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Watanabe misses with a right hand
and Conor cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.
Watanabe misses with a left hand
and Conor counters with a stiff right hand.
Watanabe takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
Conor throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
Conor connects with a body shot.
Nice uppercut there from Conor.
Conor avoids a punch combination nicely.
Conor comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

Watanabe closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Conor to the mat! Conor manages to get full guard.
Watanabe scoring with some ground and pound.
Watanabe connects with a couple of short punches.
Watanabe stopping the sweep attempt from Conor.
Watanabe is sitting in guard, working some ground and pound.

Conor working for a triangle but Watanabe defends it easily.
Watanabe works over Conor with some ground and pound from guard.
Watanabe postures up and lands a big shot to Conor's brow.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Conor avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.

Conor looking for a guillotine here but Watanabe defends easily.
Watanabe keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Conor's head.
Watanabe scoring with some ground and pound.

Conor looking for submissions from the bottom here. Moving his hips around, possibly looking for an armbar.
Watanabe throwing strikes but missing.
Watanabe stands up over Conor, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Conor is trying to control the position from the bottom.
Watanabe distracts Conor with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Watanabe throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.

Conor is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Watanabe defends well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Watanabe with a nice head shot there.
Watanabe with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Watanabe with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Conor utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
The fighters are trapped in the ropes so we're going to have a reposition here. The ref calls for a break and repositions the fighters in the center of the ring.
Watanabe scoring with some ground and pound.

Conor throwing his legs up looking for a triangle.
Conor is breathing heavily.
Watanabe postures up and scores with a shot to the body and a follow up elbow to the head.
Watanabe scoring with some ground and pound.
Watanabe content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.
Watanabe lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Watanabe stands up over Conor, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Conor is trying to keep Watanabe in close.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Watanabe accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Conor has momentary wrist control but Watanabe slips an elbow through the middle.
Conor looking to hit a scissor sweep but Watanabe is one step ahead there.
Conor trying to control the position.
Watanabe landing with the ground and pound.
Watanabe lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Watanabe scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Watanabe working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Conor's head.
Watanabe stands up over Conor, holding his feet. He dives back in and lands a decent shot to the head.
Watanabe connects with a couple of short punches.
Watanabe scoring with punches to the head and body.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Conor utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.

Conor is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Watanabe is aware though and is defending well.
Watanabe makes a bit of distance and scores with some ground and pound, still in guard.
Watanabe works over Conor with some ground and pound from guard.
Hammerfist, elbow! yells Watanabe's corner. There ya go! There ya go!
Watanabe working some strikes from top position.
Watanabe connects with a couple of short punches.
Watanabe landing some decent shots from guard.

Conor working from the bottom, still in full guard. He's managed to get a loose triangle. Watanabe doesn't seem to be doing much to defend here, obviously he feels comfortable in the position. Watanabe manages to throw the legs off his shoulder and he's back into guard - no problem.
Conor not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Watanabe landing some decent shots from guard.
Watanabe postures up and lands a big shot to Conor's brow.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Junichi Watanabe dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Watanabe scores with a punch to the head.

Conor is rocked!
Watanabe dances in with a quick combination. Conor is being worked over with jabs and crosses. Oooh, a right straight from Watanabe snaps Conor's head back. Conor stumbles backwards against the ropes. Watanabe steps forward and delivers a right cross that connects with Conor's jaw, simultaneously knocking him out and sending his mouthpiece into the crowd! There's a worthy souvenir for the fans. This one is over folks. Conor just didn't come prepared.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 0:08 of round 2, we have a winner by way of KO (Punches). Junichi Watanabe!