PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Kengo Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kazushi Sakuraba (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look fresh as a daisy as they make their way towards the cage.

Watanabe
vs
Sakuraba

182 cm
24
193 lbs
4 - 1 - 0

183 cm
22
190 lbs
9 - 3 - 0

Decent wrestler
Brawler
Good chin

Powerful takedowns
Counter striker
Good gas tank

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 4 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kengo Watanabe!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kazushi Sakuraba!
The judges for this bout are Tatsuya Matsuyama, Kenichi Hosakawa and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Watanabe shoots and misses

so Sakuraba counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
It looks like the ref is thinking about a standup.
Sakuraba passes Watanabe's right leg, so he's now in half guard.
Watanabe is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Sakuraba scores with a couple of nice shots.

Sakuraba looking for a kimura but he'll have to free his other leg if he wants to finish that. Perhaps he's just using it as a distraction technique.
Sakuraba wants to take a breather but Watanabe is having none of it.
Sakuraba moves nicely into side control.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.

Sakuraba working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Sloppy strikes there by Sakuraba.
Watanabe is sneaking out the side here. He's bucked Sakuraba off and has taken his back!
Sakuraba trying to control the hands but Watanabe won't let him.
Sakuraba breaks Watanabe's hooks off and manages to turn into his guard.
Sakuraba with a flurry of punches that miss.
Watanabe is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Sakuraba lands a nice shot whilst sitting in his opponent's guard.
Sakuraba slips nicely into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Sakuraba looking to pass the half guard. Not this time.
Watanabe on his back here. We all know that wrestlers don't like being on their back so let's see if Watanabe tries to get out of the position.
Watanabe is trying to get back to full guard.
Sakuraba missing with the ground and pound from half guard.

Sakuraba seems to be looking for submissions.
Watanabe is looking for a sweep. Sakuraba is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
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!
Watanabe is working hard here to advance position.
Watanabe trying to control here.
Sakuraba trying to pass the guard but Watanabe defending well.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Sakuraba is trying for a kimura here. Watanabe looks like he's in a lot of pain... and he's tapping out! Sakuraba wins by kimura!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:27 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (Kimura). Kazushi Sakuraba!
Our winner, Kazushi Sakuraba, made sure he spent some time buttering up the crowd during his post fight interview, which will no doubt bring him a few more fans.