PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Esta Merle (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Joseph Watson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Merle comes to the cage accompanied by There's no sympathy for the dead part 2. Watson is bouncing up and down as he enters the arena, backed by Oleader - Hands Off The Wheel. Joseph Watson is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Merle
vs
Watson

180 cm
18
185 lbs
1 - 4 - 0

188 cm
20
181 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter striker
Tends to cut

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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 1 - 4 - 0, fighting out of New York, Esta Merle!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of New York, Joseph Watson!
The judges for this bout are Jonathan Paton, Reed Andrews and Joseph Jones.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Watson instigates a clinch.
Merle is trying to break free.
Watson wants to get back to striking at distance but Merle won't allow it.
Knees in the clinch landing for Merle.

Watson manages to break the clinch.
Merle tries to clinch
and Watson counters with a head kick.
Merle misses with a takedown
and Watson counters with a leg kick.
Merle takes a kick to the body and keeps moving.
Merle misses with a jab to the body
and Watson counters with a body kick.
Merle with a lazy takedown attempt
and Watson cracks him with a counter punch right on the button.

Watson forces Merle back against the cage and clinches.
Watson drops down for a takedown but doesn't get it.

Merle breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Merle tries to clinch but Watson moves away
and Watson counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
Merle is breathing heavily.
Merle swings and misses with a shot to the body
and Watson counters with a nice low kick that buckles Merle's knee momentarily.

Watson gets a clinch.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.

Watson breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Esta Merle seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Merle tries to clinch
and Watson counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Merle takes a head kick and shrugs it off.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Watson scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.

Watson decides to stand up and try his luck on the feet.

Watson clinches.
Merle lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Watson.

Merle pulls guard successfully.
Merle is pulling down on Watson's head to control his posture.
Merle's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Merle tries to land a sweep but no joy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Merle keeping moving, preventing Watson from controlling successfully.

Merle has butterfly guard. He's looking to stand up here. He pushes Watson off him and springs to his feet nicely. The crowd applauds.
An inside leg kick lands from Merle.
Watson misses the shot to the body.
Watson shoots for a takedown but Merle saw that one coming a mile off and avoided it easily.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Watson, right into the meat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Merle swings wildly with a couple of big hooks
and Watson counters with a head kick. That will keep Merle thinking before he tries any more sloppy attacks!
Merle tries to close the distance and clinch up but Watson swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Merle wants to clinch.
Merle is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Watson keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Esta Merle. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Watson circles away from the clinch attempt
and Watson counters with a slapping leg kick.
Merle wants to clinch
and Watson counters with a slapping leg kick.
Watson clobbers Merle with an overhand right that has the crowd gasping. That made a horrendous noise.
Merle with a lazy takedown attempt
and Watson counters with a thumping low kick.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Watson.
Merle misses with an uppercut. Watson saw that one coming.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Merle tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Watson counters with a good, hard body kick but Merle shrugs it off.
Merle misses with a few strikes there.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Watson.

Watson moves into range and clinches up with Merle.

Merle breaks the clinch.
Watson throws a nice inside leg kick.
Merle darts in trying to clinch
and Watson finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
Watson lands with a head kick! That's gotta hurt.
Merle misses with a lunging right hand
and Watson counters with an outside leg kick.
Merle has a takedown stuffed.

Merle closes the distance and presses his opponent up against the cage.
Watson is looking to break free of the clinch but Merle has double underhooks.
As the round comes to an end the crowd are showing their appreciation for a great round of action.
Merle misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Watson.
Merle is hobbling a little on that front leg after taking quite a few leg kicks so far in this fight.

Merle breaks the clinch.
Merle moves in looking to clinch but Watson pushes him off.
Merle tries to clinch but Watson moves away
and Watson counters with a left to the body.
Merle tries to clinch up

and Watson counters with a nice double leg into guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Watson dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Merle misses with a takedown attempt. He shot from a bit too far out.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Watson, right into the meat.
Watson looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Merle fails with the takedown

and Watson holds on and brings the fighters into a clinch.
Merle swings wildly with an uppercut but Watson uses good head movement to avoid it.

Merle breaks from the clinch.
A solid leg kick lands there for Watson.
Merle with a lazy takedown attempt
letting Watson counter with a right hand.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Esta Merle. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Merle with a lazy takedown attempt
and Watson counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
Watson throws a nice hook to the body that draws an oooh from the crowd.
Esta Merle is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Watson has closed the distance and engaged Merle in a clinch.
Watson is looking for a takedown up against the cage. Merle gets underhooks though and prevents the takedown attempt.
Merle gets double underhooks to prevent a takedown attempt from Watson.

Watson breaks from the clinch.
Merle stuffs the takedown attempt from Watson. Watson gets slowly back to his feet.
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Merle with a poor takedown

and Watson counters with a nice double leg into side control. Merle won't be happy with that.

That's one minute gone in the round.
The referee tells the fighters to keep busy.
Watson tries to advance to mount but can't.

Merle bucks up and manages to escape back to his feet!
Merle wants to clinch

so Watson counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.
Merle controls Watson momentarily but Watson frees himself.
Watson trying to control the position from guard on top but Merle is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watson seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson trying to control the position from guard on top but Merle is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Watson trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Merle 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.
Merle keeping moving, preventing Watson from controlling successfully.
Watson stands and throws Merle's legs to the side, diving into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Joseph Watson showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action. Let's hear some noise people - this is the final round!

Watson connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Merle tries to clinch up
and Watson counters with a flying knee. Nice.

Merle decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.
Watson controlling the position for now.
Watson is trying to control but can't.
Watson wants to get back to his feet.
Merle perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Merle moves nicely into side control.
Watson tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Merle remains in side control and seems content to stay there. It's a versatile position from which he can work both strikes and submissions, whilst maintaining that control, so maybe he'll sit here for a while.
Watson can't do much from the bottom here.
Esta Merle has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Merle tries to advance to mount but Watson denies him.
Watson is not content to let Merle control the position.
Watson manages to get one leg in to regain half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson moves his hips nicely and gets into full guard.
Watson working a defensive guard here.
Watson pulls Merle in close to his closed guard and prevents Merle from doing any damage or advancing position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.

Despite being in the dominant position, Joseph Watson just isn't active enough and the referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Watson scores with a nice takedown into half guard. Let's see what he's got on the ground.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.

Watson is looking for a kimura but Merle is holding onto that half guard position, so it's hard for Watson to get the leverage.
Merle tries to strike from the bottom but it doesn't land.
Joseph Watson has got the better of the ground game so far.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Watson keeping composed on the top, looking to control the action.
Merle tries to kick Watson off but Watson keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

And that's the end of the fight!
Joseph Watson comfortably won the final round on my scorecard.
Well Watson has outworked and out performed his opponent in all aspects of the game today. He was simply too good and the decision should be no more than a formality. 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 Jonathan Paton scores the fight 27:30
Judge Reed Andrews scores the fight 27:30
Judge Joseph Jones scores the fight 27:30

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Joseph Watson!