PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Burt Watson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Stan Rasd (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Rasd has a niggling injury. He would have liked to come in 100% fit but that's not always possible. This should be a great matchup!

Watson
vs
Rasd

150 cm
25
150 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

150 cm
25
130 lbs
1 - 5 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Great elbows
Cuts easily

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Burt Watson!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Stan Rasd!
The judges for this bout are Tiny Johnson, George Francis and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Watson looking to shoot here. He's gone for it and he's landed a takedown into side control! Oh, that's bad for Rasd!
Watson grinds an elbow into Rasd's temple.

Watson stands up and we're back to a striking position.

Watson pushes Rasd up against the cage in a clinch.
Rasd looks winded!
Watson blocks a body shot from Rasd.
Rasd tries to pull guard but Watson won't allow it.

Watson breaks from the clinch.

Rasd gets caught flat footed, as Watson shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Watson controlling from the top position.
Rasd should think about turning a few of those tyres round his middle into muscle if he wants people to take him seriously as an athlete.
Rasd keeping full guard, as Watson tries to pass.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watson connects with a couple of short punches.
Watson controlling from the top position.
Watson is looking to stand up but Rasd won't let him.
Watson sitting in guard, not really doing much.
The referee claps his hands together and tells the fighters to work.
Watson has to be careful here, sitting in the guard of a superior BJJ player.
Rasd wants to stand and escape but Watson is having none of it.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.

Watson shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Rasd's guard.
Watson wants to stand but Rasd is controlling his posture from full guard.
Watson slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson trying to stand up but can't free himself from Rasd's guard.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Watson sitting in guard here, content to control.
Watson landing with the ground and pound.
Watson trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Watson controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are showing their displeasure at the lack of action as loud boos ring out around the arena.

Watson gets a takedown into half guard.
Watson tries to pass the half guard into mount. Rasd knows what he's doing though and prevents the attempt.
Watson is controlling the pace.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Burt Watson dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Watson has managed to clinch.
Watson working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.

Watson is trying to trip Rasd. He has hold of a leg but Rasd is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Watson persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Watson with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.
Watson's corner is telling him to maintain position.
Burt Watson overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

Watson is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Rasd is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Rasd has escaped and now he's on top!

Watson wants to control here, rather than go for any submissions from the bottom. At least for now.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Watson has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.
Rasd is breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watson'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.
This is a sustained period of stalling by Watson.
Watson looking for a sweep. Not yet Watson, not yet.

Watson working away from the bottom but not quite defensive enough there because Rasd has passed into half guard!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Watson blocking the ground and pound attempt from Rasd.
Watson is looking for a sweep. Rasd is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.
Watson keeping control of the leg, stopping his opponent passing to mount.
Watson is trying to stand back up but Rasd is controlling him
Watson controlling the position for now.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Rasd gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson content to stall in guard here.
Further stalling from Watson.
Rasd wants to sweep here but Watson controlling him for the moment.
Watson is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Rasd can do to turn this around?
Watson lands a couple of digs.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A few boos can be heard. I'm sure they will multiply if the fighters don't pick up the pace.
Watson sitting in guard, not really doing much.
Rasd keeping full guard, as Watson tries to pass.
Watson prevents Rasd from getting back to his feet.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Watson looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rasd is trying to control the position but Watson postures up.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Burt Watson dominated that second 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. The crowd applaud as we get ready to start the final round!

Rasd gets caught flat footed, as Watson shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Watson trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Watson stays in close to Rasd's body and controls the position.
Watson stands up and looks to throw the legs aside to pass to side control. Rasd swivels though and keeps the full guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rasd 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.
Rasd takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
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 one minute gone in the round.
Watson would like to get this fight back to the feet but can't get free from the closed guard.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.

Watson drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Watson sitting in guard here, content to control.
Rasd is trying to control the position but Watson postures up.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watson is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Watson seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Rasd for as long as he can get away with.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.

Watson moves into the clinch successfully.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson lands an elbow inside.

It looks like Stan Rasd has been cut.
Watson lands a left hand that snaps the head of Rasd backwards.

Watson is trying to trip Rasd. He has hold of a leg but Rasd is hopping around, keeping his balance for the moment. Watson persists though and gets the takedown into guard.
Rasd has a closed guard, preventing Watson from standing up.

Watson drops back for a leg! It's a sloppy attempt though and Watson jumps back into guard quickly, to retain the dominant position.
Watson pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Rasd is keeping the position for now.
Watson's corner is telling him to maintain position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watson is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Watson with a nice head shot there.
Watson cracks Rasd with a solid left hand.
Watson wants to get up but he can't break Rasd's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Watson closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Rasd did well to prevent Watson getting side control.
Stan Rasd has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Burt Watson is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Watson is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.

And that's the end of the fight!
Burt Watson showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Watson has outscored his opponent in every aspect of the fight today. Only a scarily incompetent judge or two will keep him from a well deserved win... 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 Tiny Johnson scores the fight 30:25
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:25
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:25

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