PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Shinji Tanaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Takeshi Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tanaka comes to the cage accompanied by Yuudachi. The crowd seem to be enjoying Watanabe's choice of entrance music: The Handsome Family - Far From Any Road. Takeshi Watanabe is staring across the cage at his opponent, tweaking his nipples.

Tanaka
vs
Watanabe

160 cm
32
139 lbs
19 - 16 - 1

175 cm
33
135 lbs
15 - 19 - 1

Abu Dhabi Champ
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Decent wrestler
World class boxer
Granite chin

GREEN!160

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 5 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 19 - 16 - 1, fighting out of Tokyo, Shinji Tanaka!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 15 - 19 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Takeshi Watanabe!
The judges for this bout are Jack Bonds, Timothy Bukovac and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Tanaka thows a left - swing and a miss!
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Watanabe!
Watanabe misses with the combination.
Watanabe throws a nice looking combination but Tanaka bobs and weaves to avoid any damage.
Tanaka thows a left - swing and a miss!
Watanabe tries to bum rush Tanaka with a series of wild strikes but Tanaka uses good footwork to avoid the assault.
Tanaka waving his hands out in front of him, looking to distract Watanabe.
Watanabe swinging wildly here.
Watanabe looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.

Watanabe gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Watanabe can do anything to dispel that myth.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
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.
Tanaka might be looking to lock onto one of his opponent's long limbs for a submission, whilst we're on the ground.

Tanaka drops back looking for a leg! Watanabe is in trouble here! The fighters roll with the hold and Watanabe manages to kick Tanaka off! Tanaka jumps back into Watanabe's guard.
Tanaka is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Tanaka pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Watanabe is keeping the position for now.
Watanabe is looking to stand up but Tanaka isn't so interested in that idea.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanaka advances to half guard.
Tanaka tries to pass to full mount but Watanabe defends it.
Tanaka is looking to pass the guard... He's managed it - he's now in full mount!
Watanabe is a painfully thin specimen of a man. You do wonder whether a good body kick would snap him clean in two.

Watanabe defends a decent attempt at a guillotine from Tanaka.
Watanabe is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.
Tanaka moves to take his opponent's back.

Watanabe is trying to escape but he's just digging himself into more trouble. Tanaka manages to sink in the hooks and gets a rear naked choke to end the fight in impressive fashion.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 1:54 of round 1, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Shinji Tanaka!
Shinji Tanaka decided to go for the less than humble approach in his post fight interview, telling everyone how he is going to conquer the world. The crowd seemed to like it when really that sort of approach could have gone either way.