PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Murphy Davis (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kenji Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Murphy Davis has the edge in experience - let's see if he can make that count tonight.

Davis
vs
Watanabe

180 cm
23
170 lbs
0 - 1 - 0

180 cm
25
180 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Solid Muay Thai
Good chin

Good wrestler
Brawler
Powerful

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the welterweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Murphy Davis!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Kenji Watanabe!
The judges for this bout are Bart Greer, Daniel Franklin and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Davis wants to clinch up but Watanabe keeps it at a distance.
Watanabe tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Davis counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.

Davis drives through and clinches with Watanabe against the cage.
Davis lands a nice knee to the body.
Watanabe jumps guard but Davis stands there with Watanabe around his waist. Watanabe gives up and drops back to his feet. We remain in the clinch.
Davis digs a right hand underneath Watanabe's ribcage. Watanabe let out a lung full of air as it connected.
Watanabe is trying to pull guard but Davis has him pressed against the cage.
Watanabe drops down looking for an ankle pick but Davis pulls his leg out and moves away.
Murphy Davis has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kenji Watanabe.
Watanabe throws a body shot but no joy.

Watanabe fakes a strike and closes the distance, dragging Davis to the ground. Watanabe is now in Davis's guard.
Davis wants to stand and escape but Watanabe is having none of it.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Davis is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Davis working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Watanabe.
Watanabe prevents Davis from getting back to his feet.
Davis knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Watanabe on the ground.
Watanabe is pushing down on Davis's leg trying to pass to half guard. Davis is fighting to maintain full guard but Watanabe has managed to sneak the leg through.

Watanabe stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.

Davis instigates a clinch.
Davis wants to push off and get back to the center of the mat but Watanabe has him pressed against the cage.
Watanabe creates a bit of distance and throws an elbow that only just misses.

Davis escapes the clinch and we're back to striking.
Davis tries to close the distance and clinch up against the cage but Watanabe paws at him with a jab and circles away.
Davis lands with a thumping leg kick.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe tries to clinch
and Davis counters with a series of strikes. Watanabe will be more careful next time no doubt.
Watanabe doesn't succeed with the takedown
and Davis counters with a three punch combination, finished off with a leg kick. Nice work.
Watanabe swats away the attempt to clinch by Davis.
Watanabe throws a head kick but Davis moves out of range.
Davis is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Watanabe.

Watanabe gets tackled into the cage by Davis. Davis maintains the clinch.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Davis landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.
Watanabe tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Davis lands a good knee to the midsection. Watanabe won't want to take too many of those.
Davis drops down looking for an ankle pick but Watanabe pulls his leg out and moves away.
Ouch! a nice leg kick from Davis, right into the meat.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Watanabe closes the distance and gets a double leg, slamming Davis to the mat! Davis manages to get full guard.

Watanabe gets to his feet - Davis follows without any prompting.
Davis is looking to take this fight into the clinch.
Davis wants to clinch up but Watanabe keeps it at a distance.
Davis tries to clinch there but Watanabe circles away.

Watanabe drives through with a takedown into guard.
Watanabe engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Davis is breathing heavily.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe's corner are shouting for him to control the position and he seems happy to oblige.
Watanabe advances position into side control!
Watanabe has knee on belly and now moves to full mount! Trouble for Davis!
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Murphy Davis will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Watanabe fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Davis sprawls well initially but Watanabe persists and gets the takedown into half guard.

Watanabe 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.

Watanabe is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Davis has managed to free his arm - good work.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Davis taking some punishment here, with Watanabe in his half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe passes the half guard and he's now in mount! Big trouble for Davis!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

Watanabe is in full mount, looking to secure a guillotine but Davis is surviving well by controlling Watanabe's body position as best he can.
Watanabe controlling the pace for now.
Watanabe raining down hammerfists from mount.
Watanabe controlling his opponent.
Watanabe with a couple of short strikes.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe postures up and connects with a big shot that has rocked Davis badly. He's trying desperately to grab hold of Watanabe around the waist but Watanabe pushes him off and unloads with more strikes, forcing the referee to jump in and save him! Watanabe is the winner by TKO! Watanabe jumps onto the cage and shouts into the camera. "We did it momma!"

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:30 of round 2, we have a winner by way of TKO (Strikes). Kenji Watanabe!
In defeat, Murphy Davis stepped up to the mic, saying 'Every loss is a learning experience. Now let's take the next step!'.