PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Neville Williams (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Hero Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The fight MMA fans around the world have waited their entire lives for!

Williams
vs
Watanabe

178 cm
18
150 lbs
1 - 1 - 0

178 cm
21
150 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Counter fighter
Cuts easily

BJJ Purple Belt
Basic striking
Determined

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 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Neville Williams!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Hero Watanabe!
The judges for this bout are Ren Mimura, Shigeki Sano and Hirohito Nitta.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Williams misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Watanabe.
Hero Watanabe seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Watanabe closes the distance and clinches up with Williams, looking for a takedown. Watanabe pushes Williams against the cage but Williams circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Watanabe shoots in and gets a takedown into Williams's guard.
Watanabe is fighting to break Williams's control of his arms but Williams is doing a good job of controlling the position at the moment.
Watanabe throwing strikes from guard but Williams blocks nicely.
Williams trying to strike off his back.
Watanabe trying to control but Williams is working from the bottom.
Watanabe has the superior BJJ but he's also working some ground strikes into his gameplan.
Watanabe has decided he wants to stand but the closed guard of Williams is proving hard to escape from.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Williams is working from a closed guard but he's struggling to control his opponent.
Watanabe tries to stand but Williams is controlling from the bottom.
The referee must be thinking about standing these guys back up.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Williams is looking for a guillotine. You can't force these things though and Watanabe defends well.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Watanabe shoots in for a takedown but Williams shows good takedown defense.
Williams tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Watanabe manages to circle out of the way.
Watanabe with a poor takedown
and Williams counters with a lovely shot to the body.
Neville Williams has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Hero Watanabe.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Watanabe.
Williams seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Watanabe throws a series of punches but Williams moves out of range.
Williams quickly followed up with a counter body kick but doesn't connect.

Watanabe shoots in looking for a single leg takedown. Williams is trying to defend but Watanabe finishes it well and ends up in half guard. Let's see if he can advance position further.
Watanabe stalling.
Williams knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Watanabe on the ground.

Williams pushes Watanabe off and gets back to his feet.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Williams as he jumps to the side.
Williams is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
A low kick from Watanabe is predictable there
and Williams counters with a right hand to the body.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Watanabe misses with a takedown attempt
and Williams counters with a nice uppercut.
Watanabe looks winded!
Watanabe tries for a takedown but Williams circles away easily
and Williams counters with a lovely straight right hand!
Williams lands a nice hook to Watanabe's body. Watanabe takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Watanabe.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Watanabe stands up and beckons Williams to his feet.
Watanabe shoots and misses
and Williams connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.

Watanabe is looking for a takedown here. He's shot in and has managed to get it, finishing up in Williams's half guard.
Williams wants to control but Watanabe is keeping busy and won't allow it.

Williams kicks off Watanabe and gets to his feet.
Watanabe leaves Williams with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Watanabe throws a leg kick
and Williams counters with a straight right hand.

Watanabe darts in and clinches Williams up against the cage.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Williams will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Watanabe up against the cage.
Williams jumps guard but his hands slip and he falls flat on his back. Well, he's made himself look a right mug there, as Watanabe walks away with a smile on his face. Williams gets slowly back to his feet and shakes his head.

Watanabe gets to the clinch - let's see what his plan is here.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Williams tries to pull guard but Watanabe holds him up against the cage and eventually Williams drops back down to his feet.

Watanabe lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.

Williams makes some distance and scrambles quickly back to his feet. Nice work!
Watanabe with a lazy takedown attempt
and Williams counters with a nice body shot.
The sound of bone on bone echoes around the arena as Williams checks a leg kick.
Williams appears to be looking for a counter punch to the body.
Watanabe shoots and misses
and Williams counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Neville Williams dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Williams wants to clinch.
Watanabe fails with a takedown attempt.

Watanabe changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Williams looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Watanabe staying calm.
Watanabe working the ground and pound but Williams is defending the strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Watanabe working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Watanabe is putting a hurting on Williams here, landing some big shots from side control.
You can see the frustration on Williams's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Watanabe grinds an elbow into Williams's temple.
Watanabe lands a knee to the body and follows it up with some ground and pound to the head. That will wear Williams down.
Williams wants to control but Watanabe postures up.
Hero Watanabe has got the better of the ground game so far.
Williams is trying to get back to half guard.
Watanabe tries to get to his feet but he's trapped momentarily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe in side control lands a decent elbow.
Watanabe landing strikes.

Watanabe working hard here to secure a kimura but he's not really in the right position for it.
Watanabe scoring with punches from side control.
Watanabe looks up at the clock and then as Williams takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Watanabe smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!
Williams tries to bench press Watanabe off him but Watanabe keeps the position.
Watanabe wants to stand but Williams has his arm trapped.
Watanabe scores with a couple of nice shots to the head there. The referee takes a look at Williams to see if he's OK.
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.
Williams is trying to escape and get back to his feet.

Watanabe has an Americana. Williams didn't react quickly enough there and he's in big trouble now! He tries to squirm out but is forced to tap! Watanabe is delighted and gyrates in front of the ring girls. They seem to like the attention - it'll be interesting to see if Watanabe hooks up with any of them at the after show party.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3:25 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Americana). Hero Watanabe!