PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a welterweight MMA rules bout between Evan Better (ranked 2542 p4p, 0 weight class) and Thomas Watson (ranked 2967 p4p, 0 weight class). Both fighters look pumped up here. Let's hope this is a good fight!

Better
vs
Watson

188 cm
40
181 lbs
31 - 25 - 0

179 cm
52
175 lbs
34 - 25 - 1

Good wrestling
Excellent boxer
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Decent boxing
Heavy handed

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 31 - 25 - 0, fighting out of New York, Evan Better!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 34 - 25 - 1, fighting out of Los Angeles, Thomas Watson!
The judges for this bout are Frank Antenori, Timothy Bukovac and Don Winkell.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Watson takes the fight into the clinch.
Better connects with a nasty looking knee right to Watson's face.

It looks like Thomas Watson has been cut.
Watson goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Better prevents a body shot from Watson.
Still in the clinch, Watson scores with a nice short uppercut.
Knees in the clinch landing for Better.
Watson stalling against the cage.

Better breaks the clinch and we're back to striking at distance.
Watson misses with an uppercut
and Watson takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.

Better clinches up against the cage.
Watson tries a shoulder strike but it doesn't do any damage.
Better goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Better lands with a good tight uppercut to the head.
Watson misses with the head strike.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Watson misses with the head strike.
A head punch on the inside from Watson fails to land.

Better has Watson pressed up against the cage. He's trying to work for a single leg takedown. Better pulls back from the cage and twists to the side, sending Watson tumbling to the mat - Better dives into Watson's guard.
Better content to stall in guard here.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Better throwing shots from guard but he's hitting more mat than opponent.
Better with a flurry of punches that miss.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Better is working the ground and pound from guard. He might want to try advancing position though to get more of an impact.
Watson tries to land a sweep but no joy.
Better throwing elbows and punches but not connecting, as Watson works some decent striking defense from the bottom.
Watson is looking to stand up but Better isn't so interested in that idea.
Better content to stall in guard here.
Better content to strike from guard, landing some decent shots.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Better is stalling in the full guard.
Better working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Watson trying to keep a closed guard but Better is proving a slippery customer.
Better trying to control the position from guard on top but Watson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Better postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Watson wants to get back to his feet but Better is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Better has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Better is frustrating his opponent with some stalling tactics from top position.
Watson wants to sweep but no luck.
Watson keeping moving, preventing Better from controlling successfully.

The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Watson fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Better defends well against a solid takedown attempt from Watson.
Watson tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Better moves out of range of the leg kick from Watson.
Watson throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Better counters with a nice body shot.
Better circles away from the clinch attempt

so Better counters with a double leg into guard. Good agility.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watson is trying to keep Better in close.
Better chips away with some ground and pound.
Better engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Better looking to pass the guard.
Better engaging in some classic timewasting tactics.
Watson avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Evan Better dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Thomas Watson's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

Watson has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Better.
Watson tries to clinch up.
Better tried to counter with a leg kick but Watson avoided it.

Better closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Watson is trying to control Better's posture but Better avoids it.
You can see the frustration on Watson's face as Better controls the position.

Better tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Better landing a few strikes.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Better is working Watson over with some ground and pound from side control.
Better is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Watson will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watson tries to escape but Better is in control.
Better wants to control but Watson is keeping him busy.
Watson struggling a bit here.
Better in side control lands a decent elbow.

Better is trying to land an Americana. He has the arm isolated but Watson is keeping cool and he's avoided the danger for now.
Better is working Watson over with some ground and pound from side control.
Watson is looking to slip a leg under and get half guard but Better is one step ahead and moves to full mount!
Better trying to control but he's not successful this time.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Better controlling his opponent.
Watson is writhing around trying to get back to his feet.
Better is in the full mount, landing strikes.
Watson tries to buck Better off but he can't manage it.
Better landing strikes from the mount and Watson is in trouble!

Better with some aggressive grappling here. He's looking for submissions here, rather than waiting for the opportunity to counter.
Better connects with a couple of good shots from mount.
The referee warns Watson that he has to improve his position here as he takes two more clean shots to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Better controlling from the full mount.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson is squirming around, avoiding Better's attempts to control the action.
Better controlling the pace for now.

Better is working for a guillotine from mount but Watson frees his head quite easily.
Watson is bucking up trying to escape but Better cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Evan Better overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Watson is bucking up trying to escape but Better cracks him with another couple of good strikes.
Watson gets back to half guard.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Better slips a nice elbow through Watson's hands, connecting with Watson's forehead.
Better is nestled in close to Watson, controlling him well. He's worked in a nice elbow to the side of the head as well, for good measure.
Still in half guard, Better seems content to control.
Watson is trying to stand back up but Better is controlling him

Better is looking for a kimura. It's going to be difficult to finish that from half guard though and Watson defends it well.
Better works his way into full mount!
Better is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Watson can do to turn this around?

Better goes for an armbar but he's fallen flat on his backside there and now Watson is on top in guard.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Better avoiding any damage from the ground and pound.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Evan Better dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Thomas Watson's cut.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action! This is the final round!

Better lunges in with an uppercut that skims his opponent's chin.

Watson gets a clinch.
Better lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Knees to the body from Better.
Better prevents a takedown attempt there.
Better working Watson over with knees to the body.
Better works on Watson's body with a couple of short punches.

Better jumps guard.
Better seems keen to control Watson's posture.
Watson takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Better has controlled the position for a good 20 seconds, which will no doubt be starting to frustrate his opponent.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watson stopping the sweep attempt from Better.
Better is doing well to control the posture of his opponent and prevent any damage.

The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
No luck with that takedown attempt from Better.

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.
A telegraphed right hand from Watson misses the target.
Better appears to be looking for a counter takedown.

Excellent takedown into side control there by Better.

Better is trying to get an arm triangle but Watson is defending well.
Watson trying to remain calm as Better controls from the top position.
Better working the ground and pound from side control.
Better scoring with punches and elbows.
Better lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Watson wants to control but Better postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watson wants to escape from the position here - easier said than done!
Better grinds an elbow into Watson's temple.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Better staying calm.
Better looks up at the clock and then as Watson takes his cue and looks up at the clock too, Better smacks him right in the chops with a big elbow! How rude!

Better is trying to get an arm triangle but Watson is defending well.
Watson pushes Better away and creates a bit of space to escape. He's almost out here... but no, Better gets a good hold of his legs and remains firmly in side control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Better working the ground and pound from side control.
Better cracks Watson with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Watson on the wrong end of some ground and pound.
Evan Better is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Better is pausing for a moment. What's he doing? It looks like he's clearing his nose. Oh dude! He's shot a load of snot all down Watson's shoulder. That is not cool.
Better'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.
Better lands a knee to the body and a forearm to the face.
Watson is trying to buck Better off.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
You can see the frustration on Watson's face as Better controls the position.
Thomas Watson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Better works to advance to full mount. Watson defends for a few seconds but eventually he succumbs.
Better fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!

And that's the end of the fight!
Evan Better showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Better 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 Frank Antenori scores the fight 30:27
Judge Timothy Bukovac scores the fight 30:27
Judge Don Winkell scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Evan Better!
An out of breath Evan Better thanked his loyal fans in his post fight interview, giving them credit for his success over the course of his career.