PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Akinori Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Juuso Makinen (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Makinen has chosen SMC Hoodrats as his entrance music. Makinen has a pretty significant injury - he really shouldn't be fighting right now but he's a warrior and he's here none the less! Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

Watanabe
vs
Makinen

180 cm
22
190 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

180 cm
23
176 lbs
4 - 2 - 0

BJJ Brown Belt
Brawler
Intelligent

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Das Labor

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the middleweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Akinori Watanabe!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 4 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Juuso Makinen!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Watanabe goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
Makinen looks gassed!
Watanabe shoots in with a takedown attempt and he has Makinen pinned against the cage. Makinen gets the underhooks and manages to circle away.

Watanabe decides to change it up a bit and drives through with a nice takedown into half guard.

Watanabe is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Makinen avoiding damage under a succession of punches from Watanabe.
Makinen really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Watanabe. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Watanabe content to control rather than advance.

Watanabe is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Watanabe is figuring out what he wants to do next.
Watanabe thumps the canvas. Not on purpose obviously - he just missed Makinen's head.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Watanabe seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe stops Makinen from getting back to his feet.
Watanabe is controlling the pace.
Watanabe thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Makinen blocking the ground and pound attempt from Watanabe.
Watanabe looks over to his corner - he wants some instructions but his corner are not responding.
Makinen blocking the ground and pound attempt from Watanabe.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.

Watanabe decides to return to a standing position.

Watanabe shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Watanabe showed some decent athleticism there.
Watanabe thows a huge punch but Makinen dodges it nicely.
Makinen pushes Watanabe off looking to stand but Watanabe dives back in and keeps control.
Makinen tries to push off, looking to stand up, but Watanabe manages to move to mount!
Makinen is trying to stand up.
Watanabe controlling the position easily from mount.
Makinen is not a happy chappy… he wants out of there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe throwing strikes here but Makinen is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Watanabe tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.
Watanabe lands a couple of nice shots there from mount.

Watanabe working for a guillotine from mount but Makinen is in no mood to give up.
Watanabe takes a little breather and maintains the position. The referee will be looking for him to stay active from such a dominant position though.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Watanabe raining down shots from the mount!
Watanabe tucks in and makes sure he doesn't lose the dominant position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe won't let Makinen get back to his feet... He wants to keep the fight where it is for now.
Watanabe punching from mount but Makinen doing a good job of avoiding damage.
Makinen wriggling around on the bottom manages to avoid the strikes thrown by Watanabe.
Makinen holding onto his opponent's waist for dear life, as Watanabe tries to land some strikes to get him to release his grip.
Watanabe 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.
Watanabe thowing shots but they're missing.
Watanabe throws some wild stikes that Makinen manages to avoid easily.
Watanabe sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Akinori Watanabe dominated that round.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Watanabe shoots in for a takedown and gets it.
Watanabe is just sitting in half guard, waiting for something to happen.
Watanabe'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.

The referee stands the fighters back up. Akinori Watanabe just wasn't active enough from the dominant position.
Watanabe looks for the body kick but Makinen saw that one coming.
Watanabe shoots for a double leg takedown but Makinen sprawls well. He's pushed Watanabe's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Watanabe looking for a takedown here - he's got it.
Makinen is breathing heavily.
Watanabe works a leg free and moves into half guard.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe sitting in half guard, looking to land shots. Makinen defending well though.
Watanabe not landing any meaningful shots this time.
Still in half guard, Watanabe seems content to control.
Watanabe throwing shots but Makinen is blocking nicely.

Watanabe decides to stand and escape the position.
Makinen keeps the fight on the outside.
Watanabe wants to clinch up but Makinen keeps it at a distance.
Watanabe shoots in for a takedown but Makinen shows good takedown defense.

Makinen gets caught flat footed, as Watanabe shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Makinen wants to get back to his feet but Watanabe passes into half guard.
Watanabe throwing shots but they're hitting the canvas more than the man.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe has freed up his trapped foot and advances to mount.
Makinen tries to buck Watanabe off but Watanabe takes his back!

Watanabe working for the rear naked choke here. He's got one arm under but Makinen is defending well. A couple of punches soften him up though and Watanabe has tightened the hold! This one could be all over! It is! Makinen taps out!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:45 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (RNC). Akinori Watanabe!