PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Kazuhiro Evans (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Kengo Watanabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Kengo Watanabe looks lathargic as he enters the arena. Wake up son, you're about to have a fight!

Evans
vs
Watanabe

179 cm
22
157 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

173 cm
22
155 lbs
1 - 0 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Good chin

BJJ White Belt
Brawler
Very confident

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kazuhiro Evans!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 0 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Kengo Watanabe!
The judges for this bout are Kenichi Hosakawa, Hirohito Nitta and Yuuki Gou.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Evans fails with a takedown attempt.
Evans misses with the combination.
Watanabe has his takedown stuffed

and Evans counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Evans in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

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

Evans gets to his feet and steps away from his opponent.
Watanabe fails with the takedown
and Evans counters with a left and a right that stings Watanabe.
Watanabe tries to shoot in for a takedown. He's got hold of a leg but Evans swivels and escapes.
Kazuhiro Evans has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Kengo Watanabe.
Watanabe looks gassed!
Watanabe stuffs the takedown attempt from Evans. Evans gets slowly back to his feet.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe tries to clinch up

and Evans counters by clinching up.
Watanabe looks to throw an elbow but misses.

Evans jumps guard.
Watanabe wants to stand but Evans is controlling his posture from full guard.

Watanabe decides to stand up and beckons his opponent to follow.
Watanabe fails with a rather predictable takedown attempt.
Watanabe is on the wrong end of a nice combination from Evans.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Nice takedown defense from Watanabe. No joy for Evans on that attempt.

Evans drives through with a takedown into 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.
Evans content to stall in guard here.

Watanabe is throwing his legs up, looking for submissions. Evans is aware though and is defending well.

Evans stands up from guard. Let's bang!
Watanabe tries for a takedown but Evans circles away easily

and Evans counters with a nice double leg into half guard.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Evans working Watanabe over with strikes.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe keeping his head moving to avoid the ground and pound.
Evans thows a huge punch but Watanabe dodges it nicely.
Watanabe keeping hold of Evans's head, controlling as best he can.
The fighters are starting to perspire pretty heavily.
Watanabe trying to control but Evans postures up.
Watanabe pushes Evans off looking to stand but Evans dives back in and keeps control.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
There's not a lot going on here and the crowd are letting the fighters know they're not willing to tolerate a lack of action.
Watanabe has no desire to be mounted, so is trying to control. Evans is working away from the top position though.

Evans stands up from half guard... He's had enough of that ground malarky for the time being.
Watanabe with a lazy takedown attempt
and Evans counters with a stiff right hand.
Watanabe is looking to clinch.
Evans shoots in and drives through. Watanabe sprawls well.

Watanabe pushes Evans up against the cage in a clinch.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Watanabe is trying to work for a single leg takedown but Evans pulls him back up using the underhooks.

Evans turns his hips and lands a very nice judo throw into side control!
Watanabe can't do much from the bottom here.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kazuhiro Evans dominated that round.
OK. That's time! The bell goes and we're back to the action.

Watanabe tries to land a leg kick but Evans saw it coming and moves away.
Evans swats away the attempt to clinch by Watanabe.
Evans shoots and misses

and Watanabe counters with a single leg into guard. Evans didn't expect that.

Evans kicks Watanabe off and gets to his feet.

Watanabe shoots in and gets a takedown into half guard. Watanabe showed some decent athleticism there.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Watanabe thows a wild elbow that connects with the canvas.
Evans throws a strike from the bottom that misses.
Kazuhiro Evans overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe moves into full mount! Evans won't be happy about that!
Both fighters are absolutely exhausted here.
Watanabe tries to control but Evans wriggling away.

Watanabe is looking to secure an arm. He's managed it! He's pivoting for an armbar - that looks tight! But Evans has managed to get out of it and now he's in a dominant position. Nice work from Evans!
Watanabe is working the butterfly guard. He manages to land a nice scissor sweep and is now in half guard on the top. Nice move.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Evans is trying to control but can't.
Evans tries to get to full guard but Watanabe has control of the leg.
Watanabe wants to pass to mount but Evans is defending the position.
Evans landing small, sideways elbows.
Evans is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Watanabe scores with a couple of nice shots.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Evans is trying to maintain the position but Watanabe is very close to passing his half guard.
Watanabe blocks the strikes from Evans.
Evans wants to improve his position but Watanabe is controlling well.

The referee has ruled that neither fighter is active enough on the ground and has stood them back up.
A really sloppy takedown attempt there from Watanabe.
Watanabe fails with the takedown

and Evans counters with a shoot takedown into half guard.
Evans missing with the ground and pound from half guard.
Watanabe is looking for a sweep. Evans is wise to his cunning plan and keeps the top position.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe missing with punches from the bottom.
Evans tries to stand and escape but Watanabe is controlling the position.
Watanabe trying to control from the bottom.
Watanabe is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Evans's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Evans's back!
Watanabe is looking cool and calm here, just waiting for a good opportunity to attack and finish the fight from this dominant position.

Evans defending nicely against the rear naked choke attempt.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Kengo Watanabe showed his class in that round. I'd imagine he'll take it on all the scorecards.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!

Watanabe bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Watanabe looks for a takedown but Evans sprawls well.

Evans scores a takedown into full mount!
Watanabe holds on for dear life.
Evans raining down shots from the mount!
Watanabe tries to lock up and control but Evans gives him a forearm to the face and pushes him away.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watanabe is looking to get to half guard.
Evans lands with some vicious ground and pound - can Watanabe hang on?
Evans with shots to the head and body - Watanabe looks very uncomfortable down there.
Evans working away from the top, dropping strikes.
Evans fakes a shot to the body and cracks his opponent in the head. Nice ground and pound there!
Evans avoids the attempt from Watanabe to control.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Well. There's a bit of a lull in the action here and the crowd are starting to get restless.
Watanabe working to try and regain half guard.
Evans throwing strikes here but Watanabe is writhing around nicely and avoiding any serious damage.
Watanabe is in all sorts of trouble here.
Watanabe tries to hold on but Evans postures up.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watanabe regains half guard.
Evans scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Evans 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.

Evans is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Watanabe trying to keep hold of his opponent's head but Evans manages to pass to mount!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Watanabe wants to control but Evans is having none of it.
Watanabe tries to reverse the position but Evans maintains control.
Watanabe sneaks a leg back under and regains half guard and is working straight away to try and get back to guard. He hasn't managed just yet though.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Evans prevents Watanabe from standing back up.
Watanabe is looking to control Evans's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Watanabe avoid being mounted?

And that's the end of the fight!
Kazuhiro Evans showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Evans 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 Kenichi Hosakawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Hirohito Nitta scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yuuki Gou scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Kazuhiro Evans!