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PBP Commentary |
Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Antonio Gracie (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shinya Watannabe (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). The atmosphere really building for this one as we go over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!
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| 170 cm
25
195 lbs
4 - 0 - 0 |
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175 cm
25
197 lbs
3 - 1 - 0 |
Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Cuts easily |
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Good takedowns
Counter fighter
Determined |
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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
4 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Antonio Gracie!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of
3 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Shinya Watannabe!
The judges for this bout are Daniel Franklin, Michael Johnstone and Dirk Anderson.
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Gracie gets caught flat footed, as Watannabe shoots in with a quick takedown into guard.
Watannabe drops back, looking for a kneebar! Gracie looks panicked! The fighters roll across the mat, one looking to finish, one looking to escape. Gracie looks to have wriggled free... Yes, he's got his leg free and he's dived into side control! Good work there from Gracie!
Gracie has had enough of the ground for now and decides to stand.
Watannabe feints and then dives in with a takedown. That was a long way out but the feint bought him enough time to close the distance and complete the takedown. Now we'll play guard for a bit and see who can get the better of that position.
Watannabe slows down the pace of the fight for a moment. He'll need to remain active if he doesn't want to see the fight stood back up.
Watannabe won't allow Gracie to get back to his feet.
Gracie pushes Watannabe off and gets back to his feet.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Gracie shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Gracie was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie decides to take the fight back to the feet.
Watannabe changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Gracie looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Gracie is not content to let Watannabe control the position.
Watannabe tries to move into full mount but can't pass Gracie's legs.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watannabe keeps trying to improve his position.
Watannabe tries for a kimura. Not really close to a finish though.
Watannabe wants to take a breather but Gracie manages to regain guard - a lesson learnt for Watannabe.
Watannabe sitting in guard, not really doing much.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing Watannabe from controlling successfully.
Gracie looks to be in better condition than last time we saw him fight. Obviously he's been working hard on his cardio.
Watannabe is holding a leg here, probably looking for an ankle lock - he drops back and goes for it! Gracie is in trouble! Is it all over??? No! Gracie has escaped and now he's on top!
That's four 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.
Watannabe looking for subs off his back but Gracie has passed one foot through into half guard.
Gracie decides to stand and escape the position.
Gracie gets taken down but at least he's managed to land in guard.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Watannabe postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Gracie is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Watannabe, into his guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
Antonio Gracie dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.
Watannabe closes the distance and gets a trip takedown into side control. Gracie quickly recovers to half guard.
Antonio Gracie overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Gracie is trying to stand.
Watannabe trying to control the action but Gracie is working from the bottom.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Watannabe is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Gracie is staying active underneath Watannabe, who seems content to just control the action from this position.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Watannabe looks more muscular than last time we saw him. He must have been on the weights.
Gracie throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Watannabe was covering up waiting for the punch and Gracie finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Watannabe has a closed guard, preventing anything of note from happening. Perhaps he's looking to stall.
Gracie stands and steps away. Watannabe gets to his feet too and we're back to the striking game.
That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watannabe looking to score a takedown here. Gracie is defending well but Watannabe drives through and ends up in Gracie's guard.
Watannabe wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
Watannabe pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gracie is keeping the position for now.
Gracie wants to stand but Watannabe is controlling the position.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watannabe wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
Gracie wants to stand up but Watannabe is controlling him.
We must be close to a standup if these guys don't pick up the pace.
Watannabe wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
The referee has motioned to the fighters to stand back up. He just wasn't happy with the level of activity.
Watannabe manages to get an easy takedown there - catching Gracie on his heels. He'll look to pass Gracie's guard now, I'm sure.
Watannabe wants to control from the top but Gracie keeps moving.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
My god... these two guys really need to pick up the pace or everyone will leave to go get a beer.
Watannabe tries to free his leg and advance position but Gracie is retaining full guard.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing Watannabe from controlling successfully.
Gracie manages to escape and get back to his feet.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Gracie gets a takedown into half guard.
Watannabe is looking to control Gracie's leg but it's slowly edging free. Can Watannabe avoid being mounted?
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.
That was a close second round but I would say that Antonio Gracie will probably get the nod.
That's time! Back to the action! This is the final round!
Gracie scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
You can see the frustration on Watannabe's face, being in this tough position on the bottom.
Watannabe is looking to reverse the position.
Gracie decides to stand back up. Gracie steps back and let's Watannabe get back to his feet.
Gracie closes the distance and scores a nice trip takedown into half guard. Watannabe did well to prevent Gracie getting side control.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Gracie escapes and gets back to his feet.
Gracie tries to sprawl but Watannabe drives through with a takedown into half guard.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Watannabe seems to be working for a kimura but Gracie defends the submission attempt.
That's one minute gone in the round.
Watannabe is working for submissions here but there's nothing on.
Watannabe is trying to control the action in half guard but Gracie is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Watannabe is sneakily working for an arm triangle but Gracie sees it coming and defends easily.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Gracie is trying to stand back up but Watannabe is controlling him
That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Watannabe trying to pass the guard but Gracie defending well.
Watannabe is keen to just control but Gracie is a slippery customer.
Watannabe is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Gracie has managed to free his arm - good work.
Watannabe prevents Gracie from standing back up.
That's three minutes gone in the round.
Watannabe is working for a submission of some sort.
Watannabe sitting and controlling from the half guard.
The referee has stepped in and called for a break in the action. We'll restart on the feet.
Gracie scores a trip takedown into side control. Nice.
Gracie decides to stand back up. Gracie steps back and let's Watannabe get back to his feet.
That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watannabe shoots in from a long way out. He's driving through with the takedown attempt and he eventually gets it, landing in Gracie's guard.
Watannabe trying to control but Gracie is working from the bottom.
Watannabe pressing down on his opponent's thigh, looking to pass guard. Gracie is keeping the position for now.
Gracie keeping moving, preventing Watannabe from controlling successfully.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Watannabe looking to pass the guard.
Shinya Watannabe has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
And that's the end of the fight!
That was a close round. You could make an argument for either fighter but I would give it to Antonio Gracie.
Well Gracie 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 Daniel Franklin scores the fight 30:27
Judge Michael Johnstone scores the fight 30:27
Judge Dirk Anderson scores the fight 29:29
In favor of your winner, by majority decision... Antonio Gracie!
After the fight, Antonio Gracie was humble in paying tribute to his opponent but made it clear he wants to go on to bigger and better things. It seemed to go down well with the crowd who cheered him loudly.
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| S |
C
A |
G |
S |
C
B |
G |
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S |
C |
G |
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energy
A | B |
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hype
A | B |
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pop
A | B |
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mgr
A | B |
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FIGHT
RATING
30% |
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