PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between William Hartwell (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Shinji Tanaka (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tanaka comes into a darkened arena with his song building. Yuudachi kicks in, the lights come on and the crowd goes wild! What a showman! William Hartwell has the better chin. Will he look to stand and bang today?

Hartwell
vs
Tanaka

163 cm
20
145 lbs
9 - 5 - 0

160 cm
22
130 lbs
7 - 3 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Excellent boxer
Cardio machine

Powerful takedowns
Decent boxing
Good gas tank

[WOT] DTK Designs (Laundry)

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 9 - 5 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, William Hartwell!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 7 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Tokyo, Shinji Tanaka!
The judges for this bout are Sosuke Kotani, Kenichi Hosakawa and Ren Mimura.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Hartwell uses good footwork to get in and out, landing a nice hook.
Tanaka tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Hartwell throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
Horrible takedown by Tanaka or perhaps it was just good defense by Hartwell which made him look bad.
Hartwell lunges in with swinging rights and lefts but Tanaka circles away quickly and effectively.

Tanaka drives through with a takedown into Hartwell's guard. Let's see what he can do from the top position.
Hartwell keeping moving, preventing Tanaka from controlling successfully.
Hartwell wants to stand up but Tanaka is controlling him.
Tanaka trying to control the position from guard on top but Hartwell is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Tanaka might have to switch it up a bit here because his efforts to control Hartwell kaven't been going to plan, at least at the current moment in time.

That's one minute gone in the round.

Tanaka postures up as if he's going to throw some strikes but drops back for an ankle! Hartwell is in big trouble! He looks ready to tap! But no, he's escaped and dives on top of Tanaka, into his guard.
Hartwell wants to get up but he can't break Tanaka's closed guard. He needs to be careful trying to break the legs open, as he's open to submissions here.

The ref stands the fighters back up. Shinji Tanaka was stalling too much, according to the referee.
Hartwell throws a series of punches but Tanaka avoids them all with ease.

Tanaka moves into the clinch.

Tanaka lands a nice trip takedown into half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka throwing punches and elbows but they're not doing any damage.

Tanaka is looking for a kimura but he's never going to get it from there.
Tanaka throws a strike but Hartwell avoids it easily and moves to full guard.
Hartwell preventing the ground and pound from doing any damage.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Tanaka accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Hartwell working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Tanaka.
Tanaka missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.

Tanaka is trying to work a guillotine from the top, or something like that? Don't know how he thinks he's going to get a finish from there.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka looking to sit in guard and control but Hartwell gets the butterfly guard and sweeps. He's now in the guard on the top.
Tanaka controlling Hartwell's posture.

Tanaka has his feet on Hartwell's hips. He pushes off and gets to his feet. Nice work.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Hartwell swinging wildly here.
Tanaka drops his hands and takes a jab to the jaw for his troubles.
Hartwell connects with a hook to the side of his opponent's head.

Tanaka clinches up with Hartwell and pushes him back against the cage.
Hartwell scores with a shot to the side of Tanaka's head.
Nice body punch from Hartwell.
Hartwell misses with a hook to the ribs.
Hartwell looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Hartwell lands a shot to the body.

Tanaka has managed to pull guard. Let's see whether he can work an aggressive guard. It will also be interesting to see what tactics Hartwell uses from the top position.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Tanaka manages to sweep nicely, so he's now on top. Hartwell manages to get himself to full guard.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Shinji Tanaka dominated that round.
That's time! Hartwell's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight.

Tanaka shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Hartwell sprawls well. Hartwell wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Tanaka gets slowly back to his feet.
Hartwell throws a looping overhand right but Tanaka ducks down to avoid it.
Tanaka throws a low kick but it's checked well by Hartwell.
Tanaka shoots in for a takedown. "Ole!" shouts Hartwell as he jumps to the side.
Hartwell stuffs the takedown.
William Hartwell has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Shinji Tanaka.
Hartwell swings wildly with a couple of big hooks

and Tanaka counters with a nice double leg into side control. Hartwell won't be happy with that.
Shinji Tanaka has got the better of the ground game so far.

Tanaka goes for an armbar here - this could be all over! But no, Hartwell has escaped beautifully and is now on top in side control! Oh, that's unlucky for Tanaka but great work by Hartwell.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Tanaka tries to buck Hartwell off but Hartwell is having none of it.
Hartwell working away.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tanaka is positioning himself to get back to half guard.
Tanaka is persisting with the attempt to improve his position.
Hartwell knows he needs to get back to his feet asap. He's simply no match for Tanaka on the ground.
Hartwell tries to stand but Tanaka is controlling his head.
Tanaka regains half guard.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tanaka gets full guard.
Tanaka has Hartwell pulled in close to control his posture.

Tanaka is working for submissions here. He's thrown up his legs looking for a triangle but Hartwell frees his head nicely. Oh but Tanaka has switched to an armbar! Hartwell is tapping furiously! Lovely submission there!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:42 of round 2, we have a winner by way of Submission (Triangle Armbar). Shinji Tanaka!
Shinji Tanaka was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.