PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Steve Cranzinski (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Tom Watson (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Chooooooooon! I think Cranzinski might be my favorite fighter, now he's come out to Aenima. I'm sure you'll be fascinated to know that I was talking to some pointless Z list celebrity before the fight and he thought that Tom Watson was going to win. Let's see if he was right.

Cranzinski
vs
Watson

185 cm
27
200 lbs
4 - 4 - 0

183 cm
23
197 lbs
9 - 10 - 0

Good wrestling
Solid boxing
KO power

Good wrestler
Decent boxing
Powerful

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 - 4 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Steve Cranzinski!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 9 - 10 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Tom Watson!
The judges for this bout are , and .

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Cranzinski misses with a combination
and Cranzinski takes a counter punch right on the button for his troubles.
Watson ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.

Watson feints and as Cranzinski raises his hands in defense, Watson changes levels and drives through with a takedown into guard.
Watson with a flurry of punches that miss.
Cranzinski controls Watson momentarily but Watson frees himself.
A big thud reverberates around the arena there as Watson accidentally thumps the mat. Hopefully he's not broken his hand.
Cranzinski pulls Watson in close to prevent any damage.
Cranzinski keeping full guard, as Watson tries to pass.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cranzinski is trying to keep Watson in close.
Cranzinski utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Watson works a leg free and moves into half guard.
Cranzinski keeps control of the position for the meantime.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Cranzinski wants to control but Watson is keeping busy and won't allow it.
Watson thows a huge punch but Cranzinski dodges it nicely.
Cranzinski missing with punches from the bottom.
Watson lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Watson scoring with strikes to the body and head.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Watson passes to full mount!
Cranzinski gets back to half guard.
The fighters are battling for position here. Cranzinski manages to regain full guard. Nice work.
Watson missing there with some ground and pound from the guard.
Watson trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Cranzinski manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Cranzinski prevents Watson from getting back to his feet.
Cranzinski is in close to Watson's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Cranzinski distracts Watson with his right hand and drops a big elbow with his other arm.
Watson is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Cranzinski with a nice head shot there.
Cranzinski 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.
Watson wants to get back to his feet but Cranzinski is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
Cranzinski is taking a break and basically stalling. The referee will not allow him to do that for long.
Watson is looking to stand up but Cranzinski isn't so interested in that idea.
Watson looks gassed!
Cranzinski trying to control the position from guard on top but Watson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cranzinski is in close to Watson's body, working some short punches and elbows.
Cranzinski with a nice head shot there.
Cranzinski lands a couple of decent looking shots.
Watson wants to stand but Cranzinski is controlling the position.
Cranzinski with a nice head shot there.
Cranzinski with a couple of shots to the head there. Not particularly brutal.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cranzinski keeps in close for a moment and lands a decent shot to the side of Watson's head.
Cranzinski wants to control from the top but Watson keeps moving.
Watson is looking to stand up but Cranzinski isn't so interested in that idea.
Cranzinski trying to control the position from guard on top but Watson is wriggling around, looking for whatever he can.
Cranzinski working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
Cranzinski is pushing down on Watson's leg trying to pass to half guard. Watson is fighting to maintain full guard but Cranzinski has managed to sneak the leg through.

Watson pushes Cranzinski off and gets back to his feet.

Cranzinski gets a clinch.
Watson lands a damaging elbow.
A right hook to the body lands for Cranzinski.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Cranzinski dominated that round.
The referee calls time. The cornermen exit stage left and we're back to business.

Cranzinski fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Watson on the side of the head.
Cranzinski fails in his attempt to clinch.
Cranzinski throws a left and a right that both miss

and Watson counters with a nice double leg into guard.
Cranzinski working the defensive guard well to avoid strikes from Watson.
Watsonis looking to pass into half guard but Cranzinski pushes him away with his feet and jumps on top - now Cranzinski is in guard.
Watson is wriggling around but Cranzinski manages to pass to half guard.
Cranzinski drops an elbow to the side of Watson's head.
Watson is breathing heavily.
Watson is trying to stand back up but Cranzinski is controlling him
Cranzinski is looking to take a break and control but Watson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.
Cranzinski lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Watson tries to kick Cranzinski off but Cranzinski keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Cranzinski wants to control but Watson is keeping him busy.
Cranzinski working Watson over with strikes.
Ground and pound from Cranzinski.
Cranzinski looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Watson is looking to escape.
Watson is trying to defend against the ground and pound but Cranzinski scores with a couple of nice shots.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Cranzinski lands a nice short elbow.

Watson is rocked!
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Cranzinski trying to control the pace.
Watson on the receiving end of some nice ground and pound.
Cranzinski landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Cranzinski lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Watson is still in real trouble! Can Cranzinski finish him?

Cranzinski seems to be looking for submissions.
Steve Cranzinski overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Cranzinski is looking to take a break and control but Watson is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Cranzinski lands a nice short elbow.
Watson seems to have recovered his senses.
Watson is trying to stand up here but Cranzinski is controlling him well.
Cranzinski trying to mount his opponent but Watson defends it.
Watson wants to get back to his feet.
Cranzinski looks towards his corner to check for any instructions. The corner give him nothing to work with, so he cracks Watson with a short hammerfist. I guess that's as good as any advice he could get in this position.
Cranzinski takes advantage of the dominant position to land a couple of big hammer fists.
Ground and pound from Cranzinski.
Watson wants to get back to his feet.
Cranzinski is keeping good posture, landing some ground and pound.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Cranzinski lands a big shot. The thud that echoes around the arena is like music to the fans' ears.
Cranzinski scoring with strikes to the body and head.
Watson tries to kick Cranzinski off but Cranzinski keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Cranzinski is scoring with some nice ground and pound from the dominant position.
Cranzinski stops Watson from getting back to his feet.
Cranzinski landing with strikes to the body and head, softening up his opponent.
Cranzinski trying to control the action but Watson is working from the bottom.
Cranzinski 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.
Watson is trying to stand.

Cranzinski is looking for an arm triangle, whilst trying to pass to side control. Watson doesn't seem that keen to cooperate though. No luck this time Cranzinski.
Cranzinski trying to control the action but Watson is working from the bottom.
Cranzinski stops Watson from getting back to his feet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Watson is not content to let Cranzinski control the position.
Cranzinski scores with a couple of good hammerfists.
Watson tries to kick Cranzinski off but Cranzinski keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Cranzinski trying to control the action but Watson is working from the bottom.
Cranzinski looks to score some points with some ground and pound.
Cranzinski 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.
Cranzinski lands with a punch from half guard.
Watson tries to kick Cranzinski off but Cranzinski keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Cranzinski trying to control from half guard but Watson is working away.
The referee walks around the fighters to get a better view of the action. Cranzinski lands a nice short elbow.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Cranzinski is trying to control the action in half guard but Watson is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.
Watson tries to kick Cranzinski off but Cranzinski keeps his base steady and stays in half guard.
Watson is looking to get back to is feet but Cranzinski passes into side control.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Steve Cranzinski dominated that second 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. This is the final round!

Jab, jab by Cranzinski - just one landing.
Cranzinski throws a left and a right that both miss

and Watson counters with a shoot takedown. Cranzinski fights it but they end up in guard.
Cranzinski is trying to control the position but Watson postures up.
Watson working in close now, lands a nice elbow to the side of Cranzinski's head.
Cranzinski utilising some decent striking defenses from the guard, preventing the ground and pound.
Watson postures up and lands a big shot to Cranzinski's brow.
Cranzinski keeping full guard, as Watson tries to pass.
Cranzinski working a defensive guard here.
Watson postures up and lands some nice ground and pound.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Cranzinski pulls Watson in close to his closed guard and prevents Watson from doing any damage or advancing position.
Watson trying to pass the guard but can't manage it just yet.
Watson trying to pass the guard. He's being very persistent here but Cranzinski manages to land a sweep and now he's on top!
Cranzinski cracks Watson with a solid left hand.
Watson wants to stand but Cranzinski is controlling the position.
Cranzinski with a nice head shot there.

Watson uses the cage to get back to his feet.
Cranzinski uses good footwork to get in and out and land a nice right hand before Watson has time to react.
Tom Watson has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Cranzinski fakes low and throws an overhand right that catches Watson on the side of the head.
Cranzinski throws a right and a left that Watson avoids nicely.
Cranzinski misses with a jab, cross combination.
Cranzinski shoots in for a takedown but doesn't get it.

That's three minutes gone in the round.

Cranzinski shoots in for a takedown from distance. He catches Watson napping and manages to drive through into side control!
Cranzinski prevents Watson from escaping the position.
Cranzinski cracks Watson with an elbow. That is naaassty.
Both fighters really going for it on the ground here!
Watson tries to escape but Cranzinski is in control.
Watson wants to get back to his feet but Cranzinski is dominant here and he's now got Watson's back!
Cranzinski tries to get the hooks in deep but Watson pushed the leg off.
Watson looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Cranzinski has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Watson.
Cranzinski scores with punches from the back.
Watson looking to stop the rear naked choke attempt by controlling the hands.
Watson covers up after that shot from Cranzinski.
Watson has the hand control, trying to stop the rear naked choke.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Cranzinski has his opponent trapped and is landing shots. Not a good position for Watson.
Cranzinski landing with strikes.
Cranzinski trying to control.
Steve Cranzinski is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.
Cranzinski slows the pace down here. Having a little breather whilst he's in a dominant position, looking to rest and regain some energy, ready to go for the finish.
Watson holding both Cranzinski 's hands and preventing any damage.
Cranzinski landing with strikes.
Cranzinski is looking to finish with some ground and pound!
Watson is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Cranzinski.
Cranzinski seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Watson for as long as he can get away with.
The crowd applaud the fighters efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Watson is trying to get back to his feet but he's not managed it yet.

And that's the end of the fight!
Steve Cranzinski showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Cranzinski 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 Andi Peters scores the fight 30:27
Judge Gordon Ramsey scores the fight 30:27
Judge Frank Skinner scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Steve Cranzinski!