Kana Watanabe milestones her 10th MMA victory after outworked Alejandra Lara at Bellator 255.
The undefeated Kana Watanabe made it back-to-back wins since joining the Bellator roster, using timely takedowns and top position to grind out Alejandra Lara for the split decision victory. The scorecard was 28-29, 29-28, 29-28.
Alejandra Lara and Kana Watanabe started the fight carefully. Alejandra Lara landed big with a stiff right hand that backed Watanabe up then forced her to rush forward into a successful trip takedown. However, after several punches, Kana Watanabe gave up her back, and Alejandra Lara started to work toward a rear-naked choke, but without success.
Alejandra Lara kept her good fight in the second round. Her pressure, counters, and accuracy were all on point in tagging Kana Watanabe numerous times. Her opponent was waiting and used her judo skills.
With the result hanging in the balance going into the third round, Kana Watanabe came out aggressive to pressure with the takedown attempts. She fought hard to trip Lara to the mat off the fence, then took over control. She spent several minutes in the top position, reigning down short punches and elbows from half guard to rack up some critical points and control time. She tried to finish the fight with a choke in the final seconds to put an exclamation point on it but would have to settle with the decision to win.
