Watanabe vs Young

Who won Watanabe vs Young?

Kana Watanabe beat Shanna Young by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest during the prelims of PFL 1, on Thursday 4th April 2024 at Boeing Center in San Antonio.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Kana Watanabe.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Women’s Flyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 125 pounds (8.9 stone or 56.7 KG).

Watanabe vs Young stats

Kana Watanabe stepped into the octagon with a record of 12 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, 3 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 4 by submission.

Shanna Young made her way to the cage with a record of 9 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws, 2 of those wins coming by knock out and 3 by submission.

This was Kana Watanabe's 3rd fight in the PFL, having made her debut for the promotion in 2024. Shanna Young marked her 3rd fight for them, having made her own debut for the promotion in 2023.

Kana Watanabe's PFL record stood at 1-2-0, while Shanna Young's came in at 1-2-0.

The stats suggested Watanabe had a slight advantage in power over Young, with a 25% knock out percentage over Young's 22%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested that Watanabe and Young would have been pretty equal, both with a 33% submission rate.

Kana Watanabe was the older woman by 2 years, at 36 years old.

Young had a height advantage of 1 inch over Watanabe. Despite this, she had a 1-inch reach advantage.

Watanabe was arguably the less experienced fighter, having had 1 more fights, and made her debut in 2017, 2 years and 7 months later than Young, whose first professional fight was in 2015. She had fought 4 less professional rounds, 41 to Young's 45.

Watanabe vs Young form

Kana Watanabe had beaten 2 of her last 5 opponents.

In her last fight leading up to this contest, she had lost to Jena Bishop at PFL 2025 World Tournament: First Round 2 on 11th April 2025 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Universal Studios Florida, Orlando, United States.

Previous to that, she had been beaten by Liz Carmouche at PFL 4: 2024 Regular Season on 13th June 2024 by submission in the 3rd round at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville.

Going into that contest, she had won against Shanna Young at PFL 1: 2024 Regular Season on 4th April 2024 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Boeing Center, San Antonio.

Before that, she had beaten Veta Arteaga at Bellator MMA vs. RIZIN 2 on 31st July 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.

She had been defeated by Ilima Lei Macfarlane at Bellator 295 on 22nd April 2023 by split decision in their 3 round contest at Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, United States.

Activity check

Watanabe's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years, 2 months and 5 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 5 months and 8 days. In those fights, she fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

Young's last 4 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 8 months and 25 days, meaning she had been fighting on average every 11 months and 7 days. In those fights, she fought a total of 10 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.5 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Watanabe vs Young?

Kana Watanabe was a 2/7 (-340) favourite going into the contest, while Shanna Young made her way into the ring at 13/5 (+260) with oddsmakers.