PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight kickboxing rules bout between Paul Niche (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Franky Conner (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Both these guys have solid standup skills and neither is particularly fantastic on the ground, so let's hope for a nice standup war!

Niche
vs
Conner

180 cm
19
190 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

175 cm
19
184 lbs
1 - 2 - 0

Lethal high kicks
Big right hand

Excellent MT
Granite chin

Sully's Bar & Grill

Hellbent
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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 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Amsterdam, Paul Niche!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 1 - 2 - 0, fighting out of Hilo, Franky Conner!
The judges for this bout are Roger Salmon, Paul Gruel and Micheangelo Fripello.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
Conner misses with an attempted mid kick.
Niche blocks a head kick by Conner.
Conner tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
Niche comes forward and lands a shot to the body, then darts back out of range.

Niche moves into the clinch.
Conner is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Niche is defending well for now.
Conner looking to throw knees to the head but Niche is blocking nicely.
Conner missing with knees to the body.
Conner struggles to land a body shot inside as Niche controls his hands.
Niche on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
Niche on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Conner throws a knee to the head but misses.
Conner tries a knee to the head but he's missed.
Niche connects with a nasty looking knee right to Conner's face.
Niche managing to block the knees to the body from Conner.
Niche blocks a punch to the side of the head.
Niche looking to stall.
Niche misses with a hook to the ribs.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Niche stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
Conner unloads a knee to the mid-section.
Niche tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Conner avoids it.
Our sources have told us that Niche has been working on his knees in the buildup to the fight.
With the fighters up against the ropes, Conner throws an elbow but misses.
Conner blocks an uppercut.
Niche lands a shoulder strike that jolts his opponent's head backwards.
Conner with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Niche lands a nice uppercut.
Conner tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Conner misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Niche.
Niche blocks a body shot from Conner.
Conner misses with a hook to the ribs.
Niche misses with a knee to the head.
Niche throws a punch but it's blocked by Conner.
Conner goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Conner with the Thai clinch, lands a knee to the head.

It looks like Paul Niche has been cut.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Conner missing with knees to the body.
Conner throws a knee to the head but misses.
Conner misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Conner misses with a body punch.
Niche blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Niche landing knees to the head.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Conner with an attempt at a knee that misses.
Niche lands a hook to the body. It's hard to tell if that hurt Conner or not.
Conner using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Niche has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Conner tries to land a knee to the body but he is off balance and Niche avoids it.
A short body shot lands from Niche as the two fighters clinch.
Conner is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Niche is defending well for now.
Niche misses with a knee strike.
Niche lands with a light punch inside.
Niche lands an uppercut.
Conner goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
Niche scores with a shot to the side of Conner's head.
Niche is looking to score with knees to the body. Maybe he'll change it up and go body then head. Conner is defending well for now.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close round but I would say that Paul Niche will probably get the nod.
The cut man is working on Paul Niche's cut.
The corners get their ten second warning. Both fighters stand from their stools and stare eachother down, ready to get back to the action.

Niche lands with a right, followed by a left to the temple and Conner goes down! The ref sends Niche to a neutral corner so he can begin the count. 3,4,5,6 and Conner is back to his feet. He seems a little groggy but the referee thinks he's OK to continue, so we're back to the action!

It looks like Franky Conner has been cut.
Conner throws a push kick but Niche slaps the foot to one side.
Conner throws a nice head kick!
Niche scores with a decent looking hook.
Conner misses with a half-hearted attempt at a head kick.
Niche throws a big counter combination but Conner scrambles out of danger and avoids any damage.
Conner goes for a spinning back kick but it misses.
It looked like Niche wanted to counter with a hook but didn't fully commit.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
That's a knee to de groin and it's over and out! Conner crumples to the ground after an illegal strike from Niche - the referee stops the clock and Conner gets 5 minutes to recover from that one. "I'm sorry" says Niche. Conner manages to get back to his feet and the fight resumes.
Niche throws a monster uppercut resembling something out of street fighter but it doesn't land.
Conner lands with a nice body kick.
Niche throws a quick inside leg kick.
Niche scores with a spinning back kick!

The fight moves into the clinch position.
Niche avoiding damage as Conner throws knees to the body.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Niche pushes Conner back against the ropes and lands a hook to the side of the head.
Conner misses with a hook to the ribs.

Niche manages to break the clinch.
Conner throws the kick towards the body but Niche avoids it.
Niche misses with a low kick.
Niche tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
Conner scores with a head kick.
Conner has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Niche.
A good leg kick by Niche.
Conner throws a sloppy head kick and Niche moves out of range easily.
Niche scores with a sloppy punch to the body. Not much technique there but it did the business.
Conner misses with the body kick
and Niche counters with a nice jab to the body that keeps Conner thinking.
Niche tries to land a front kick but Conner steps back. That was a bit too telegraphed.
Conner replies with a solid counter kick to the body but Niche blocks it well.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Conner moves out of range as Niche strikes.
A jab from Niche misses.
Conner tries a switch kick but it misses it's target.
This has been an exciting period of action!
A jab from Niche finds it's way through Conner's defenses.
Conner throws a body kick but he wasn't in range.
Conner looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
Niche lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Niche throws out a token jab with nothing on it.
A solid body kick from Niche.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
Niche misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Conner.
Conner throws a body kick despite being completely out of range
and Niche finishes the little exchange by landing a big kick to the body.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Paul Niche will take that round after scoring the only knockdown of the round.
Both fighters have cut men working on them during the interval.
That's time! Niche's corner gives him a slap on the ass as he gets ready to fight. So, we enter the final round. Let's see if either fighter can bring us a finish, or whether we're going to the judges scorecards.

Niche throws a push kick but Conner slaps the foot to one side.
Niche swings and misses with a hook to the body.

Niche closes the distance and clinches.
Niche scores with a nice hook to the head.
Niche on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.
A short right hand to the side of the head by Niche.
Conner misses with a knee to the head.
Conner swings wildly with an uppercut but Niche uses good head movement to avoid it.
Conner tries a knee to the head but Niche blocks it.
Conner misses with a knee to the head.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Niche blocks a body shot from Conner.
An uppercut on the inside fails to land for Conner.
Niche lands on the inside with an uppercut.
Conner's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Conner misses with a knee to the head.
Conner landing knees to the body. They look like they could hurt.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Conner misses with a knee strike.
Conner missing with knees to the body.
Conner lands a nice knee to the body.
Conner takes a big intake of breath there - he's definitely tired.
A short right from Niche on the inside.
Conner missing with knees to the body.
Conner trying to land knees to the body.
Conner using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Niche has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.
Franky Conner has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!
Conner's head jolts backwards as he takes an uppercut right on the button!
Conner with the Thai clinch. He's looking to land a big knee but he's not managed it this time.
Niche using the Thai plumb to throw knees but Conner has his back arched nicely, preventing the strike.

Niche pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Conner on the wrong end of a vicious looking body shot.
Niche scores with a spinning back kick!
Conner misses with a body shot.
Conner circles away from the clinch attempt.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Conner throws a leg kick
and Niche counters with a body kick.
The fans in attendance giving it up for the two fighters, who have really let it all hang out in the last minute or so!
Niche throws a body punch but Conner moves out of range.
Niche lands with a nice body kick.
Donk. Niche catches Conner right on the button with a cross.
Niche lands the left hand.
Niche connects with a crisp jab.

Conner is rocked!
Niche lands a front kick.
Conner is still on wobbly legs! Can Niche finish him?
Conner walks straight into devastating uppercut and drops to the floor, clearly wobbled! Can he beat the count? 4,5,6,7... he's up! And he's down again! The ref steps in and calls an end to the fight! What a punch that was!

Ladies and gentlemen, after 2:41 of round 3, we have a winner by way of TKO (Punch). Paul Niche!