PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a featherweight MMA rules bout between Andr De Fran (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Rocco Falcone (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). De Fran comes to the cage accompanied by No Worries. Over to our ring announcer for the fighter introductions!

De Fran
vs
Falcone

172 cm
36
158 lbs
28 - 21 - 2

175 cm
27
155 lbs
12 - 5 - 1

Good wrestling
World class boxer
Granite chin

Good wrestler
Excellent boxer
Granite chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the featherweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 28 - 21 - 2, fighting out of New York, Andr De Fran!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 12 - 5 - 1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Rocco Falcone!
The judges for this bout are Taro Takaoka, Yasuomi Hirokawa and Shigeki Sano.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
De Fran throws a sloppy head kick and Falcone moves out of range easily.
De Fran defending well as Falcone loads up on a big left hand.
Falcone swinging wildly here.
Well, he's not going to score with shots like that. A lazy body kick attempt from De Fran.
Falcone throws a right hand that misses
and De Fran counters with a good, hard body kick but Falcone shrugs it off.
Falcone fakes a head punch and goes low to the body. Nicely done.
De Fran dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on Falcone. That did some damage!
De Fran tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Falcone was well out of range. Poor timing from De Fran.
Falcone tried to score with a low kick but De Fran checks it.
Falcone misses with a wild body shot.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Falcone misses with a two punch combination.
Falcone throws a lazy head kick

and De Fran moves into the clinch.
Falcone told us before the fight that he's been working on his elbows. An under utilised technique these days - let's see if it can sway the outcome of the fight.
Falcone is looking for a takedown.
The pace slowing considerably in the clinch, as De Fran takes a break from that fighting nonsense to think about the finer things in life.
With the fighters up against the cage, De Fran throws an elbow but misses.
Falcone scores with a nice hook to the head.

That's one minute gone in the round.
A short right from Falcone on the inside.
De Fran throws an elbow that misses.
I was talking to De Fran's coach per-fight and he was telling me that they'd been working on the clinch in the runup to this fight.
De Fran effectively controlling the action here.
De Fran trying to land knees to the body.
De Fran lands a shoulder strike.
De Fran landing some nice looking knees to the body.
Falcone tries to circle away but De Fran has him pinned against the cage.
De Fran taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
De Fran scores with a hook to the body.
De Fran looking to slow down the pace here.
Falcone wants to stall.
A right handed body shot lands from De Fran.
Falcone blocks a knee to the body. He'll have a nicely bruised forearm in the morning.
Falcone scores with an uppercut up the middle.
De Fran stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.
De Fran is looking to control Falcone's arms but Falcone gets an underhook and turns him. Now De Fran has his back to the cage.
Falcone lands with a light punch inside.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Falcone misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Falcone throws a punch but it's blocked by De Fran.

Falcone breaks the clinch and we return to the middle of the mat.
Falcone looking to throw a kick but he's pulled out of it.
De Fran seemed to be looking to counter by closing the distance.
Falcone walks forward, straight into a front kick from De Fran.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
Falcone takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Falcone stumbles momentarily as he takes a strong leg kick from De Fran.
De Fran scores with a jab. Falcone acknowledges it with a nod of the head.
De Fran misses with a body shot.
Falcone cracks De Fran with an open hand slap.
Falcone scores with a hook to the body. De Fran takes a step back and tries to catch his breath.
Falcone circles away from the clinch attempt.
And an attempted straight right on the counter from Falcone! But no joy.
Falcone scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
De Fran scores with a shot to the body.
Falcone tries to score with a low kick but De Fran moves his leg out of the way.
De Fran tries to counter by moving into the clinch but Falcone manages to circle out of the way.
Falcone lands with an uppercut that bounces De Fran off the cage and back into range.
Andr De Fran seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Fran keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
De Fran throws a sloppy head kick and Falcone moves out of range easily.
Falcone scores to the head and body with a nice combination!
De Fran buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Falcone scores with a one two! De Fran had his feet all tangled up there and couldn't avoid the strikes.
De Fran on the wrong end of a nice jab.
Falcone fakes a jab and scores with a low kick.
Falcone scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Falcone on the wrong end of a nice low kick. He's acting like it's no big deal but he doesn't want to take many more of those.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Falcone uses some good footwork to avoid the body shot by De Fran.
De Fran scores with a spinning back kick!
Falcone sees a low kick coming and goes to check it, but it's actually a body kick and it thuds into his unprotected ribs.
Falcone closes the distance and takes a jab right on the nose as he does so.
Falcone looks shocked there as he takes a right hand to the temple.
Falcone throws a right hand that De Fran ducks under and follows up with a left that De Fran also avoids with ease.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Fran throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
An inside leg kick lands from De Fran.
A head kick misses from Falcone.
Falcone tries to score with a leg kick but it misses it's target.
De Fran is looking to counter with a shot to the body.
Falcone throws a hook to the body but it doesn't connect.
De Fran lands an overhand left. A wild punch that just about connected.
Falcone misses with a wild body shot.
Falcone connects with a body shot.
Falcone misses with a looping right.
Falcone misses with a jab, cross combination.
Falcone has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from De Fran.
The crowd applaud the fighters' efforts here as the round comes to an end.
De Fran misses the shot to the body.
De Fran misses with a hook to the body
and Falcone counters with a quick right hand to the jaw.
De Fran looks to land a left hand but Falcone moved out of range nicely.
De Fran throws a right hand that Falcone ducks under and follows up with a left that Falcone also avoids with ease.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

A close round but Rocco Falcone will probably get the nod.
The minute break is over - no more time for sponges and pep talks - back to the action!

De Fran misses with a left hand
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
De Fran ducks down and throws a hook to the body but Falcone moves away.
Good work by De Fran as he checks the leg kick.
De Fran takes a jab on the nose there. A little bit of blood seems to be coming out. Hopefully that won't affect his breathing.
De Fran slips in close and lands a nice hook before moving back out of range.
De Fran cracks Falcone with a right hand to the side of the head.
Falcone misses with a low kick.
Falcone tries to move into range but De Fran moves to the side and lands with a nice right hand.
Falcone scores with a jab to the head.
De Fran misses with a low kick.
De Fran has his hands up protecting his head but a hook from Falcone finds it's way round the side to connect with De Fran's head.
De Fran connects with a leg kick. He turned his hip over nicely there.
Falcone looks to throw a body kick
and De Fran counters with a nice leg kick.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
Falcone's corner calls for a 1, 2 combination and Falcone duly obliges.
A low kick from De Fran misses
and Falcone counters with a good low kick that De Fran was not able to check.
De Fran throws a body punch but Falcone moves out of range.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Falcone shapes like he's going to throw a leg kick but settles back down.
De Fran throws a couple of head shots and lands with the final one - a decent hook, which struck Falcone on the side of the head.
Falcone throws a head kick that misses.

De Fran darts in and clinches Falcone up against the cage.
De Fran has a couple of punches blocked by Falcone.
Falcone tries to circle away but De Fran has him pinned against the cage.
De Fran is trying to wear down his opponent with knees to the body.
Falcone's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
A nice glancing elbow lands by De Fran.
De Fran taking a break, stalling in the clinch.
Falcone is looking to break free of the clinch but De Fran has double underhooks.
A short body shot lands from Falcone as the two fighters clinch.
Falcone looks like he'd prefer to be striking at range right now.
Falcone misses with a body punch.
Falcone tries to land a shot to the body but it's blocked.
Falcone misses with a body punch.

Falcone manages to break the clinch.
Falcone tries to work over De Fran's front leg with a kick but De Fran checks it.
Falcone does a little shimmy and throws a leg kick. The leg kick missed by a considerable margin though, making him look a little bit silly for doing the shimmy.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Falcone lands a leg kick and bounces back out of range.
Falcone's hands are dropping dangerously low here and De Fran connects clean with a right hook that sends him down to one knee! Falcone scrambles back to his feet.
A low kick from Falcone is predictable there

and De Fran counters into the clinch. Nicely done.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
Falcone is trying to push De Fran away but De Fran has him pressed against the cage, so he's going nowhere.

Falcone manages to break the clinch.
Falcone misses with a low kick as De Fran jumps back.
Falcone throws a wild combination but nothing lands.
Falcone looks to score with a combo but nothing lands.
Falcone needs to keep his hands up - De Fran had a free shot at his head there.
Falcone lands a glancing blow to the side of De Fran's head.
An inside leg kick lands from De Fran.
De Fran throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
Falcone lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

De Fran forces Falcone back against the cage and clinches.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Falcone takes an elbow to the forehead.
De Fran blocks a punch to the side of the head.
De Fran tries to stall but Falcone uses the opportunity to gain a better position.
Falcone tries to take the fight to the ground by pulling guard but can't manage it.
Falcone wants to break the clinch but can't.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Falcone managing to block the knees to the body from De Fran.
De Fran putting his Muay Thai to good use. He has Falcone in a tight clinch and is doing some damage with knees to the body.
De Fran can't find room to land a body shot as Falcone controls the action.
De Fran looking to slow down the pace here.
Falcone goes for a takedown in the clinch but De Fran prevents it.
The referee calls for De Fran to work.
De Fran manages to get underhooks and slows down the pace for a moment.
De Fran lands a right hand that snaps the head of Falcone backwards.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Falcone changes levels and goes for a takedown here. De Fran fights it off and pushes away nicely.
Andr De Fran has stuffed three takedown attempts in the round now. That's going to take a lot out of Rocco Falcone.
De Fran tests Falcone's chin there with a solid looking shot.
Falcone looks to score with a jab to the body but De Fran is just out of range.
De Fran is trying to close the distance and clinch up, after that failed offence from Falcone.
Falcone throws a sloppy head kick
and De Fran counters with a nice kick to the body.
Falcone ducks down and throws a hook to the body but De Fran moves away.
De Fran lands a beauty of a right hand that gets the crowd cheering.
Rocco Falcone seems to be getting the better of the standup.
Falcone delivers a nice body kick.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Falcone fails to land with a series of punches.
Jab, cross, leg kick. Nice combination by Falcone!

De Fran gets a clinch.
De Fran is pressed up against the cage. Falcone has hold of a leg and is looking to drag De Fran down to the mat. De Fran avoids the attempt though and has circled away. We're back to striking at a distance.
De Fran lands a nice looking kick to the body. Falcone takes a step back to recover.
Rocco Falcone is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.
Falcone throws a combination that misses
and De Fran counters with a nice leg kick.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

That was a close second round but I would say that Andr De Fran will probably get the nod.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action! This is the final round!

A telegraphed right hand from Falcone misses the target.
Nice defenses there by De Fran.

De Fran has Falcone up against the cage in a clinch.
Falcone goes for a body shot but it's blocked.
De Fran pressing his opponent against the cage.
De Fran tried to land a shot to the body but connects with Falcone's elbow.

Falcone manages to break the clinch.
A clash of legs there as De Fran blocks the low kick.
De Fran wings a very wild body shot but it does the job and lands to the midsection.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Falcone checks a leg kick.
De Fran ducks under an overhand right and circles away with a smile on his face.
De Fran misses with an uppercut. Falcone saw that one coming.
Falcone is looking to land body kicks.
De Fran thows a body kick. Falcone tries to catch it but that hurt him.

That's one minute gone in the round.
De Fran misses with a body shot. Nice footwork from Falcone.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by De Fran.
De Fran checks a low kick from Falcone.
De Fran throws a big shot that misses.
Falcone wants to counter the offense by De Fran and move into the clinch position.

De Fran clinches.
Falcone works for underhooks and lands a body shot in the process.
Both fighters are breathing heavily.
Falcone looking to slow down the pace here.
A battle for position here, against the cage.
Falcone is looking to break free of the clinch but De Fran has double underhooks.
De Fran is working hard here but doesn't seem to be able to control effectively, up against the cage.
Falcone prevents a body shot from De Fran.
De Fran misses with a shot to the kidneys.
Falcone lands a right hand that snaps the head of De Fran backwards.
Falcone avoids the elbow strike from De Fran, against the cage.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Falcone is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but De Fran is keeping busy.
De Fran misses with a shot to the kidneys.
De Fran is trying to slow down the pace of the fight but Falcone is keeping busy.
De Fran leaning his opponent against the cage.
Falcone lands with a light punch inside.
Falcone tries for a takedown. No joy.
Falcone lands a shot to the body.
Andr De Fran has scored more points in the clinch so far.
Nice elbow from De Fran.
De Fran stalling here - the referee won't stand for too much of that.

Falcone breaks from the clinch.
Falcone connects with a body shot that sends De Fran's belly button to the back.
De Fran misses with a body shot.
This is a great period of action - very entertaining stuff!
De Fran tries to land with a swinging hook to the body but Falcone was well out of range. Poor timing from De Fran.
Falcone ducks under a wild hook from De Fran.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
De Fran lands a leg kick that knocks Falcone off balance momentarily.
A chopping leg kick lands by De Fran.
Falcone displays some good footwork, moving neatly out of range as De Fran throws out the jab.
Falcone wants to counter with a clinch but De Fran pushes him away.
Falcone cracks De Fran with a good shot that sees him stumbling back into the cage.
A leg kick checked by De Fran.
De Fran misses with a telegraphed body shot
and Falcone connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
De Fran lands a nice looking kick to the body. Falcone takes a step back to recover.
Boom, another hit is landed. "You're gunna get knocked out" taunts De Fran, as that shot connected.
Falcone throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
De Fran bobs and weaves well there to avoid the strikes.
Falcone blocks a head kick by De Fran.
And Falcone responds with a good body kick, but De Fran manages to step out the way in time.
Sloppy strikes from Falcone. Those never looked like landing.
Falcone slips a jab from De Fran.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
De Fran scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
De Fran throws out a leg kick but Falcone moves out of range and De Fran only half commits.
De Fran throws a leg kick
and Falcone counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
The crowd cheering loudly, showing their appreciation for the quality fight we're seeing here.
De Fran moving in and out of range nicely, whilst landing the scoring shot.
De Fran looks to land a right hand but Falcone moved out of range.
Falcone has developed a nice purple lump on his ribcage, as a result of some heavy body kicks from De Fran.
De Fran attempts a low kick but it misses it's target.
Falcone throws a looping overhand right but De Fran ducks down to avoid it.
Falcone throws a combination but it was largely blocked by De Fran.
Falcone connects with a lovely jab that went straight through the gap between De Fran's hands.
That kick from De Fran tenderised Falcone's leg. Falcone is trying to keep his angry face on.
De Fran blocks a jab.

De Fran pushes Falcone up against the cage in a clinch.
De Fran lands a body punch - he's looking to wear down Falcone.
De Fran misses with a hook to the ribs.

And that's the end of the fight!
Andr De Fran showed his dominance in that final round.
I think De Fran has won this one but let's see what the judges have to say. 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 Taro Takaoka scores the fight 29:28
Judge Yasuomi Hirokawa scores the fight 29:28
Judge Shigeki Sano scores the fight 29:28

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Andr De Fran!
A loyal slave to those sponsorship dollars, Andr De Fran made sure he mentioned Dead Orbit , along with how happy he was to win his fight.