PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a middleweight MMA rules bout between Koffi Tesfay (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Dana White (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). Tesfay's entrance music is Koffi olomide - Loi. A fine choice. White is bobbing his head along to his entrance song: Im The Boss. These two fighters really are very evenly matched on the feet - it will be fascinating to see who can assert themselves in that aspect of the fight.

Tesfay
vs
White

186 cm
27
194 lbs
5 - 0 - 0

186 cm
26
190 lbs
6 - 3 - 0

BJJ White Belt
Excellent MT
Very quick

BJJ Purple Belt
Excellent MT
Powerful

Sun-Tzu

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 5 - 0 - 0, fighting out of New York, Koffi Tesfay!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 6 - 3 - 0, fighting out of Las Vegas, Dana White!
The judges for this bout are Robert Twigg, George Francis and Wesley Smith.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
White moves in looking to clinch but Tesfay pushes him off.
White takes a shot to the body in his stride.
Tesfay scores with a push kick.
Tesfay swats away the attempt to clinch by White.
A nice inside leg kick there by Tesfay. That's going to slow White down.
White throws an overhand right that lands on Tesfay's shoulder, as Tesfay tries to avoid the shot.
A good leg kick by Tesfay.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
White takes a body punch but keeps moving.
Tesfay connects with a leg kick. White looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Koffi Tesfay seems to be the more aggressive standup fighter in this bout.
Tesfay lands a nice shot to the body.
Tesfay lands a powerful looking uppercut that connected with his opponent's jaw.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Tesfay defending well as White loads up on a big left hand.
Tesfay thuds a left hand into White's body.
White misses with a right hand
and Tesfay counters with a leg kick that reverborates around the arena.
White closes the distance but Tesfay moves to the side
and Tesfay counters with a thumping low kick.
White swings widly with a right hand
and Tesfay makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
White throws a right hand that misses
and Tesfay counters with a slapping leg kick.
Tesfay throws a quick inside leg kick.
White tries to clinch
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Tesfay wants to land a leg kick but White is out of range.
White rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Tesfay counters with a nice low kick that buckles White's knee momentarily.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tesfay connects with a body shot.
Tesfay with a body punch. A glancing blow.
That kick from Tesfay tenderised White's leg. White is trying to keep his angry face on.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Tesfay throws a front kick aimed at White's knee but White avoids it well.
White tries to close the distance and clinch but Tesfay swats him to one side with an open hand palm strike and circles away.
White misses with a hook. Tesfay ducked under it nicely.
Tesfay lands a straight punch to the body, keeping White at a distance.
A slapping leg kick lands for Tesfay.
White loads up on a big right hand but Tesfay slips the punch.
Tesfay feinted there with a counter leg kick.
White thows a left - swing and a miss!
Tesfay throws a nice outside leg kick.
White tries to clinch but Tesfay moves away
and Tesfay counters with a nice body shot.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tesfay throws a hard body shot but it just misses.
The fight stays on the outside here - White looks like he's thinking about clinching though.
Tesfay dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
Tesfay dances in quickly and lands a nice inside leg kick on White. That did some damage!
White misses with an uppercut
and he gets countered with a snapping leg kick.
Tesfay lands with a kick to the ribs.
Tesfay looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
Tesfay chopping away at his opponent's legs.
White tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tesfay makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
A nice inside leg kick there by Tesfay. That's going to slow White down.
White tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Tesfay counters with a low kick, right behind White 's knee.
Tesfay lands with a good body shot.
White wants to clinch.
A big right from White misses.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
White 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.
Tesfay is looking to slow White down with leg kicks.
White might want to mix his strikes up a bit more. He's just going for head shots at the moment and that can become a bit predictable.
White avoids the body shot from Tesfay.
White tries to counter by closing the distance.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Koffi Tesfay dominated that 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.

Tesfay feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to White's calf.
White tries to close the distance and clinch up but Tesfay swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tesfay keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Tesfay cracks the inside of White's front leg.
Koffi Tesfay is winning the standup battle so far.
Tesfay feints and then cracks White's leading leg with a nice low kick. He's obviously looking to slow White down.
White misses with a hook. Tesfay ducked under it nicely.
Tesfay feinted there with a counter leg kick.
Tesfay scores with a jab to the body.
Tesfay throws a sloppy head kick and White moves out of range easily.
Tesfay is looking to wear down White with body shots, infact he's throwing more body shots than head shots at the moment.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Tesfay circles away from the clinch attempt
and Tesfay counters with a lovely straight right hand!
The fight stays on the outside here - White looks like he's thinking about clinching though.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White is looking to clinch.
Tesfay lands with a slapping head kick.
White tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tesfay counters with a thumping low kick.
White throws a lazy uppercut
and Tesfay counters with a slapping leg kick.
Both these guys seem content to just stand up and trade with eachother but White might want to think about changing up his gameplan a bit because over the course of the fight, Tesfay has got the better of the exchanges.
Tesfay scores with a punch to the gut of his opponent.
Tesfay scores with a body shot.
Tesfay will need to close the distance a bit before he attacks - that leg kick was thrown from too far away.
Tesfay throws a body kick that sends a sickening thudding noise reverberating around the arena.
White gets his head snapped back by a nice shot there.
Tesfay lands a nice leg kick that just misses White's sensitive parts.
Tesfay is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that White can do to turn this around?

That's two minutes gone in the round.
White fails in his attempt to clinch.
Tesfay dips down and scores with a jab to the body.
A head kick from Tesfay lands but White takes it in his stride.
Wooooo! Give it up for these two warriors! They are putting on a show!
White throws a hook but Tesfay blocks it.
Tesfay scores with a leg kick.
White tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
White takes a nice looking leg kick right on the meat of his thigh there.
White moves in looking to clinch but Tesfay pushes him off.
White tries to check a leg kick but that clearly hurt him.
White misses with a looping left.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
White tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tesfay counters with a nice leg kick.
Tesfay throws a leg kick which misses White's front leg but catches the back leg as White tries to avoid it.
Tesfay swats away the attempt to clinch by White.
White takes a solid shot to the body. That one hurt him but he's trying not to show it.
White tries to clinch there but Tesfay circles away.
Tesfay fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and White has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
A punch lands to the side of Tesfay 's head but he takes it in his stride.
Tesfay connects with a leg kick. White looked like he was expecting something else and didn't defend it.
Tesfay lands a head kick!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Tesfay lands a head kick. White smiles back at him and beckons him forward.
Tesfay throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
White is looking to clinch but Tesfay is avoiding it.
White's leg has a nasty welt from taking a succession of leg kicks. That must be slowing him down.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tesfay feints with a shoulder and throws a nice leg kick to White's calf.
White moves to clinch but Tesfay breaks away
and Tesfay connects with a straight left hand counter down the middle.
White is looking to clinch.
Tesfay keeping a good distance there, avoiding the body shot.
Tesfay scores with a leg kick.
White wants to clinch.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Koffi Tesfay dominated that second round.
Well, the break between rounds is over. Let's get back to the scrappin! This is the final round!

White throws a right hand that misses
and Tesfay makes him pay by landing a nice hook to the body before moving out of range.
Tesfay circles away from the clinch attempt.
A shot to the body from White misses
and Tesfay counters with a shot to the ribs. That looked like it hurt.
White takes a shot right to the liver - Bas would have been proud of that punch.
White tries to clinch but fails miserably
and Tesfay makes him pay by landing a thudding low kick.
White doesn't manage to clinch there - Tesfay circles away.
Tesfay looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
White tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Tesfay manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
White is looking to clinch.
White checks a low kick from Tesfay.
White tries to clinch but is not successful on this occasion.
Tesfay appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Tesfay lands a nice hook to White's body. White takes it in his stride and looks to land his own strikes.

That's one minute gone in the round.
White throws a poor cross that misses
and Tesfay counters with a nice low kick that buckles White's knee momentarily.
White fails with an attempt to clinch.
White looks to clinch
and Tesfay counters with an inside leg kick.
Tesfay lands a leg kick. The shin dug right into the meat of the thigh.
White wants to clinch.
Tesfay looking to take his opponent's legs away with the low kicks.
White throws a hard body shot but it just misses.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Tesfay buckles his opponent's knee momentarily with a nice leg kick.
Tesfay lands with a slapping head kick.
White tries to clinch but fails miserably
letting Tesfay counter with a right hand.
Tesfay chopping away at his opponent's legs.
White misses with a left hand
and Tesfay counters with a nice leg kick.
Tesfay swats away the attempt to clinch by White.
Tesfay changes levels and scores with a jab to the body.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Tesfay fakes a couple of low kicks, before throwing one on the third attempt. It connects and White has to reset his feet before getting ready to engage.
White fails in his attempt to clinch.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Tesfay fakes a head shot and lands one to the body.
Tesfay throws a leg kick which misses White's front leg but catches the back leg as White tries to avoid it.
White throws a hook but Tesfay avoids it easily.
A good leg kick by Tesfay.
White tries to grapple but his opponent circles
and Tesfay counters nicely by changing levels and landing a hook to the body.
White takes a body punch that cleary hurt but he's trying not to show any weakness.
White on the receiving end of a decent leg kick there by Tesfay. Tesfay obviously looking to wear him down.
A nice leg kick lands there from Tesfay.
White tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Tesfay manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.
Tesfay appeared to be looking to counter that last move with a leg kick.
Dana White has stepped it up - he knows he needs a finish here!

That's four minutes gone in the round.
White rushes in with a sloppy looking punch
and Tesfay counters with a nice low kick that buckles White's knee momentarily.
White takes a nasty kick to the mid section... That should keep him thinking. Does he try and block and risk a head kick landing?
Tesfay throws a feint and then finishes with a kick to the body.
White takes a thudding leg kick, right into the meat of the thigh.
The crowd are loving this. Great action here.
White tries to close the distance and clinch up but Tesfay swats him away and circles back towards the center.
Tesfay throws a nice head kick!
Tesfay throws a quick inside leg kick.
Like a baseball bat into the meat of his leg there - nice leg kick by Tesfay.
White throws the left hand but Tesfay avoids the punch easily.
White throws a predictable looking body shot
and Tesfay counters with a leg kick.

And that's the end of the fight!
Koffi Tesfay showed his dominance in that final round.
Well Tesfay 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 Robert Twigg scores the fight 30:25
Judge George Francis scores the fight 30:25
Judge Wesley Smith scores the fight 30:25

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Koffi Tesfay!
Koffi Tesfay was full of energy after the big win and talked about how he thinks he can do big things in this sport. The crowd were appreciative of his determination to succeed.