Gustavo Falciroli made a victorious return to competition on Sunday night at Bragging Rights 7 in Perth. Headlining the card at the State Netball Centre, Falciroli made quick work of late replacement Mohd Fouzein by submitting the tough Malaysian fighter in the opening round.
The victory marked the end of a 16 month layoff for the Melbourne based fighter and earned him the Bragging Rights bantamweight title. Prior to the win, Falciroli, 32, submitted Kai Kara-France at AFC 9 in Albury, NSW.
Falciroli spoke with Fight News Australia following the fight.
It was pretty hard to find opponents lately here in Australia and I was also injured for a while. Now, I’m healthy and under Sucker Punch management, giving me the peace of mind that I can be active.
I want to fight as much as can until the end of my career, this long time off made me realise that I really love to fight so as long there is fight for me I’ll be there putting on a great show to entertain the public.
Falciroli’s short-term goal is to defeat Hikaru Hasumi in his next fight at Hex Fight Series 4 later this month, ultimately, however, he’s still got his sights set on the UFC.
In the co-main event, the previously mentioned Kai Kara-France continued his impressive win streak by stopping local fighter Shantaram Maharaj to take home the promotion’s flyweight title. “Don’t Blink”, who trains out of the Tiger Muay Thai gym, got the job done by knockout in the opening period, the third first round KO victory in a row for the 22 year-old Kiwi.
In an all international matchup, AKA Thailand based Finn Glenn Sparv submitted Japan’s Kazuma Maruyama to win the welterweight title.
Also on the night, after nearly three years away from competition, Perth standout David Vergers made a big impact in his comeback fight by stopping Valor’s welterweight champion Callan Potter in the opening frame.
With the fenced safety enclosure currently banned in WA, Bragging Rights 7 matchups were contested in a boxing ring.
Results:
Gustavo Falciroli def Mohd Fouzein via Submission (D’arce Choke), Rd 1, 1:13 – BW Title
Kai Kara-France def Shantaram Maharaj via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 1:33 – FW Title
Glenn Sparv def Kazuma Maruyama via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 1:48 – WW Title
David Vergers def Callan Potter via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 3:09
Genah Fabian def Jo Jo Obolevics via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 1:20
Aldin Bates def Jamie Van Der Kuiji via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 2:20
Torren Honda def Bry Chown via KO (Punch), Rd 3, 0:33
Darren Palmer def Axel Bonal via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 1:38
Liam Van Dongen def Emiel Nia via Submission (Kneebar), Rd 1, 2:08
Samuel Petit vs Haidyn Eli-Hanford (Majority Draw)
