What started out like a good night for Australasian fighters quickly turned south as both James Te Huna and Soa Palelei were defeated in the headlining fights at UFC Fight Night 43.
The event which took place at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand was broadcast in Australia on Fuel TV.
Marquardt (pictured) was the first fighter to come out to the cage and the traditional Maori ancestral war cry, the Haka was used prior to Te Huna making his entrance for his middleweight debut.
Marquardt landed the early shots, connecting with a right hand and a high kick. Te Huna immediately pressured for a takedown but was met with a straight knee up the middle from Marquardt. Te Huna managed to get under Marquardt but the American showed great balance to avoid the takedown and was able to put Te Huna down on the mat with a throw. There Marquardt connected with short elbows before Te Huna scrambled back to his feet. With a visible cut under Te Huna’s left eye, the Sydney based fighter came forward and with punches, some finding their mark. Marquardt countered by getting a trip takedown where he moved straight from side-control to mount and bloodied up Te Huna with further short elbows. Desperate to get back to his feet, Te Huna rolled but was followed by Marquardt who set-up the armbar attempt over the top, before extending it off his back and securing the tap.
The crowd went silent as the Marquardt, a former UFC middleweight title challenger submitted the crowd favourite James Te Huna at 4:34 of the opening round. It was Marquardt’s return bout to middleweight after a short stay at welterweight. The win takes the long time veteran’s record to 33-13-2dr (UFC 12-6) and he breaks a three fight losing skid. Te Huna drops his third straight in the UFC and goes to 16-8 (UFC 5-4).
Australian based Soa Palelei was looking at placing himself in the heavyweight top 10, however had no answer for Jared Rosholt’s wrestling to go down by a unanimous decision.
It would be Palelei who looked for the early takedown, dumping Rosholt to the ground before the 27 year-old American worked back to his feet. Palelei survived the takedown attempt from Rosholt but the American came back with a right that connected. Rosholt then successfully sprawled a takedown attempt from Palelei from which he was able to secure the side-control. The pressure from the top continued as where ever Palelei moved, Rosholt was there either controlling him with his weight or a head-lock. Palelei did get the top position in the final seconds of the round but wasn’t able to do anything with it before time expired.
In the second round, Palelei landed an early punch before Rosholt returned fire with shots of his own. Another failed takedown attempt from Palelei had Rosholt controlling the fight against the cage as Rosholt landed a nice knee. Conditioning started to come into play for Palelei midway through the fight as the big heavyweight continued coming forward pressuring the action. Rosholt saw everything coming and stayed out of danger himself.
Rosholt tackled Palelei early in the last-round and quickly got the Western Australian fighter to the ground in the turtle position. There he unloaded on the “Hulk” before rolling him over and securing the top crucifix position. Rosholt landed some short strikes before attempting to step over Palelei’s arm that gave Palelei the opportunity to escape. Rosholt was the fresher of the two and successfully stuffed everything Palelei had to offer and pounding away with knees to the body and small hammer-fists before the final bell.
It was the first time Palelei had gone to a decision where all three judges’ awarded the bout to Rosholt 30-27. With the loss Palelei drops to 21-4 (UFC 3-2). Rosholt gets his seventh straight win in what was his third appearance in the UFC. He moves to 11-1 (UFC 3-0).
Thirty year-old Japanese fighter Hatsu Hioki lost via submission for the first-time in his 35 plus career fights as his opponent, Charles Oliveira (pictured right) submitted him midway through the second round.
After an early exchange, Oliveira got Hioki down to the mat however the Japanese fighter immediately got back to his feet and countered with a flying triangle choke submission that was never quite locked up. This led Oliveira to try and secure a guillotine. Hioki escaped and the two continued to showcase their brilliant grappling. Hioki came out on top early, spending more time in the top position and tagging his opponent with more strikes.
In the second round, Oliveira secured the early takedown attempt however again quickly worked his back to his feet and unintentionally poked Oliveira in the eye. After a brief break in the action, the fight restarted with another fascinating ground battle. Late in the round, Hoki secured the back and was looking for the rear-naked choke finish before the Brazilian escaped. Oliveira locked-up a figure-four anaconda grip and unconventionally rolled back into guard where he secured the tap at 4:32 of round two.
The win was Oliveira’s second straight as he moves to 18-4 (UFC 6-4) while Hioki loses his fourth in his last five fights to go 18-4 (UFC 3-4).
Robert Whittaker started off the main card action with a decision victory over Mike Rhodes. The New Zealand born fighter was one of the biggest favourites on the card and he started off with a wide variety of kicks. A counter hook from Whittaker wobbled his opponent midway through the first-round. In the second, Whittaker continued to work his jab while at the same time successfully defending the takedown attempts. Both fighters put some impressive combinations together in the third as Whittaker secured a nice takedown in centre cage. There Whittaker landed some big elbows before the referee stood the fighters up with 10 seconds to go.
A clear win for Whittaker who secured the shout-out 30-27 on all three judges scorecards. The win breaks a two-fight losing skid for Whittaker who moves to 12-4 (UFC 2-2). Rhodes drops his second consecutive to go 6-3.
Main Card:
- Nate Marquardt def James Te Huna via Submission (Armbar), Rd 1, 4:34
- Jared Rosholt def Soa Palelei via Decision (Unanimous: 30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
- Charles Oliveira def Hatsu Hioki via Submission (Anaconda Choke), Rd 2, 4:32.
- Robert Whittaker def Mike Rhodes via Decision (Unanimous – 30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card (Recap):
- Jake Matthews def Dashon Johnson via Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 3 3:16
- Richie Vaculik def Roldan Sancha’an via Decision (Unanimous – 30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Vik Grujic def Chris Indich via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 4:55
- Neil Magny def Rodrigo Goiana De Lima via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 2:32
- Daniel Hooker def Ian Entwistle via TKO (Elbows), Rd 1, 3:34
- Gian Villante def Sean O’Connell via Decision (Split – 29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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