Alex Chambers was heading towards a decision loss but a late submission allowed her to secure her first UFC victory in the opening fights of UFC Fight Night 65. Also victorious were Brisbane based American Ben Nguyen and Brendan O’Reilly who defeated fellow Australian Vik Grujic.
The event took place at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, South Australia on Sunday and was broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.
We start our recap off at The Ultimate Fighter Smashes finalist Bradley Scott who submitted New Zealand born Dylan Andrews in the second round of their middleweight contest.
Training out of Potential Unlimited MMA gym, Andrews started the stronger fighter and landed a powerful left early. Scott immediately pressured the fight to the ground but was met with a powerful uppercut from Andrews that dropped Scott. Scott recovered and again clinched Andrews against the cage. He momentarily put Andrews on the ground, but the Gold Coast based fighter worked back to his feet. Scott went to work with dirty boxing from the clinch however another series of strikes from Andrews dropped Scott. The English born fighter regained his composure and finished the round on the front foot throwing punches. This allowed Andrews to drop levels and put Scott on his back as the round ended.
Scott landed a nice shot early in the second round that put Andrews on the back foot. A left jab from Scott landed on Andrews’ eye with the New Zealand born fighter motioning to the injury. The referee halted the contest and the doctor was called in. When the fight restarted Scott put Andrews on his back where he landed heavy elbows from the top. Scott capitalised with a guillotine choke that forced Andrews to tap.
With the win, 25 year-old Scott moves his professional record to 10-3 while Andrews drops his third straight bout which takes his record to 17-7.
VT-1 trained Alex Chambers was headed to a decision loss against Kailin Curran before a late armbar secured a win for the Sydney trained fighter.
Kailin Curran used her reach and height advantage effectively from the opening bell but it was Chambers who dropped levels early and put Curran on her back. Chambers landed some ground-and-pound from inside the open guard that allowed Curran to work back to her feet. A whizzer from Curran put Chambers on her back and the Hawaiian born fighter landed some ground-and-pound of her own. Back on their feet, Curran landed a nice knee up the middle and ended the round strong with a series of punches.
Curran stayed on the front foot in the second round with 36 year-old Chambers landing a big head-kick. Curran stayed on the front foot, pressing the action and was able to take the fight to the ground. Late in the round, Chambers tied up the arm but was unable to do anything with it before the round ended.
Chambers was arguably down on the judges’ score cards after the opening two rounds and her opponent again pounced as the final round begun. Curran scored with a takedown. Chambers though quickly locked up the kimura from the bottom. Curran was unable to slam her way out of it as Chambers continued to look for the submission. Chambers kept working at it and after re-adjusting was able to force the armbar to get the tap.
The win came at 3:15 of the third round as Chambers secures her first UFC win from two appearances. It takes her professional record to 5-2, while Curran drops to 3-2.
In an all Australian bout, Brendan O’Reilly had a successful move to welterweight with a decision victory over Melbourne based Vik Grujic.
O’Reilly pressured early and clinched Grujic against the cage with double under hooks, he managed to get the takedown. Grujic got back to his feet and immediately unloaded with strikes that forced O’Reilly to clinch again. O’Reilly secured a takedown and this time attacked with a kimura from half-guard which allowed him to transition into mount. Grujic though quickly buckled and escaped back to the feet.
The 38 year-old Grujic stepped up the pace in the second-round and was able to land a series of left hands on O’Reilly. With O’Reilly breathing heavily, Grujic secured a takedown of his own. There he managed to take O’Reilly’s back however time was not on his side as the buzzer went to signal the end of the round.
O’Reilly showed big heart in the final round to work his way back into the fight. After some back-and-forth action, O’Reilly secured a takedown with under two minutes remaining in the fight. Grujic got back to his feet however took some right hands from O’Reilly and gave up another takedown late in the bout.
The judges decision came back unanimous with O’Reilly given the 29-28 decision on all three judges’ cards.
The win evens up O’Reilly’s UFC record at 1-1 and takes his professional record to 6-1. Grujic’s UFC career may be in danger as he drops to 6-5 as a professional and 1-3 in the UFC.
Training out of Brisbane’s Integrated Martial Arts gym, American born Ben Nguyen rose to the opportunity with a first-round stoppage over Alptekin Ozkilic in the opening bout of the event.
Nguyen showed precise striking and rocked Ozkilic early. Ozkilic countered and put Nguyen on his back. Nguyen defended well off his back and worked back to his feet. Nguyen immediately went on the front foot. A left hook dropped Ozkilic and with seconds remaining on the fight Nguyen flurried with punches from the top. With only a second remaining in the round the referee stopped the fight giving Nguyen the win in his UFC debut.
The win was Nguyen’s eighth in a row and takes his professional record to 14-5. It was a third straight loss for Ozkilic who drops to 9-4.
Preliminary Card Results:
- Bradley Scott def Dylan Andrews via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 2, 4:54
- Alex Chambers def Kailin Curran via Submission (Armbar), Rd 3, 3:15
- Brendan O’Reilly def Vik Grujic via Decision (Unanimous)
- Ben Nguyen def Alptekin Ozkilic via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 4:59
