Local fighter Rusty McBride will be looking at avenging a loss to New Zealand fighter Daniel Hooker when the two rematch for the AFC Lightweight Title at Australian Fighting Championships 5.
Hooker captured the title with a second-round TKO over McBride back in April 2012 and followed that up with a first round TKO over Chinese fighter Chengjie Wu at Legend Fighting Championships before rounding off his 2012 with a submission over Sihle Khuboni.
Since losing the title, McBride has also bounced back with two straight wins over Luke Hume and most recently over Thomas Ruderman back in September. McBride no doubt will be determined to regain the title in front of his home crowd.
Participants for the Welterweight tournament were also announced with Queensland fighter Dean Purdon meeting Peter Davenport, Zein Saliba taking on Walber Tete and Nick Patterson facing New Zealand fighter Luke Jumeau while Alex Volkanovki rounds it off when he meets Victorian based Brazilian Jhunior Guarnido.
The middleweight tournament is also taking shape with 2012 Judo Olympians Daniel Kelly among the participants. The tournaments will not be held on one night and will be spread throughout a few events.
Another Judo Olympian in Ivo Dos Santos will look to keep his perfect record on the line when he faces Rory O’Connell at bantamweight.
AFC 5 will be held at the Melbourne Pavilion in Victoria, Australia on May 10.
Single Fights:
- Daniel Hooker (Champion) vs Rusty McBride – AFC Lightweight Title Fight
- Ivo Dos Santos vs Rory O’Connell
- Joel Fisher vs Jordan Lucas
- Anna Hyvarinen vs Lana Kate
Welterweight Tournament:
- Dean Purdon vs Peter Davenport
- Zein Saliba vs Walber Tete
- Nick Patterson vs Luke Jumeau
- Alex Volankovski vs Jhunior Guarnido
Middleweight Tournament:
- Daniel Kelly vs Chris Birch
- Vik Grujic vs David Gibb
- Cole Davids vs TBA
- TBA vs TBA
