AbEternal crowned two new champions on Friday night with Mat Myers and Justin Van Heerden walking away with the middleweight and featherweight titles respectively.
The title fights headlined the Eternal 72 event which took place at Southport Sharks on Queensland’s Gold Coast and was broadcast live on UFC Fight Pass.
John Fraser came into the bout against Mat Myers as the champion and early on looked to wrestle his opponent against the cage. Once they separated, it wouldn’t take long before Myers connected with a spinning back kick to the midsection. Fraser immediately winced in pain and Myers capitalised, throwing heavy shots against the cage. Fraser was attempting to cover but with no offense coming back, the referee halted the action 2:55 into the bout.
Myers gets his revenge, having lost to Fraser in their last outing back in September in a bout that was contested at a catchweight. A product of Adrenaline MMA, the 27-year-old Myers moves his record to 4-2 while Fraser drops to 6-3.
In the semi-main event, Justin Van Heerden capped off an impressive 2022 calendar year as he took out the Eternal featherweight title against a former opponent and team-mate, Diego Pereira.
Van Heerden dominated the early rounds, particularly with his wrestling. Van Heerden dropped Pereira in the third round. Pereira stayed in the contest and finished the last round well, but ultimately it wasn’t enough as Van Heerden took the deserved unanimous decision victory.
The Freestyle MMA product has gone 4-0 in 2022 as he takes his professional record to 11-5. Pereira slips to 8-7.
Josh Kuhne returned to the cage, dropping to the featherweight division, but it proved unsuccessful, as up-and-comer Abdalla Biayda submitted Kuhne in the second round.
Biayda now puts himself in line for a potential title fight against Van Heerden.
Earlier, Tom Nolan moved to 4-0 with a stoppage over Adam Cook while New Zealand’s Talor Wetere won a decision against Coby Porter.
Main Card (Pro):
- Mat Myers def. John Fraser via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 2:55 – Eternal middleweight title
- Justin Van Heerden def. Diego Pereira via Decision (Unanimous) – Eternal featherweight title
- Abdalla Biayda def. Josh Kuhne via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 3, 2:59
- Tom Nolan def. Adam Cook via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 3:58
- Talor Wetere def. Coby Porter via Decision (Unanimous)
Preliminary Card:
- Sonny Kirisome def. Osh Boonchu via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 1:59
- Tomas Schellhammer def. Dyllan Mungcal via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 2:17
- Luke Herman def. Victor Khuu via Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 0:34
- Jesse Ukich def. Justin Woods via Decision (Unanimous)
