It was a long night of fights at Hex Fight Series 25 with three of the four title fights going the full five-round distance.
Kaan Ofli, Sean Gauci, Lisa Kyriacou and Kevin Jousset would all walk away with victories in their title bouts.
The event took place at the Melbourne Pavilion.
In the headline bout of the night, Jarrett Wilbraham and Kaan Ofli exchanged heavy strikes in an exciting and fast-paced first round. Wilbraham looked in control early but a short counter from Ofli dropped Wilbraham midway through the round.
In the second round, Wilbraham connected with a spinning hook kick but it would be Ofli who finished the round stronger, securing a takedown and putting Wilbraham on his back.
It was all Ofli in the third round as he would secure another takedown. This time he took the opportunity to transition to mount, worked to the back and locked in a rear-naked choke.
Wilbraham wriggled to get free but went unconscious as a result of the choke, and the referee was forced to push Ofli off his opponent as he looks to hold on for a bit longer.
The end came 2:35 into the contest as Ofli makes it eight wins on the trot as he becomes the Hex featherweight title holder.
He moves his record to 11-2, 1 draw while Wilbraham drops to 7-2.
“I took this fight on two weeks’ notice. Two weeks training,” Ofli commented in his post-fight speech.
“I had a bad weight cut. I went through adversity in the first round and I didn’t quit.
“If I don’t earn the UFC, I don’t know what else I need to do.”
In the semi-main event, Sean Gauci controlled his South Korean opponent to earn a dominant five-round decision against Hae Won Lee. Gauci dominated the wrestling and was able to grind out the unanimous decision win, taking home the Hex bantamweight title in the process.
All three judges scored the bout in Gauci’s favour 50-45.
An important bout in the women’s flyweight division pitted Lisa Kyriacou against Amena Hadaya.
It proved to be a technical five-round battle, contested mainly on the feet and in the end Kyriacou walked away the victor with a split points decision. Two judges scored it 50-45 to Kyriacou with the other judge seeing it in favour of Hadaya 48-47.
“I think I’m the number 1 in the country. I think I deserve my shot in the UFC,” Kyriacou commented in her post-fight speech.
Earlier on the card, in a battle of two Judo specialists, City Kickboxing-based Kevin Jousset edged a gruelling five-round decision against Priscus Fogagnolo.
Jousset looked like he had done enough but was left sweating during the judge’s verdict, with the bout being scored in his favour via split points decision.
Also on the card, heavyweight Ricky Biechun was too strong for South Korea’s Seung Jun Lee while Colby Thicknesse moved to 3-0 as a pro with a unanimous decision against Michae Barber.
Results (Pro):
- Kaan Ofli def. Jarrett Wilbraham via Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 3, 2:35 – Hex featherweight title
- Sean Gauci def. Hae Won Lee via Decision (Unanimous – 50-45, 50-45, 50-45) – Hex bantamweight title
- Lisa Kyriacou def. Amena Hadaya via Decision (Split – 50-45, 47-48, 50-45) – Hex women’s flyweight title
- Kevin Jousset def. Priscus Fogagnolo via Decision (Split – 48-47, 47-48, 48-47) – Hex middleweight title
- Ricky Biechun def. Seung Jun Lee via TKO (Strikes), Rd 3, 2:23
- Colby Thicknesse def. Michael Barber via Decision (Unanimous – 29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Submission Only Grappling:
- Burak Sarman def. Jason Petropoulos via Submission (Decision)
The bout between Nikos Trepca and Luke Catubig was a last-minute cancellation after Trepca reportedly fell ill.
