Potential Unlimited Mixed Martial Arts fighter Julian “Julz The Jackal” Rabaud evened up the ledger last night as he defeated fellow Gold Coast based fighter Chris “Kewl Bonez” Morris at the Nitro MMA 9 event held at the Logan Entertainment Centre in Logan City, Queensland. It was a rematch of their November 2011 fight which Morris won due to an injury suffered by Rabaud following a takedown. Rabaud has been campaigning for a rematch since that fight and took his opportunity with a first round TKO stoppage that had building on their feet. In the process, Rabaud claimed the vacant Nitro bantamweight title.
Morris started the fight with a solid leg kick as he stayed light on his feet and moved well. Rabaud stayed calm and stalked his opponent around the cage attempting to close off the cage and unload. Morris utlised his jab nicely, firing off constant shots before retreating back out of the way. Rabaud landed a shot that puts Morris on notice as the two fighters clinch momentarily against the cage. Late in the round Rabaud went onto the front foot and got the better of the exchange and as Morris re positioned and looked to land a shot, Rabaud landed a big straight right that dropped Morris to the canvas. Rabaud followed him to the canvas where he unloaded with more big shots forcing referee John Sharp to save Morris from any further punishment. The stoppage came with 3-seconds remaining in the opening round.
There was a lot of heated exchanges on social media between the fighters and fans of both fighters in the lead-up to the bout but the bad blood was put to rest with both guys showing great sportsmanship at the conclusion of the bout and showing respect to each other, in particular Rabaud who commented that although he loves the support of his fans, they can get carried away at times. With a win a piece, watch out for a potential rubber match between these two entertaining fighters.
With the win, Rabaud defeats the only fighter that has defeated him in his MMA career to take his professional record to 5-1. His last outing was a third round TKO win over Jacob Mahony back at Nitro MMA 6 in July 2012. The loss for Morris was his second in three fights, having secured a shot at the title with a unanimous decision over Shannon McClellan back at Nitro MMA 8 in March.
