Victorian fighter Nick Patterson secured the biggest win of his Mixed Martial Arts career, as he won a unanimous decision over former UFC veteran Bernardo “Trekko” Magalhaes.
The event took place at the Melbourne Pavilion in Victoria, Australia.
The two fighters exchanged early, before Patterson (pictured) caught a kick and tossed Magalhaes to the floor. Patterson didn’t follow and landed some leg kicks to his downed opponent before allowing Magalhaes to get back to his feet. Patterson utilised his jab to control the distance. The round continued with Patterson moving and landing quick one-twos as Magalhaes failed with a takedown. The two fighters collided heads late in the round that opened up small cuts on both fighters.
In the early period of round two, both fighters clinched against the ropes attempting to utilise their dirty boxing. As they separated, Patterson got back to his stick-and-move plan, however Magalhaes did land a big one-two, before missing with a spinning back-fist. Patterson immediately closed the distance and both fighters finish the fight landing small strikes from clinch.
Both fighters still look fresh as the final round begun, and Magalhaes increases his tempo. Magalhaes pushed forward while Patterson landed his strikes from the outside. Both fighters clinched again, and Magalhaes dropped levels looking for the takedown only for it to be defended successfully by Patterson. In the final minute both fighters exchange some big shots and we were off to the judges decision.
The verdict came back unanimous, with Patterson securing the unanimous decision victory. Scores for the bout were not called out. With the win, Patterson will now get another shot at AFC lightweight champion Daniel Hooker on an upcoming show.
In the co-main event, budgie smuggler wearing Dean Purdon stepped up on three-days notice to take on Australian based Nova Uniao fighter Rodolfo Marques. It was Marques who would walk away with the unanimous decision.
The size difference was noticeable with Purdon usually competing as a welterweight, while Marques is a featherweight. The two had a slow feeling out period early before Purdon shot in for the takedown attempt. The fighters had some positional changed and it would be Marques who go the takedown and slammed Purdon to the canvas. Purdon attacked with leg-locks from the bottom, however Marques, a BJJ Black Belt defended the attacks well and stayed on top landing short hammer-fists when the opportunity opened up.
It was Marques who attempted the early takedown in the second-round however Purdon spun the Brazilian fighter into the corner. From there Purdon landed a couple foot stomps before Marques reversed. Marques immediately dropped for another takedown, this time picking his opponent up and carrying him to his own corner. With Purdon looking for the guillotine choke, Marques slowly placed his opponent to the mat so that he escaped the submission attempt. Marques landed hammer-fists from inside the guard, however Purdon stayed active off his back, looking for submissions. Just before the round ended, Marques was able to pass to side-control.
The third round started with some back-and-forth striking, before Marques shot in for another takedown this time landing in side-control. Purdon quickly regains half-guard as Marques controlled the action from the top. Marques attacked with a head-arm choke after getting to mount but could not finish the submission. Purdon attempted to escape which allowed Marques to take back-control. The Brazilian dominating the grappling but not throwing many strikes. With Purdon constantly moving, Marques transitions from back to mount and then to side-control. Late in the fight Marques again took back-control and looked for the rear-naked choke submission however Purdon was able to survive until the buzzer.
All three judged unanimous gave the decision to Marques who has now one two in a row since losing via TKO to Robert Lisita at AFC 6 back in August last year.
Earlier in the night, welterweight fighter Corey Nelson leg-kicked his way to a TKO win over Rick Alchin. The fight was contested at a catch-weight after Alchin reportedly struggled to make weight due to sickness leading up to the event. The two also had bad-blood between them, with Alchin claiming to have submitted Nelson at the TUF Nations trials.
Early in the fight, Alchin landed punches however Nelson persisted with heavy leg-kicks that quickly took their toll. Nelson kept Alchin guessing, landing kicks to the lead and back foot as well as the body. It eventually became too much as Alchin waved the fight off himself. Nelson looked at the referee who had not intervened at this stage and landed a couple more punches before the referee jumped in. Alchin flipped off Nelson for the extra punches.
The end came only 3:09 into the first-round for Nelson who secured his seventh straight win. Nelson debunked the TUF Nations rumour in his post-fight speech. “Rick claims the he out grappled me at the TUF tryouts and submitted me, which is complete bulls**t!” Nelson will challenge for the welterweight title on an upcoming AFC show.
In arguably the fight of the night, local fighter Joel Fisher and Aden Baron put on an entertaining brawl, with Fisher ultimately securing the TKO in the second-round. The two started off with solid kickboxing before Baron initiated the clinch and dropped to a leg-lock. Fisher capitalised by landing solid ground-and-pound. In the second-round, Baron rocked Fisher with a right hand. Fisher got a takedown and was controlling the action before Baden worked back to his feet. From here Fisher started to take control and was landing big elbows. Baron attempted to fire back but Fisher continued with the elbows and punches however Baron stayed on his feet. The referee had seen enough and chose to halt the contest at the same time the corner’s towel was thrown in.
The end came at 4:45 of round two for Joel Fisher who secured his second straight win after defeating Zach Hook at AFC 6. Despite the loss, 20 year-old Baron is one to keep an eye out for the future.
Earlier in the night, England’s Aldin Bates scored a second round TKO against Matt McGuiness from Ireland. Both fighters have been residing in Australia.
It was clear McGuiness wanted to grapple, after a failed takedown he transitioned from heel hook, to triangle and then to armbar with no luck. For the remainder of the round Bates managed to pepper McGuiness with strikes and stuff all the takedown attempts. In the second round Bates clearly had the better gas, again stuffing the takedowns, then writhing out of a leg lock and finishing the fight from the top with strikes for stoppage. The end came 1:18 of round two.
Daniel Way came in to fight against Daniel Almeida on just 10 days notice. It was clear where Almeida wanted the fight, and pushed in for a clinch immediately. After a break by the ref, Almeida charged forward with 2 very unorthodox over hand punches that missed before shooting in for a low double leg, but Way landed a perfectly timed knee and after a couple of punches for good measure, Almeida was out for a first round KO.
In the opening fight, Noras dominated the first round with a early takedowns followed by heavy ground-and-pound from mount. Noras came close with an armbar. Coster came back in the second round, flashing some fancy kicks before being taken down. He was then able to sweep, pass and finish the fight with a RNC.
Unofficial Results:
- Nick Patterson def Bernardo Magalhaes via Decision (Unanimous)
- Rodolfo Marques def Dean Purdon via Decision (Unanimous)
- Corey Nelson def Rick Alchin via TKO (Leg-kicks), Rd 1, 3:09
- Joel Fisher def Aden Baron via TKO (Towel Thrown In), Rd 2, 4:45
- Aldin Bates def Matt McGuiness via TKO (Punches), Rd 2, 1:18
- Daniel Way def Daniel Almeida via KO (Knees & Punches), Rd 1, 1:20
- Kael Coster def Scott Noras via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 2, 1:30
