UFC Fight Night 43, the UFC’s debut endeavor to New Zealand, was bolstered today with the promotion announcing four additional match-ups for the June 28 event, which takes place at the Vector Arena in Auckland.
Tom Wright, the promotion’s director of operations for Australia, New Zealand and Canada, revealed at a UFC press conference today held at the venue, that Anthony Perosh will meet Gian Villanet, Robert Whittaker faces Mike Rhodes, Richie Vaculik will take on Jon Delos Reyes while Vik Grujic will square off with Chris Indich in an all Aussie affair.
As previously announced, the main event will see James Te Huna take on former Strikeforce welterweight champion Nate Marquardt in what will be his first fight at middleweight. Marquardt returns to the division after losing three in a row as a welterweight. Charles Oliveiria vs Hatsu Hioki was confirmed today for the co-main event.
Anthony Perosh (14-8 MMA, 4-5 UFC) last fought at Brisbane’s ‘UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Bigfoot’ event where he dropped a unanimous decision against Ryan Bader. His opponent, Gian Villanet (11-5 MMA, 1-2 UFC) is a Strikeforce veteran and was recently outpointed by Fabio Maldonado at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs Henderson 2.
Looking to snap a two-fight skid, after going 2-0 to kick off his UFC campaign, ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes’ welterweight winner Robert Whittaker (11-4 MMA, 2-2 UFC) comes up against Mike Rhodes (6-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) of Iowa, who is currently 0-1 in the UFC after losing in his promotional debut to George Sullivan at UFC on Fox 10.
Following his time on ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Smashes’ series, Richie Vaculik (9-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) made his UFC debut against Justin Scoggins at ‘UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs Bigfoot’. It was a short lived night in Brisbane for Vaculik, with the big wave surfer suffering a controversial first round TKO defeat. Vaculik faces Guam’s Jon Delos Reyes (7-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC), who will be looking to rebound from a submission loss to Dustin Kimura back in January.
‘TUF Nations: Australia vs Canada’ cast mates, Vik Grujic (6-3 MMA, 0-1 UFC) and Chris Indich (5-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) will meet in what could be a do or die fight in the UFC for the Aussie pair. Grujic will drop to welterweight for this one after losing on points to Nordine Taleb at middleweight at the TUF: Nations finale show. Indich was also unsuccessful in his UFC debut, with the WA native dropping a unanimous points decision to Richard Walsh at the same event.
Announced fights:
- Nate Marquardt vs James Te Huna
- Hatsu Hioki vs Charles Oliveira
- Robert Whittaker vs Mike Rhodes
- Anthony Perosh vs Gian Villante
- Jon Delos Reyes vs Richie Vaculik
- Chris Indich vs Vik Grujic
* Image credit: UFC
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