Five Best UFC Moments From Down Under

Stylebender becomes the undisputed middleweight champion

Under the certain circumstances, there was only one title fight to make at UFC 243 when Robert Whittaker was the UFC Middleweight Champion and Israel Adesanya became the Interim champion at UFC 236.

Whittaker had the pleasure of becoming the first Australian to win a UFC championship after he defeated Yoel Romero at UFC 213 to win the title. The Reaper would claim the Interim belt at the time before Georges St-Pierre had vacated the undisputed title at UFC 217 when he defeated Michael Bisping. This would mean that Whittaker would be promoted as the new undisputed Middleweight Champion.

Adesanya would be undefeated with 17 wins, 13 of those fights ending by KO/TKO as his quality Kickboxing would be very troubling to all of his opponents. It was fair to say that the Last Stylebender earned a shot at UFC Gold after picking up victories against the likes of Anderson Silva, Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori.

It would be a big event in Melbourne, Australia as 57,127 spectators would attend the event to witness an all-Oceanic throwdown, making it the most attended event in UFC history and still is to this day.

The Middleweight title bout would start off with both men striking, but being very cautious as one punch could change the whole course of the fight. Right at the end of round one, Adesanya landed a right hook which sent Whittaker on his back, but would not have any time to finish the fight as he would have to wait patiently for round two.

The second round would see The Reaper's title reign come to an end as after a crazy exchange of punches, Adesanya hit a left hook which rocked Whittaker, making him stumble to the ground before a couple of follow up punches saw the Nigerian-New Zealand fighter become the new King of the 185-pound division.

No.1 Pound-for-pound and Ufc lightweight title on the line

After his title claiming victory at UFC 280, Islam Makhachev made it clear who he had his eye on next as after Alexander Volkanovski made weight to become the backup fighter of the Lightweight Championship bout, he would get his destined opportunity which would come at a cost.

In the post-fight interview, Makhachev's coach, Khabib Nurmgagomedov, said the plan would be to challenge the UFC Featherweight Champion in his backyard so that both men could contest for the No.1 Pound-For-Pound ranking. Of course, Volkanovski would accept this request as it would be an opportunity to become a simultaneous two-division champion in his home country.

The Great had been unbeaten in his last 22 fights in MMA as the Australian had earned wins against Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes before earning a shot for the 145-pound belt. Volkanovski became champion at UFC 245 as he defeated Max Holloway by unanimous decision before two more defences against the Hawaiin-born fighter, as well as a title defence against Brian Ortega and The Korean Zombie.

The Makhachkala-born mixed martial artist had only lost once in his MMA career as he earned four KO/TKO and 12 submission wins in his 21 victories. Makhachev finished his last four opponents before earning a title shot as he stopped; Drew Dober, Thiago Moises, Dan Hooker and Bobby Green, before submitting Charles Oliveira in the second round at UFC 280 to become the Lightweight Champion.

The Lightweight title bout would take place in Perth at the RAC Arena with loads of Australians cheering on their fellow competitors at UFC 284.

In the Main Event, Makhachev vs Volkanovski went the full distance and would be seen as the greatest fight of 2023 as fans witnessed an incredible striking and grappling show. In a very suspenseful moment, it would be read aloud that Makhachev won the fight by unanimous decision despite the battle being so close.

Sean strickland shocks the world

Sean Strickland was seen as an unlikely title challenger in the Middleweight division, but after earning two victories in 2023 and insulting Israel Adesanya on social media, it looked very certain that he would get a title shot.

In the same year, Adesanya reclaimed the Middleweight throne after knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287. When Dricus Du Plessis defeated Robert Whittaker at UFC 290, it looked positive that the South African would be next to challenge the champion, but the recovery time for his injured ankle to heal would take too long and so Strickland would become the unlikely challenger to face the New Zealand resident on away soil.

During his first championship reign, the Last Stylebender had defended his belt against some of the toughest opponents in the division, against the likes of; Yoel Romero, Paulo Costa, Marvin Vettori, Robert Whittaker, and Jared Cannonier, before losing the title to Alex Pereira by fifth-round TKO at UFC 281. Adesanya would aim to make another long title run in his second reign with the belt.

Strickland would look like a big contender in the Middleweight division after earning a six-fight winning streak, but a first-round knockout loss to Alex Pereira and a split decision loss to Jared Cannonier would set him back. The Californian had come back with redemption though as he earned an unanimous decision win against Nassourdine Imavov and a second-round TKO win over Abus Magomedov which both occurred as headliners at the UFC APEX.

Of course, the lead up to their fight at UFC 293 was very anticipating as both men loved to trash talk, especially since they had a heated exchange of words in the pre-fight press conference of UFC 276 which happened two years ago. 

With Adesanya looking like the comfortable winner and Strickland being the big underdog, you'd think the fight would be easy to predict but that was not the case. Strickland knocked down the champion in the opening round which had almost every spectator shooting up on their feet. After five rounds, it looked very convincing that Strickland had not only won the fight on enemy territory, but he would do it with ease as he became the new UFC Middleweight Champion with an unanimous decision victory.

hangman earns hometown headliner win

It's fair to say that Dan Hooker has been one of the most entertaining fighters in the Lightweight division, and it was likely to be an action-packed fight when he called out Paul Felder back in April 2018 as 22 months later, the anticipating bout would finally happen.

Felder was also known for his entertaining battles after he last fought Edson Barboza in an exciting three-round war and just did enough to win the fight by split decision at UFC 242.

The Hangman had won six of his last seven fights which included four KO/TKO victories and a submission win, making him look like the ultimate prospect in the 155-pound division. The New Zealander would defeat the likes of Jim Miller, Gilbert Burns and James Vick before getting his homecoming fight in Auckland.

Meanwhile, Felder was not looking like the potential title challenger but was putting on impressive displays as he had won five of his last six fights with three of those successful bouts ending by KO/TKO. The Irish Dragon had fought some of the toughest opponents, such as; Charles Oliveira, Francisco Trinaldo and Mike Perry.

The event would be hosted in Auckland for the first time since Derrick Lewis and Mark Hunt had their battle in New Zealand back in June 2017.

The five-round Lightweight bout would not disappoint as both men would deliver some skilful striking whilst exchanging punches in wild fashion. In a truly close fight to call, Hooker would just do enough to earn a split decision win in his hometown as he looked to be one step away from getting a possible title opportunity.

THe greatest heavyweight mma fight of all time

It's very rare you see an entertaining five-round Heavyweight war as Hunt vs Bigfoot felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity to see such a battle between two giants. What made this bout more exciting is that both men were dangerous knockout artists, so the Australian fans were prepared to get their money's worth.

Both fighters were very well-known in MMA before they entered the UFC as Mark Hunt was known for his crazy battles at PRIDE, while Antonio Silva was recognised in Strikeforce, especially after his victory against Fedor Emilianenko back in February 2011.

The Super Samoan had just lost his previous fight to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 160 but, before that, he was on a four-fight winning streak with victories over Ben Rothwell, Cheick Kongo and Stefan Struve. Hunt would be a top 10 ranked Heavyweight contender and a win against Silva would see him boost up the rankings and get a potential title shot.

In the same event, Bigfoot had headlined at UFC 160 where he would fail to capture the UFC Heavyweight title against Cain Velasquez, especially after he was on a two-fight winning streak with knockout wins against Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem. Silva's aim would be to maintain his contender's spot so he could have the chance to be back in title contention.

Brisbane would host its first-ever UFC event as spectators would not want to miss an action-packed night with a showstopping Main Event. 

In what would be one of the greatest fights of 2013 and in UFC history, Hunt and Bigfoot when back-and-forth in terms of striking as they delivered some brutal shots. Both men would earn a knockdown in the fight as fans could not believe that the fight would last for five rounds. In the end, the Heavyweight brawl would go to the judges scorecards with the fight resulting in a majority draw.