UFC Fight Night 85 Results: The Real Winners and Losers from Australia
We interrupt your college basketball binge-watching with this update on an entirely different kind of madness.
A world away from Duke vs. Yale, UFC Fight Night 85 went down from Brisbane, Australia, airing late Saturday night and early Sunday morning on the East Coast.
The main event combined two aging but dangerous heavyweights. In fact, despite Frank Mir and Mark Hunt bringing a total of 77 years of life and 50 pro fights into the cage with them, they might still be two of the most lethal fighters in the division.
Hunt, a former kickboxing champion, would surely be seeking a big knockout right next door to his native New Zealand. Mir, a two-time UFC titleholder, is a powerful and aggressive grappler, as evidenced by the nine submission wins—and two opponents' broken bones—he's racked up in a tumultuous MMA career.
Something, as they say, had to give. And while the rest of the 12-fight card was not long on title stakes or name recognition, several interesting prospects and matchups, local and otherwise, dotted the slate. Slugger Hector Lombard, Aussie prospect Jake Matthews and Japanese sensation Rin Nakai were just a few of the fighters whom fans tuned in to see.
As always, the final stat lines only reveal so much. Step away from the hardwood and step inside the chain link; these are the real winners and losers from UFC Fight Night 85.
For the literal-minded among us, full card results appear on the final slide.
Winner: Mark Hunt
1 of 9
"I appreciate your time."
That was the message from mild-mannered, thunder-fisted Mark Hunt to fans after they finished screaming for his one-punch, walk-off, first-round knockout of Frank Mir in the main event.
That comment, delivered to broadcaster Jon Anik in the cage directly after the fight, kind of sums Hunt up as a personality, just like that tremendous right hand behind the ear summed him up as a fighter. Both were quietly, impeccably, sparely, almost unwittingly delivered.
As Mir circled and plied his footwork, Hunt stayed still, feinting and waiting for his opening. When it came, he plowed through it with a flash. Mir hit the floor; Hunt shook his head like he had just been served an overcooked hamburger, turned on his heel and walked away.
The 41-year-old is just as inimitable—and dangerous—as he's ever been. That's two wins in a row now for Hunt, and the New Zealander has some real momentum in a thin heavyweight division that needs all of the big guy's talents.
Loser: Frank Mir
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After UFC Fight Night 85, Hunt's career clearly has life. It's not as easy to say the same about Mir's.
The 36-year-old attempted to use his footwork and went for level changes to get a takedown, but ultimately he was unable to mount much offense.
No one can fault Mir for falling to a punch that would have felled a Jersey cow, but he was noticeably slower and didn't have a whole lot for the New Zealander. That's just how it was.
Should Mir retire? Those calls will probably surface, as they always will after a loss from someone of Mir's age. That may be premature, though. It's only his second straight loss, and he did finish 2-1 in 2015.
At the same time, no one wants to see a Hall of Famer like Mir leave too late. Perhaps the seat deserves to get a little hotter.
Loser: Referee Steve Perceval
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You know the saying: The only time anyone talks about the referees is when he did something wrong. That's especially true when you're doing so after perhaps the most riveting fight thus far of 2016.
Cuban-Australian Hector Lombard is a knockout artist. He nearly had the finish when he absolutely crushed Neil Magny in the first round and followed up on a turtled Magny with a barrage of hammer fists.
Australian referee Steve Perceval was on top of the action but made no call.
Magny, by the skin of his teeth, survived, appearing to intelligently defend himself just enough. Then, at the end of the round, was that...did Magny have the momentum?
In the second round, Lombard was visibly tired as the result of throwing so many punches. Magny tagged Lombard repeatedly with his jab and eventually got the fight to the ground. There, Magny gained full mount and then took the judo Olympian's back and flattened him out. He pounded on Lombard's head as Lombard appeared to lose consciousness.
Perceval was again on top of the action, and again, no stoppage.
What was I watching?
Magny began the third like he ended the second. He regained full mount, then back mount, then recommenced to pounding. The beating lasted several minutes and parts of two rounds, far longer than Lombard's titanic but shorter-lived thunder strikes. Forty-six seconds into that round, Perceval finally waved off the fight.
According to Anik and an unofficial tally, Magny landed more than 40 unanswered strikes before the stoppage was called.
"The coach just told me I could do the same thing again," Magny told Anik in the cage after the fight when Anik asked him about the late stoppage. "So I went out and did just that."
That is incredible toughness and skill in the face of adversity from Magny, who is now an astonishing 11-1 over the past two years in the UFC.
It's a shame he had to talk about the ref after the fight. It's an even bigger shame that Perceval—although his forbearance earlier led to a terrific bout—allowed a fighter to take such a prolonged beating. Lombard is tough, but everything has limits.
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Winner: Jake Matthews
4 of 9
We have a new face to watch in the UFC lightweight division, and it belongs to Jake Matthews.
At the ripe age of 21, Matthews is 4-1 in the UFC and the top prospect emerging from the fight-happy region of Australia, New Zealand and environs, also known as Australasia. He got the better of Johnny "Hollywood" Case—relatively unheralded but a tough out for anyone—with a late chokeout win that turned a lot of heads in Brisbane and beyond.
They cracked each other with shots throughout the fight, with each man showing power early in his fists and chin. Case was doing a little more, including hitting takedowns, when in the second round Matthews turned the tide with some damaging body kicks.
Although he is huge for a lightweight, Matthews had plenty of gas for the final stanza. This time, the Aussie got the takedown, pulled off a sweet back-take and sunk in a rear-naked choke.
Case popped out (thanks in part to a fence grab that went unpunished), but it was a temporary reprieve. Matthews grabbed Case's back and neck again and forced the tap with just 15 seconds remaining.
It was a terrific win for the young man, and it showed he has the athleticism and the will to improve that could fuel a very real run at 155 pounds.
Winner: Bec Rawlings
5 of 9
Brisbane resident Bec Rawlings gained notoriety for her role on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, but she has had a bit of a roller-coaster ride during her three-fight stretch in the UFC proper.
A 1-1 UFC record coming into the event, compiled between a lengthy injury layoff, is not exactly the stuff of legend.
But Rawlings used her size advantage and edge on the mat to take a decision over Seohee Ham to make it two wins in a row. Not a bad night's work for the hometown girl.
Loser: Rin Nakai
6 of 9
Rin Nakai has a lot of fans in her native Japan, but that's more a function of her provocative, cosplay-style photo shoots—Google them if you want, I'm not linking to them—than her MMA prowess. Her unanimous-decision loss to Leslie Smith helped explain that phenomenon.
Nakai had a few moments, using her muscle-hamster frame and heavy top control to grab the second round. It was really not a bad little scrap. Still, her striking was poor, her performance was dull, she had no consistent answer for Leslie Smith's sharp punch combinations from range, and she tired down the stretch to fall to 0-2 in the UFC.
The 29-year-old Nakai is 16-2 as a pro; that and her popularity outside the cage guarantee her MMA continuance. But she may not be long for the UFC or, more generally, the bantamweight division. Her deficient skill set and height—she is 5'1", Smith is 5'9"—might see to that.
The news gets worse, too. MMA Junkie reporter and women's MMA analyst Robert Sargent reported, "This is the final bout on Rin Nakai's UFC contract because her manager/husband rejected a four-fight offer in favour of this two-fight one." Furthermore, Sargent asserted that "she will not be re-signed" if she loses.
There is a future for Nakai. As it stands, though, it's not maximally bright.
Winner: Alan Jouban
7 of 9
"The goal was to get a rebound," Alan Jouban told Kenny Florian in the cage after the fight.
Goal accomplished.
In October, Jouban took a first-round TKO loss to scorching-hot prospect Albert Tumenov. It was a little weird, because Jouban is usually the one dishing those out, not taking them.
In Saturday's featured prelim bout, Jouban got back to normal.
A series of punches, knees, then elbows dropped Brendan O'Reilly in just a little more than two minutes. It moved the 33-year-old Louisiana native and professional model to 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the UFC.
Jouban also said in his post-fight interview that he'd be interested in competing on this summer's huge UFC 200. His success, his high-octane style and his overall telegenicness (if that's a word: telegenicity?) could make him a reasonable addition to that card.
Winners: Australasian Fighters
8 of 9
Hunt's walk-off sealed the deal, but the winning was good—if not fully consistent—for the locals at UFC Fight Night 85.
As the UFC is understandably wont to do, it packed the Brisbane card with 10 competitors from Australia and nearby New Zealand. Only two of the evening's contests didn't include a neighborhood guy or gal.
All in all, it went well, with the group collectively finishing 5-5 on the evening. Ah, we're in a good mood, and the main event is the swing vote. So, we'll give 'em the winner tag.
The full slate was Damien Brown (loss), Richard Walsh (loss), Dan Hooker (win), O'Reilly (TKO loss), Rawlings (win), James Te-Huna (KO loss), Dan Kelly (TKO win), Matthews (submission win), Lombard (TKO loss) and Hunt (KO win).
UFC Fight Night 85 Full Card Results
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Main Card
- Mark Hunt def. Frank Mir by KO, 3:01, Rd. 1
- Neil Magny def. Hector Lombard by TKO, 0:46, Rd. 3
- Jake Matthews def. Johnny Case by submission (rear-naked choke), 4:45, Rd. 3
- Dan Kelly def. Antonio Carlos Junior by TKO, 1:36, Rd. 3
- Steve Bosse def. James Te-Huna by KO, 0:52, Rd. 1
- Bec Rawlings def. Seohee Ham by unanimous decision
Preliminary Card
- Alan Jouban def. Brendan O'Reilly by TKO, 2:15, Rd. 1
- Dan Hooker def. Mark Eddiva by submission (guillotine choke), 1:24, Rd. 1
- Leslie Smith def. Rin Nakai by unanimous decision
- Viscardi Andrade def. Richard Walsh by unanimous decision
- Ross Pearson def. Chad Laprise by split decision
- Alan Patrick def. Damien Brown by unanimous decision
Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more, follow Scott on Twitter.
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