After returning from a knee injury not many people gave Australian, Kyle Noke a chance against ‘The Spaniard’ Charlie Brenneman at UFC 152 in Canada but no one told Noke that, as he destroyed his foe inside the first minute.
Noke was in danger of being cut from the UFC roster, on the back of two straight losses to Andrew Craig and Ed Herman coming into the bout, but the 42 day delay after his fight at UFC 151 was cancelled made no difference as the Australian ripped through Brenneman.
The fight also marked a step down in weight for Noke who has fought at Middleweight in the past but he brought his size down to Welterweight and a flush left jab had Brenneman crawling on his knees before follow up punches had referee Dan Miragliotta rushing in to end the fight.
“The cut was easy,” Noke said post-fight. “I wasn’t cutting to make Middleweight (185lbs). I had just gotten comfortable at 185.”
Noke had trained with UFC Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones in the lead up to the fight, and he credited the champion’s high work ethic as a means for striving towards his goals.
“Whatever Jon does in training, I do too,” Noke told News Limited in the lead up to UFC 152.
“It’s been great because, even though he’s champion, even with everything he’s already achieved, the guy just doesn’t stop working. It’s been intense.”
While the win may crack Noke into the top 20 of his new weight class the Dubbo born fighter nicknamed ‘KO’ needs to emulate this performance many more times to be considered one of the top contenders in the division.
Fryzie86
Roar Rookie
Amazing performance from Noke. He looked unreal, he's a natural 170 pound fighter, he was slightly underpower at 185. What impressed me the most was his movement and confidence in the cage, something I've not seen Kyle fight with before. His manuerisms and movement actually reminded me of his new training partner Jonny Bones Jones. I think this is the start of big things for the man they call "KO"