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For the fourth time, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will return to the harbour city for UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bipsing. The event marks the sixth overall to be hosted in Australia.
The main event will feature the culmination of an ongoing war of words between top-ranked middleweights Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping and former Strikeforce champ Luke Rockhold.
Coming off two consecutive wins since his UFC debut loss, Rockhold is currently ranked fifth in the UFC middleweight division. He holds notable wins over Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza.
A UFC veteran since winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, Bisping gets back into action quickly after a decisive win over Cung Le in Macau last August. The perennial top-contender is looking to make his way up the ladder to a title shot.
Other confirmed bouts on the Sydney card include:
• TUF: Smashes winner and Sydney local Robert Whittaker will be making his middleweight debut against TUF 17 alum Clint ‘Headbussa’ Hester. Whittaker’s last fight was a decision win over Mike Rhodes at UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquard in Auckland last June.
• Sydney native and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Anthony ‘The Hippo’ Perosh will meet striker Guto Inocente . Perosh last fought in December in a decision loss to Ryan Bader at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Bigfoot in Brisbane.
• Perth heavyweight Soa ‘The Hulk’ Palelei’ will be facing off against Polish fighter Daniel Omielanczuk .
• Young prospect and Melbourne resident Jake ‘The Celtic Kid’ Matthews will look to make it 2-0 in the UFC as he takes on Vagner ‘Ceara’ Rocha. Matthews is the youngest fighter on the UFC roster.
• Another Melbourne fighter and TUF: Nations alum Vik ‘The Spartan’ Grujic faces off against Canadian Chris ‘The Menace’ Clements.
• Gold Coast’s Dylan ‘The Villain’ Andrews will take on Sam ‘Smile’N’ Alvey from the U.S.
The card will take place at the Allphones Arena in Sydney Olympic Park with more fights to be announced. Tickets are available via Ticketek.
The card is heavily stacked with local talent so far! Look for a few more names who aren’t already booked to pop up in the coming weeks.
For all his colourful trash talk, Bisping can back it up when the cage door closes. The same can be said of Rockhold. This grudge match’s build up will be exciting enough on its own, with lots of memorable quotes. That said, the five-round fight should be a barnburner.
Against a striker like Inocente, Perosh will be looking to close the distance and take the fight to the ground. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Perosh’s underrated ground game. A submission win would be a great way to get back in the win column.
Palelei will look to not only win, but to do so in exciting fashion. Most fans – and Dana White himself – were disappointed in the dull affair against Jared Rosholt in Auckland.
Speaking of Auckland, several journalists were very impressed with the young Jake Matthews’ debut win last June. He’s an exciting fighter and his upcoming bout in Sydney will surely entertain.
Let’s get ready to rumble! Pick a fighter and place your bets with PlayUp for great odds. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.