Kyle Noke
UFC adds bouts to return to Australia
The UFC was busy Thursday night announcing a bevy of fights for its return to Australia in March, and the card is nearing completion with 10 fights already booked.
A pair of Australians will fight in front of their home country fans in Sydney. Anthony Perosh and Kyle Noke each have verbally agreed to fights on the card, the UFC said.
Perosh (12-6, 2-3 UFC), a Sydney native, looks for his third straight UFC victory when he meets promotional newcomer Nick Penner (11-1). Perosh lost his first fight back in the UFC after going 0-2 as a heavyweight in 2006. He took a short-notice fight against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at UFC 110, the promotion’s first visit to Sydney, but lost by doctor stoppage after two rounds. After knee surgery, Perosh returned at UFC 127, again in Sydney, and submitted Tom Blackledge in his return to light heavyweight. And at UFC 138 in November, he submitted Cyrille Diabate. Penner, a Canadian, has won eight straight fights.
Noke (19-5-1, 3-1 UFC) had a three-fight UFC winning streak snapped against Ed Herman in August. The TUF 11 contestant started his UFC career with a TKO win over Josh Bryant at the TUF 11 Finale, then followed that up with submission victories over Rob Kimmons and Chris Camozzi, the latter of which won Submission of the Night honors at UFC 127 the last time the promotion visited Sydney. Noke will meet Jared Hamman (13-4, 2-3 UFC) in a middleweight bout on the card. Hamman will look to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time in his career. He is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Constantinos Philippou at UFC 140 last month in Toronto.
Other bouts announced by the UFC for the card include one featuring a pair of debuting heavyweights. Shawn Jordan (12-3), a member of Greg Jackson’s team in New Mexico and a Strikeforce and Bellator veteran, will face Oli Thompson (9-2) on the preliminary card. And Jake Hecht (11-2, 1-0 UFC), fresh off a win at UFC 140 in his debut with the company, meets TJ Waldburger (14-6, 2-1 UFC) in a welterweight bout.
The UFC also recently announced a rematch between Mackens Semerzier and Robbie Peralta for the Sydney card, as well as Cole Miller‘s drop from lightweight to featherweight to meet Steven Siler on the show.
UFC on FX: Alves vs. Kampmann takes place March 3 at the Allphones Arena (formerly Acer Arena) in Sydney – though the time difference means the broadcast will air Friday night in the United States. The card features a main event welterweight bout between former title challenger Thiago Alves and Martin Kampmann, plus the two semifinal bouts of the UFC’s flyweight tournament between Joseph Benavidez and Yasuhiro Urushitani, and Demetrious Johnson and Ian McCall.