The Ultimate Fighting Championship came to Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand tonight for UFC Fight Night 43: “Te Huna vs Marquardt.” The event was headlined by a middleweight bout between hometown standout James Te Huna and former Strikeforce champ Nate “The Great” Marquardt.
Elsewhere, Soa “The Hulk” Palelei battled Jared “The Big Show” Rosholt in the heavyweight co-feature. Hatsu Hioki faced Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira in a featherweight matchup and Robert Whittaker met Mike “Biggie” Rhodes at welterweight. MMARising.com has live play-by-play for the main card.
Nate “The Great” Marquardt vs James Te Huna
Round 1:
Marquardt opened the action with a right hook and a series of head kick attempts. He rocked Te Huna with a knee and reversed a takedown. Marquardt cut Te Huna with elbows from the top and passed to half-guard. A bloodied Te Huna scrambled back to his feet and both men landed knees. Te Huna followed with uppercuts, but Marquardt secured another takedown into mount. He flurried with strikes from the top and took Te Huna’s back, then transitioned to an armbar that forced Te Huna to submit.
Winner: Nate Marquardt by Submission (Armbar) at 4:34 of round one. He improves to 33-13-2.
Jared “The Big Show” Rosholt vs Soa “The Hulk” Palelei
Round 1:
Palelei ducked under a left hook from Rosholt and took him down on two occasions early in the fight. Rosholt stood and tried for a takedown of his own. He landed a standing elbow and dragged Palelei down. Palelei escaped from an arm-triangle choke, but gave up his back in the process and ate a series of knees to the body. Rosholt scored with right hands, but Palelei swept just before the bell and he rained down punches from mount until the end of the round. 10-9 Rosholt, barely.
Round 2:
Palelei landed a left hook and just missed with a right in round two. Rosholt countered with a series of uppercuts to the head and body and Palelei dropped levels for a takedown. Rosholt stuffed it and stayed on his feet. He landed knees and standing elbows, then worked for a front choke. Palelei stood and Rosholt landed a counter right hook. He landed another elbow before the end of the round. 10-9 Rosholt.
Round 3:
Rosholt took Palelei down and landed punches and knees to the body in round three. He pinned Palelei down in a top-side crucifix and reversed Palelei’s attempt to sweep. Rosholt kept Palelei down on the ground and he landed short punches and knees. Palelei finally stood and the fight ended in a clinch. 10-9 Rosholt.
Winner: Jared Rosholt by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 11-1-0.
Charles “Do Bronx” Oliveira vs Hatsu Hioki
Round 1:
Oliveira clinched and took Hioki down right away, then landed a knee as the fight returned to the feet. Hioki tried for a flying triangle choke and Oliveira escaped and countered with a guillotine. He took Hioki down again and worked for a Brabo choke. Hioki fought free and took his back. Oliveira scrambled back to his feet, but Hioki tripped him down once more. Oliveira stood and both men landed knees. Oliveira got Hioki down and worked for two more Brabo chokes. He landed a knee to the body before time expired. Close round. 10-9 Hioki.
Round 2:
Oliveira got Hioki back down in the second round, but Hioki battled back to his feet and scored a takedown of his own. Oliveira countered with an inverted heel hook and the fighters returned to their feet. Time was called after Oliveira was poked in the eye. The fight eventually continued and Oliveira landed knees and uppercuts.
Hioki took Oliveira down, but Oliveira cut him with elbows from the bottom. He tried for a guillotine choke and Hioki passed to side control. He took Oliveira’s back and worked for a rear-naked choke, but Oliveira escaped out the back and pulled guard with a modified bicep-grip guillotine choke. Hioki was completely trapped and was forced to submit.
Winner: Charles Oliveira by Submission (Modified Guillotine Choke) at 4:32 of round two. He improves to 18-4-0, 1 NC.
Robert “The Reaper” Whittaker vs Mike “Biggie” Rhodes
Round 1:
Rhodes caught a kick right away and returned fire with a right hook. Whittaker threw more leg and body kicks and Rhodes cracked him with an overhand right. Whittaker jabbed and both men landed right hooks. Leg kicks were exchanged and Rhodes attempted a spinning back kick. Whittaker sidestepped and countered with a right hand. Rhodes clinched and backed Whittaker up against the cage. Both men landed kicks to the upper body late in round one and Whittaker scored with another hard leg kick. Close round. 10-9 Whittaker.
Round 2:
Whittaker jabbed and followed with right hands in the second round that prompted Rhodes to clinch. Whittaker circled away and both fighters landed lunging one-twos. Whittaker missed with a right hand and Rhodes countered nicely with a left hook. Whittaker pressed forward and landed a combination. He remained aggressive with his punches and attempted a head kick. Whittaker countered a right hook with an uppercut and Rhodes attempted a flashy kick before the bell. 10-9 Whittaker.
Round 3:
The final round began with an exchange of kicks and Whittaker put together more combinations. Rhodes became more wild with his punches and Whittaker landed stiff jabs in return. He took Rhodes down and bloodied his nose with short punches and elbows from half-guard. The fighters were stood up with ten seconds to go and Rhodes threw a head kick. 10-9 Whittaker.
Winner: Robert Whittaker by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. He improves to 12-4-0.
Undercard Fights:
– Jake “The Celtic Kid” Matthews defeated Dashon “Fly Boy” Johnson by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 3:16 of round three. He improves to 6-0-0 with the win.
– Richie “Vas” Vaculik defeated Roldan “The Executioner” Sangcha-an by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. He improves to 10-2-0 with the win.
– Vik “The Spartan” Grujic defeated Chris Indich by TKO (Punches) at 4:55 of round one. He improves to 7-3-0 with the win.
– Neil Magny defeated Rodrigo “Monstro” Goiana de Lima by TKO (Punches) at 2:32 of round two. He improves to 11-3-0 with the win.
– Daniel “The Hangman” Hooker defeated Ian “Enty” Entwistle by TKO (Elbows) at 3:34 of round one. He improves to 11-4-0 with the win.
– Gian Villante defeated Sean “The Real OC” O’Connell by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29) after three rounds. He improves to 12-5-0 with the win.