MMA fights to look forward to in February after 'dry January'
Finally, some action at long last!
Finally, we have some MMA action Down Under. Eternal kick things off for us with their first show of 2024 on Saturday. One night, one rematch, one score to be settled once and for all. Two title fights will take place this weekend, and at least one new champion will be crowned in Perth. It really is a stacked card - make sure you don’t miss it!
What you might have missed
Alexander Volkanovski has warned his upcoming opponent Ilia Topuria that he is “going to give him a good humbling”.
Robert Whittaker believes Dricus du Plessis will beat Israel Adesanya if the two ever actually fight.
Megan Anderson spoke to ‘The Reaper’ about what went wrong against DDP, preparing for his fight against Paulo Costa, and training around the birth of a new daughter. Check it out for yourself here
Tom Nolan made his UFC debut against Nikolas Motta at UFC Vegas 84. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
Anthony Drilich has a new opponent. The Eternal flyweight champion will face Satoru Enomoto at Eternal 83 on 16 March.
Don’t forget you can keep up with every single event taking place over the next 12 months with our updated tracker. Click here for the list in full.
The Welshman who dreams of UFC glory
He grew up in Wales, but John-Martin Fraser now makes a living fighting on the other side of the world.
Since emigrating to Australia eight years ago, Fraser, from Swansea, has decided to go all in on making his UFC dream a reality.
Having settled on the Sunshine Coast in southern Queensland, surrounded by beach resorts, surf spots and national parks, he spends much of his time in the gym training.
It’s a far cry from the infamous nightclubs of Wind Street, where he often ended up “getting into trouble” in his youth, as he puts it.
“I always wanted to be a fighter as a little kid,” Fraser said.
“I was always getting into fights when I was younger. Not that I’d go out looking for fights but I’d always find it hard to walk away from one. So people weren’t really too surprised that I was getting into it.
“I just didn’t know it was going to be MMA. I thought it was going to be boxing. But when I came over here it became my life.”
What should a fighter look for in a manager?
You might not have heard of Daniel Maudsley, but you will probably recognise some of his clients.
Together with Tim Simpson, he is one of the two founders of Chosen Advisory Group, who represent the likes of Israel Adesanya, Leon Edwards and Jiri Prochazka, among others.
Unlike some of his peers, Maudsley prefers to operate in the shadows. By his own admission, he doesn’t do many interviews. However, this time he’s very kindly decided to make an exception (even if he had to put up with a dodgy WiFi connection on my end!).
A qualified lawyer by trade, he practiced commercial litigation for five years before deciding to make the switch to sports management.
“My uncle had a Muay Thai gym so I started kickboxing when I was quite young,” he says.
“Funnily enough, my very first job in law I actually got through jiu-jitsu, one of the guys I trained with is a lawyer. He ended up bringing me into his firm. So I started working there in litigation.
“I did a bit of research on the MMA industry, I figured out that if I wanted to actually make a run at it, I had to get to the US at some point.”
Upcoming events
10 February
Eternal MMA 82
Event starts from 2.30pm AWST on UFC Fight Pass
Quillan Salkilld (c) vs Dom Mar Fan - for the lightweight championship
- Rod Costa vs Alan Philpott - for the vacant bantamweight championship
24 February
Ascension Fight Series 1 (amateur)
Event starts from 5pm AWST on Ascension’s official website
Aaron Toy vs Jason Scarmozzino - vacant middleweight championship
- Jawad Rajabi vs Ryan Jankowski - vacant bantamweight championship
XFC 71
Event starts from 4pm AWST on XFC’s YouTube channel
In case you missed it
Changes are happening: A reintroduction (of sorts)
Team spirit: Inside the mind of Scrappy MMA head coach Ben Vickers
Knowledge is power: Top 10 MMA prospects from Australia and New Zealand
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