UFC Fight Night 43 took place on Saturday at the Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand and was headlined by Nate Marquardt snapping a three fight losing streak with a first round armbar submission victory over James Te Huna.
Marquardt landed a knee at the beginning of the fight that took the fight to the ground and he would have top position. He would land several short elbows that would open up a cut above the left eye of Te Huna.
Te Huna would be able to work his way to his feet and the fighters would clinch. Marquardt would end up getting the fight to the ground and got the mount position. He would end up on the back of Te Huna and looked for a submission. As Te Huna was working out of a potential submission, Marquardt grabbed the arm and Te Huna would tap out to an armbar.
Marqaurdt (33-13-2) gets his first victory since 2012 when he defeated Tyron Woodley to win the Strikeforce welterweight title and this is his first win at middleweight since defeating Dan Miller at UFC 128 in 2011. Te Huna (16-8) has now dropped three in a row and two of those defeats have come by submission.
Rosholt uses wrestling to score unanimous decision over Palelei
The co-main event of the fight card was a heavyweight bout as Jared Rosholt improved to 3-0 in the UFC as he defeated Soa Palelei by unanimous decision.
Palelei looked to get the fight to the ground earlier, but Rosholt would be able to stop the attempt. They would have a clinch battle against the fence with Rosholt controlling the fight. However, with ten seconds left in the round, Palelei would be able to get the mount position on the ground and worked his strikes. He would land a series of punches but Rosholt would be saved by the bell.
After that flurry, Palelei would struggle to mount any offense as it became clear his gas tank was getting low. Rosholt would be able to get the fight to the ground and landed 36 strikes, compared to 11 for Palelei.
Rosholt would continue to control the fight in the third round as he would score two takedowns in the round and Palelei would only landed 2 total strikes in the round. The fight would go to the scorecards and all three judges scored the fight 30-27 for Rosholt.
Rosholt (11-1) has now won seven in a row and all three of his wins in the UFC have come by decision.
Oliveira becomes first person to submit Hioki
In a featherweight bout, Charles Oliveira became the first fighter to submit Hatsu Hioki has he won by guillotine choke in the second round.
As the fight started, Oliveira took the fight to the ground and as Hioki would get back to his feet. As he got back to his feet, he attempted a jumping triangle choke. The submission attempt would be defended and the fighters would battle in the clinch before Hioki scored a takedown. While on the ground, he would get on the back of Oliveira but the fight would end up back on the feet.
They would clinch against the fence and Hioki would use a trip to get the fight back to the ground. Oliveira would be able to get the fight back to the feet and went for a submission before the round came to a conclusion.
It would not take long for the fight to get back to the ground in the second round and they battled on the mat. As the fighters were getting to their feet, Hioki accidentally poked Oliveira in the eye. He would be able to continue and once the fight was restarted, Oliveira became the aggressor.
The fight moved back to the ground and Hioki would end up in top position. He would end up getting on the back of Oliveira and went for a rear-naked choke. Oliveira would defend the submission and end up going for a guillotine choke and Hioki would tap out to the hold.
Oliveira (18-4) is now 4-2 since dropping down to the featherweight division and this is his twelfth career win by submission.
Whittaker out-strikes Rhodes, wins by unanimous decision
The opening fight of the main card was a welterweight bout as TUF: The Smashes winner Robert Whittaker snapped a two fight losing streak with a decision win over Mike Rhodes in a matchup of strikers.
The opening round would be on the feet for all five minutes and the fighters exchanged punches and kicks. Whittaker would land eight more strikes in the first round and stopped a takedown attempt of Rhodes.
The best round for Rhodes came in the second round, but Whittaker was able to maintain the control of the cage as the fighters had a kickboxing bout. Just like the first round, Rhodes did attempt to get the fight to the ground but Whittaker would be able to keep the fight on the feet.
In the final round, they would continue their striking bout until Whittaker landed a double leg takedown at the half way mark of the round. He would b able to keep the fight on the ground until ten seconds left in the round when the referee stood the fighters up.
The fight would go to the scorecards and all three judges had it 30-27 for Whittaker (12-4), who is now 3-2 in the UFC and this is his first win since defeating Colton Smith at UFC 160 last year.
The complete UFC Fight Night 43 results are below.
Main Card: (Fight Pass)
Nate Marquardt def. James Te-Huna via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:34
Jared Rosholt def. Soa Palelei via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Charles Oliveira def. Hatsu Hioki via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:32
Robert Whittaker def. Mike Rhodes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Jake Matthews def. Dashon Johnson via submission (triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:16
Richie Vaculik def. Roldan Sangcha-an via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Vik Grujic def. Chris Indich via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 4:55
Neil Magny def. Rodrigo de Lima via KO (punch) – Round 2, 2:32
Daniel Hooker def. Ian Entwistle via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:34
Gian Villante def. Sean O’Connell via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)