Dana White likes what he sees Down Under.
The Athletic: UFC 259 Best Bets: Picks and odds for Saturday’s fight card MMA Junkie: Video: Can Megan Anderson become part of the history of massive UFC title upsets? MMAFighting.com: UFC 259 weigh-in video MMA Junkie: UFC 259: Weigh-ins results and live video stream (12 p.m. Muslim Salikhov is often acknowledged as one of the best Wushu Sanda competitors in history; current UFC fighter in the welterweight division. Omari Akhmedov – MMA Fighter currently competing in the UFC 's Middleweight division. Ramazan Emeev – MMA Fighter.
It's with good reason, too, as Australia and New Zealand boast some of the best talent in the UFC.
Ahead of UFC 234 in Melbourne this Sunday [AEDT], we count down the top 10 from both sides of the Tasman Sea.
10. Jim Crute
The Victorian made his UFC debut in Adelaide last December, announcing himself on the big stage with a third-round kimura submission of Paul Craig. 'The Brute' had emerged from Dana White's Tuesday night Contender Series, earning himself a UFC contract with a brutal TKO of Chris Birchler. The undefeated Crute will return to the Octagon on Sunday when he fights American Sam Alvey, a win in Melbourne would launch him further up a light-heavyweight division he is determined to conquer.
9. Kai Kara-France
One of three Kiwis on our list, Kara-France also made his UFC debut in Adelaide last year. But a unanimous decision victory over American Elias Garcia was just the latest of his forays into MMA, with the Aucklander having pursued his dream for the best part of a decade throughout Asia-Pacific in various cage-fighting tournaments. The 25-year-old flyweight trains alongside countryman Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker at Auckland's City Kickboxing, and returns to the Octagon at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday against Raulian Paiva Frazao, a Brazilian who's making his UFC debut.
8. Tyson Pedro
One half of 'The Halfcast Podcast', Pedro is an established light-heavyweight whose UFC record sits at 3-3 after he debuted in November 2016. Pedro is however coming off back-to-back defeats which have seen his ranking fall down the light-heavyweight standings, the most recent of which came in Adelaide via a third-round TKO. But that defeat by Brazilian star Mauricio Rua could have easily been different, with Pedro's hopes derailed by an ACL injury. He is set to have surgery and then begin his road back to the Octagon.
7. Jessica-Rose Clark
Due to fight on the UFC on Fox card in mid-December last year, Rose-Clark was forced to withdraw from her bout with Andrea Lee after she was deemed 'medically unfit' to enter the Octagon. In attempting to make the 125-pound weight, Rose-Clark's body gave in and she has since announced a move back to bantamweight (135lbs). After back-to-back victories in her first two UFC bouts, Rose-Clark then suffered a unanimous decision loss to top-ranked flyweight contender, Jessica Eye, but is set for a strong return in the heavier division.
6. Dan Hooker
A Kiwi fighting in the most high profile UFC division of them all - lightweight - Hooker was on four-fight win streak before he ran into Brazilian star Edson Barboza at UFC on Fox 31. Barboza had previously locked horns with, and lost to, division champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, so there was no disgrace in the Kiwi's third-round KO loss in Milwaukee. But his ranking did drop back to No.15 as a result, and he now faces a tough road back up the division after an initially successful switch from featherweight in 2017.
5. Megan Anderson
Anderson's record sits at 1-1 in the UFC after she embraced one of the toughest challenges for her maiden bout, a showdown with superstar Holly Holm. That fight ended in a third-round loss on a stacked card for UFC 225 in Chicago, Anderson suffering a unanimous decision defeat by the first woman to take down Ronda Rousey. The 28-year-old Queenslander returned to the Octagon with a TKO featherweight victory over Cat Zingano, and has since called out Cris Cyborg for a bout in the 145-pound division.
4. Tai Tuivasa
The biggest UFC character on either side of the Tasman, Tuivasa shot up the heavyweight rankings with an unbeaten eight-bout run after he'd traded rugby league for MMA. He won his first three fights in the UFC, too, proving he was ready to 'stand and bang' with the big boys of the Octagon. But he then ran into Brazilian legend and former heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos at Fight Night Adelaide, the Australian rocked by a right hand in the second round from which he never recovered. Tuivasa's next bout is still to be confirmed, but he did call out Justin Willis after his loss in Adelaide; the American had defeated Mark Hunt earlier on the card.
3. Israel Adesanya
One of the rising superstars of the UFC, Adesanya is making waves all over the globe after steadily climbing the middleweight rankings. Originally from Nigeria, Adesanya and his family immigrated to New Zealand; a move 'The Last Stylebender' has embraced by labelling himself as a 'Black Kiwi'. Full of bravado but with the skills to match, Adesanya is unbeaten in 15 fights as a professional, going a perfect four for four in the UFC in 2018. He faces his biggest test to date in Melbourne this Sunday in an absolute legend of the sport, Anderson Silva, but he is determined to take the Brazilian down and earn the ultimate trans-Tasman contest with Robert Whittaker.
2. Alexander Volkanovski
A former rugby league player and concreter from Wollongong, Volkanovski has ridden a huge wave of momentum all the way to No.4 in the UFC featherweight rankings. Unbeaten in his last 16 fights, the last six of which have come in the UFC, Volkanovski is a complete MMA athlete who can get it done on his feet or on the ground. A victory over Chad Mendes on December 29 has put him within striking distance of a title shot later in the year, Volkanovski already putting title holder Max Holloway on notice, declaring he 'fights a style that [Holloway] hasn't really fought yet.' It promises to be a big year for the Australian.
1. Robert Whittaker
The first UFC champion from either Australia or New Zealand, Whittaker is among Dana White's favourite athletes after he first emerged via The Smashes - a made-for-television special that pitted Australian and English fighters against each other. Whittaker made his UFC debut proper in 2012, going 2-2 over his first four fights; he added one further victory at welterweight before making the decision to step up to middleweight. He hasn't looked back since. Unbeaten in eight UFC bouts as a middleweight, Whittaker became interim champion when UFC legend Georges St Pierre vacated the middleweight belt midway through 2017. But his first title defence was derailed by injury, and it wasn't until he defeated Yoel Romero for a second time, in Chicago, that he held the belt in triumph inside the Octagon. Sunday's showdown with American Kelvin Gastelum will be his second title defence, and first on home soil.
Catch UFC 234 on ESPN, and in Australia and New Zealand on ESPN and Main Event
10. Aspen Ladd
Aspen Ladd is one of the American competent mastered in mixed martial arts and fights in the Bantamweight weight class of UFC. Invicta FC was the beginning of her competent martial arts career. She had her first fight in UFC on the 22nd of October in the year of 2017 at the event of UFC 138 against Lina Lansberg which she won by defeating Lansberg by knocking her out in the 2nd round of the fight. She has won the Fight of The Night award once at the fight with Sijara Eubanks on the month of the 18th of May in the year of 2019 at the event of UFC Fight Night 152. Ladd is presently ranked 9th in the Women’s Pound-for-Pound ratings.
9. Cris Cyborg
Cristiane Justino Venancio, from Brazil, is a talented UFC fighter who is more recognized by her in-ring name “Cris Cyborg” which attributes of being a master in mixed martial arts and presently fights in the Bellator MMA and also the present Bellator Women’s Featherweight World Championship Titleholder. Cris Cyborg is the only individual in the MMA records to have won the Grand Slam and also held world championships around 4 authorized mixed martial arts breakthroughs. She won the fight against Tonya Evinger to become the Invicta FC Women’s Bantamweight titleholder.
8. Holly Holm
Holly Rene Holm is a well-known American UFC fighter specialized particularly in mixed martial arts. Holms is an ex-UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title Holder and a world medallist numerous times in boxing while protecting her titles in multiple weight divisions for 18 times. Holly Holm is the one and the only individual to have held a world champion title for boxing and also a UFC champion title. She defeated Ronda Rousey in the event of UFC 193 on the 15th of November, in the year 2015, and won the Bantamweight title. She is famous for having a fighting style of having sideway movements while hitting jabs to her challenger’s head. She is popular for her combination of punches she lands on her opponents and has a present ranking of 8th in the Women’s Pound-for-Pound ratings.
7. Germaine de Randamie
Germaine de Randamie is a very well-known Dutch UFC Fighter who specializes in martial arts and is an ex-kickboxer. She has never been defeated in authorized fights and now fights in the UFC Featherweight division and also the earliest UFC Women’s Featherweight Title Holder. Randamie won the UFC Featherweight Title on the 11th of February in the year 2017 in a match against Holly Holm. Towards the end of the 2nd and 3rd rounds, she kept punching her even after the round had ended. One of such punches was with her right hand which shook Holly who had stopped hitting back causing the referee to end the fight, and by an uncontested agreement, Randamie was declared the champion. Randamie is presently ranked as 7th in the UFC Women Pound-for-Pound ratings.
6. Joanna Jędrzejczyk
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is a talented UFC fighter. She is mastered in mix martial arts and is an ex- Muay Thai kickboxer who presently fights in both the UFC’s women’s Flyweight and Strawweight divisions. She has been a past winner of the UFC Women’s Strawweight Title. She won the Strawweight Championship Title by defeating Carla Esparza in a fight that took place on the 14th of March in the year 2015. She knocked Carla in the 2nd round of the fight to earn the title and became the earliest woman to hold a UFC crown residing from Poland and also the European UFC Champion. She is famous for having a fighting style of clear-cut and accurate strikes and the sprawl-and-brawl approach.
5. Jessica Andrade
Jessica Andrade is a competent UFC fighter who is born in Umuarama, Parana, Brazil, and is presently fighting in the Women’s Strawweight Division. She has been an ex-UFC women’s Strawweight Champion. She won the title in a match against Rose Namajunas in the event of UFC 237 on the 11th of May, 2019. Andrade defeated Namajunas by knocking her out with a slam in the fight’s 2nd round. Andrade is the earliest woman to have won matches in 3 altering weight classes. She holds a present ranking of 5th in the UFC Women’s Pound-for-Pound ratings.
4. Rose Namajunas
Rose Gertrude Namajunas is a talented UFC fighter wrestling presently in the women’s strawweight division born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has been an ex-UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion. She won the championship by winning the match against Joanna Jedrzejczyk by punching her behind the ear which made her get knocked once and again by punching Joanna with her left arm to her chin conclusively winning the fight and the championship. She is famous for her aggressive fighting style with her intimidating movements of jabs and thigh kicks and also for her unique alterations in the middle of a fight and her professional punching and foot movement.
3. Zhang Weili
Zhang Weili, more popularly known by the name of Magnum, is a skillful UFC fighter who was born in Handan, Hebel in China. She competes in the women’s strawweight division of UFC and presently is the UFC Women’s Strawweight World Championship Titleholder. In the past charts of UFC, there has never been a Chinese and East Asian Champion, hence making Weili the earliest to ever do so. Weili became the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion by defeating Jessica Andrade by knocking her out in the duel’s first round. She holds an ongoing ranking of 3rd in the UFC Women’s Pound-for-Pound ratings.
2. Valentina Shevchenko
Valentina Anatolievna Shevchenko is a very well-known UFC fighter known for her Muay Thai fighting style. She wrestles in the Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is the present UFC Women’s Flyweight Champion. She had won the Flyweight Champion by winning against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Valentina is known for her clear-cut ability to counter-strike and her unique capability to measure the standard of an enemy’s combat and reciprocate with a different group of counteractions. Her move set of counters are mostly filled with a fast right hook or a twisting wheel kick.
Famous Ufc Fighters 2019
1. Amanda Nunes
Amanda Lourenco Nunes is a skillful martial artist from Brazil who fights in the UFC Championship. Amanda is the earliest woman who has won the two-division UFC championship and is the third duellist to have held possession of titles belonging to two different weight divisions at the same time. She is known for her Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Amanda is known to have defeated Cyborg in a matter of 51 seconds of the bout to win and be the UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion. She has also won the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship by defeating Miesha Tate in the form of submission.