UFC Fight Camp’s Phil Murphy, Megan Anderson and Jimmy Smith discuss the Australian fighters they’re looking forward to …
[Music] making 21 in a row for Alexander the Great [Music] [Applause] Wallace performance wow foreign UFC 243 right spectacle UFC record crowd at Marvel stadium in Melbourne Megan was there Israel adesanya was there he floored Robert Whittaker became the new Champion new face of the region that was October 2019. the promotion planned to return the following June UFC 251 in Perth a global pandemic had other plans three and a half years on next week UFC 284 the Octagon will touch down down under again and this is not an exhaustive list but it is a sampling of some of the local flavor who will make the walk at RAC Arena Tyson Pedro looks to stay Perfect Since ending his near four-year Hiatus as he welcomes modestus fuscocus back to the Octagon Pedro went 2-0 with two first-round finishes last year Jimmy crute then opens a pay-per-view portion of the show opposite Alonzo menifield fruit missed all of last year after knee surgery he’s seeking his first win since late 2020 which also coincidentally came against Pedro’s opponent Lucas Justin taffa also fought on that UFC 243 show losing his UFC debut he’s two and two since but had to pull out of two fights last year he faces Parker Porter who trains just a short drive from our studio might go visit him then it’s one of perth’s own and someone who’s gained a lot of steam for his striking Acumen Jack de la matolina looks to run his win streak took 14 with four wins from force and signing with the UFC but he’s going against Rude Boy Randy Brown already on a four-fight win streak and in the main event of the evening Alex volkanovski seeks elusive champ champ status the featherweight King moving up to lightweight where he’s 5-0 as a pro but facing a far more significant test in lightweight champ Islam mahatchik and again that is not an exhaustive list and no disrespect to Auckland who hosted an event in February 2020 I was there Dan hooker against Paul Felder but I’m talking pay-per-views and it is back on in Perth next weekend Megan Anderson Jimmy Smith Megan starting with you which of those aside from vulcanovsky looking to become champ champ do you find most intriguing I am so on the jack Della medal in a hype train right now he has looked incredible after winning his contract he had three back-to-back first round stoppages he has tremendous amount of power his boxing is amazing he’s finished 12 of his third team with eight of them in the first round and I am so excited for this matchup because I think it’s a great progression for where he is right now coming through the UFC ranks Randy Brown is an established guy in the UFC he’s been in there since 2016. he’s an established guy he’s in a full fight win streak and this is a perfect fight for an up-and-coming Prospect like Jack who has the skills and has an incredibly high ceiling so I I think this is the perfect fight and obviously apart from Alex the one that I really have my eye on well when we talk about trains you know rude boy would like that train to go right off a cliff as the physical skills to do it but I like what you said Megan about this being a test why rude boy is six foot three incredibly tall very ranging it’s hard to get a read on him what we’re gonna see is how he deals with a really unorthodox build and a very powerful striker in Randy Brown yeah and rude boy has been tested I mean his last win came against masahan Dubai he fought chaos Williams who had a little bit of a hype train himself beat him in a split decision but I I think that should have been a unanimous decision for brown Jimmy same question for you aside from Jack Della madalina aside from Alex volkanovsky which Australian fighter are you most excited to see on home soil in Perth and my fellow Jimmy got to go with Jimmy crew and the interesting thing about this is he had all the potential in the world but potential only lasts so long you’re expecting to deliver in the UFC and he’s coming off two losses have they aged well yes the current champion Jamal Hill and then Anthony Smith of course a doctor stoppage suffered an injury there coming off surgery how does he bounce back we know he has the physical tools leave me the top 25 under 25. now you’re 26 now you have to deliver if he’s going to get back amongst the elite it’s got to start with a win in Perth my issue with Jimmy is he tends to leave himself out there a little bit to be clipped he likes to stand and bang he likes to trade in the pocket he can’t do that against Atomic manifild has pretty much stopped 20 at 12 of his 13 wins most of them in the first round he’s got a tremendous amount of power you don’t want to you don’t want to chance your chin against a guy like manifield so I think for Jimmy with this break let’s see how he’s improved how he’s made the adjustments to really tighten up that striking game so he isn’t putting himself in those positions to be hit with those big heavy Strikers and we saw what happened in Melbourne UFC 243 if you show out in front of a home crowd even early in the card like like Megan did or like Brad Riddell did it leads to a really significant uptick in career trajectory so that’s why I’m gonna go ahead and throw a Jack Jenkins out on the list as well thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube for live streaming Sports and premium content subscribe to ESPN Plus