8 memorable moments from UFC Fight Night 85 in Australia

With UFC Fight Night 85 a few days behind us, it’s time to look back and reflect on some of the most memorable moments from Saturday’s event at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Sure, we’ll make mention of Mark Hunt crushing Frank Mirin the FOX Sports 1 televised heavyweight main event. And yes, there will be mention of Neil Magny’s come-from-behind triumph over Hector Lombard in the welterweight co-main event, but that’s just scratching the surface.

What follows are eight important moments from Saturday’s fight card.

1. From ‘please walk away’ to walk-off

Frank Mir and Mark Hunt

There’s one thing everyone knows about Hunt (12-10-1 MMA, 7-4-1 UFC): He wants to end every fight early. He did just that at UFC Fight Night 85 while crushing Mir (18-11 MMA, 16-11 UFC) with a right hand behind the ear, and walking away before the referee could make it official:

“He was still in the dark,” Hunt said of his first round walk-off knockout. “He wasn’t there, so I just left it.”

As for what’s next for Hunt, he said he’d be open to running back some fights he’s lost.

“I’d fight any of the top guys,” he said. “I could rematch any of those guys – (Junior) Dos Santos, Stipe (Miocic), the guy with the belt, Fabricio (Werdum). I’ve never lost a rematch, so I’d like to rematch any of these guys.”

Not bad for a guy the UFC once tried to pay to just walk away himself.

2. That’s how you stay in the fight

Neil Magny and Hector Lombard

We found out a few things during the Magny (18-4 MMA, 11-3 UFC) vs. Lombard (34-5-1 MMA, 3-3 UFC) co-feature.

First, Lombard still looks like an action figure after serving his one-year suspension for a performance-enhancing drug. Second, Lombard’s punches still land with the impact of a freight train. Third, Magny is plenty tough. Fourth, there may be something to that big muscles equals little cardio thing, and lastly, well, referee Steve Percival.

Lombard landed heavy strikes early and he did his best to put away Magny in the first round, but Magny was unwilling to go quietly into the Australian afternoon.

Lombard’s cardio faltered in the second. Sure, Lombard dropped Magny with a single punch, but Magny’s 142 strikes landed in that round and a submission attempt negated Lombard’s effort.

Most of Magny’s strikes came in the last minute of the round, and most were landed to the downed Lombard’s head while Percival looked on, seemingly intent on using Lombard’s brain for an impromptu medical experiment.

Lombard’s night ended 46 seconds into the third round when Magny forced the stoppage via strikes:

After his “Performance of the Night” effort, Magny said he wants a top-five opponent in his next fight and that he expects to make a title run before the end of the year.

3. Really, ref?

Neil Magny

Lombard absorbed a tremendous amount of unnecessary punishment from Magny, and the man who could have stopped that abuse, referee Percival, did nothing.

After the fight, both Magny and UFC executive vice president Tom Wright spoke out about Percival’s lack of action.

“As much as we’re in the sport to win, it’s hard as an individual to put that kind of damage on a guy and not have it stopped,” Magny said after the event.

“We were a lot concerned,” Wright said of Percival’s performance. “I think Neil said it best: It’s the referee’s job to make sure the fight is stopped if the athlete can’t protect himself or herself. I thought that fight should have been stopped, and it should have been stopped a long time before.”

4. Youth movement

Jake Matthews

Heading into the lightweight bout between Jake Matthews (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) and Johnny Case (22-5 MMA, 4-1 UFC), many thought the fight would be entertaining, but that Case’s experience would be enough to earn him the victory over the raw athleticism of Matthews.

Well, those who thought that way were half right.

The 21-year-old Matthews had his hand raised in victory after a late submission win over the 26-year-old Case:

The “Fight of the Night” bout showed that both fighters have a bright future in a stacked division.

As for what’s next for the winner, Matthews trusts the UFC.

“We always leave it up to the UFC,” Matthews said after the fight. “We trust in their matchmakers. They’re the best in the world at what they do, and we trust that they’re going to ease me along at the pace that I need to go, and not throw me to the wolves and as long as I can keep fighting guys that are a little bit higher ranked than me. I’ll keep working up the rankings.”

5. Big upset

Daniel Kelly and Antonio Carlos Junior

Antonio Carlos Junior (5-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was a heavy 5-1 favorite over Daniel Kelly (11-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 85. When the middleweight fight came to an early end, those who bet on the underdog were ecstatic.

After getting dominated in the first round, Kelly was more successful in the second stanza, but odds were good that, without a finish, Kelly was going to walk away with the loss.

One minute into the third round Kelly stunned Carlos Junior with a head kick, and he then took the fight to the ground and laid a beating on his opponent for the come-from-behind TKO win:

Kelly expects he will be the underdog in his next fight as well.

“I want to fight someone who’s ranked above me,” he said. “I want to fight better guys. I want to keep testing myself. Tonight I proved that I can pull a rabbit out a hat, as well.”

6. Don’t fight Jouban after a loss

Alan Jouban

Alan Jouban (13-4 MMA, 4-2 UFC) has four losses during his career, and on Saturday, he reminded everyone, especially opponent Brendan O’Reilly (6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC), that you don’t want to fight him following a loss; he’s now earned a knockout win after each of his defeats.

O’Reilly became victim No. 4 just two minutes into the welterweight fight after eating punches, elbows and knees along the fence before the fight was waved off (via Twitter):

With the win, Jouban became just the second fighter in UFC history to end two UFC fights via standing elbows. Jouban’s first came at UFC 184, where he stopped Richard Walsh at the 2:19 mark of the first round. (And yes, that knockout came after a loss.)

7. Hooker’s move pays dividends

Dan Hooker and Mark Eddiva

The first four fights at UFC Fight Night 85 all went the distance; the fifth didn’t make it past 90 seconds.

The beginning of the end came just 45 seconds into the featherweight contest when Dan Hooker (13-6 MMA, 3-2 UFC) threw a kick to the body of Mark Eddiva (6-3 MMA, 1-3 UFC). Eddiva caught the kick and did his best to take the fight to the mat, but he was unsuccessful in his takedown attempt, and he left his neck exposed just a little too long.

Hooker capitalized, sinking a standing guillotine that he finished after the two dropped to the mat (via Twitter):

Hooker, who recently moved to Elevation Fight Team in Denver, has finished each of his three victories in the UFC, alternating wins and losses during his five-fight UFC run. If Saturday’s victory is any indication, the move was a wise one.

8. 29 pounds in a week

Alan Patrick and Damien Brown

Alan Patrick (13-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) dominated Damien Brown (15-9 MMA, 0-1 UFC) in their lightweight contest by using a strong top game to earn the unanimous-decision victory.

Brown, who took the fight as a short-notice replacement, gave his best effort, but he couldn’t get anything to go his way during the contest. One of the reasons Brown said he struggled was that he cut an enormous amount of weight leading up to the fight.

“I cut 29 pounds in the last seven days for an opportunity at my dream, which is to fight for the UFC,” he said.

We often have short memories in MMA, but let’s not forget that this type of drastic weight cut can have dire consequences. Remember: In late 2015, Yang Jian Bing died after cutting weight before a ONE Championship fight card.

For more on UFC Fight Night 85, check out the UFC Events section of the site.