SYDNEY, Australia -- It may not have had pay-per-view billing, nor the line-up to match, but Australian MMA fans will have gone home happy from UFC Fight Night Sydney after more than seven hours of action at Qudos Bank Arena.
Brazilian Fabricio Werdum was a clear winner in the headline bout, accounting for Poland's Marcin Tybura in a unanimous decision over five rounds. But it was the fights involving Australian competitors that really got the crowd going.
Those bouts included Tai Tuivasa, Damien Brown, Daniel Kelly and Jake Matthews who all fought international opposition, while there were two all-Australian showdowns in the female ranks with Nadia Kassem downing Alex Chambers before Jessica-Rose Clarke defeated Bec Rawlings in the co-headlining encounter.
There were chants of "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie; oi, oi, oi" throughout the day's action before the famous football cry of "Ole, Ole, Ole" helped inspire Werdum to victory in the final bout of the day.
"I have two goals when I fight: to entertain the fans and to finish my opponent and I got to do both of those tonight," Tuivasa, who shared the Performance of the Day honours with Nik Lentz, said. "This debut was a year in the making, so I feel great and I'm honoured to do it here in Sydney. I don't care who the UFC puts in front of me next, I want to fight the best and I'm here to stay."
While Tuivasa had the crowd jumping out of their seats following his brutal knock-out of Rashad Coulter, the parochial home fans weren't at all happy with a decision that saw Canadian Elias Theodorou defeat Melbourne's Daniel Kelly.
So loud was the booing from the home fans inside Qudos Bank Arena that Theodorou's post-fight interview could barely be heard. The Canadian then held his hand up to his ear when exiting the Octagon to further infuriate the 10,021-strong crowd.
Earlier, the fans were treated to the Fight of the Day when Frank Camacho took down Australian Damien Brown in a brutal exchange of blows. The final round, in particular, whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
"We ended up just biting down on our mouthpieces and going for it," Camacho said. "I love fights like that and I think we put on a great show for the fans. I feel like I keep getting better and better, and this fight made me grow even more. I can't wait to be back in the Octagon and I'll take anyone willing to step up and fight me next."
Australia's next taste of headline MMA action will come in Perth on February 11 at UFC 221, when local fighters will likely form a large portion of the card before a headline act organisers hope will be No.1 ranked middleweight, Australian Robert Whittaker.
"We're generally very bullish in Australia, the business is huge and has been on a nice roll for the last few years," UFC executive David Shaw said after the day's action in Sydney.
"We're really looking forward to 2018, Perth in particular on Sunday Feb 11, would be the perfect lead-in. After that, there's a few options; I mean we always love coming to Sydney. Melbourne's always a great destination; we haven't been to Brisbane or Gold Coast for a while; we haven't been to Adelaide in two or three years.
"So there are a few options for us, probably late Q3, Q4; a similar timeframe to what we've done the last few years here in November. So definitely two events next year and we're looking forward to coming back."
UFC 221 at the new Perth Arena will no doubt draw a massive crowd, particularly if the stars align and Whittaker's fight with Georges St-Pierre can be locked down. Whittaker was in attendance in Sydney, getting a huge roar when he was flashed up on the big screen. So too was Mark Hunt, who was there in support of training partner Tuivasa despite the fact the Kiwi had been controversially scrubbed from the event due to fitness concerns.
"No news yet, I think as you guys know the kind of x-factor is how [Whittaker's] jaw is doing; bottom line we want to have Robbie fight in Perth," Shaw said of a potential Whittaker vs. St-Pierre match-up at Perth Arena.
"The stars are sort of aligning for that event having pay-per-view there; first time in Western Australia which is meaningful for us when we think back to the first times when we've been in other markets...so we want to blow it out of the water and make it a very significant event, not only for western Australians but for Australian fans all over the country.
"So it's probably going to come down to Georges. Three months for anybody is a quick turnaround, so if we can line up that fight that would be amazing but there's just no real update at this point."
Even if Whittaker's title fight with St-Pierre doesn't eventuate in Perth, the message for UFC organisers Down Under should be simple: local is best.
Australian fans love supporting their own. UFC Fight Night Sydney was overwhelming proof of that.