Michael Tobin survived a barrage of punches before ultimately turning the table and choking unconscious his opponent Richie Ivory in the main event of Brace 44.
The event took place at Southport RSL on Queensland’s Gold on Saturday night and was streamed on UFC Fight Pass.
Tobin immediately looked for the takedown and was able to secure the double leg straight to side-control. Ivory regained guard but Tobin was able to pass and chose to drop back for a leg-lock. Ivory countered, looking for a toe-hold before giving up on that and landing big shots from the top. The barrage continued before Tobin was able to reverse and lock in the rear-naked choke. With only seconds remaining in the round, Ivory looked to hold on but went out cold, giving Tobin got the win with a second remaining.
With the victory, Tobin takes his record to an impressive 12-0 with all but one of those fights being a submission stoppage.
Greg Atzori won a deserved unanimous decision against a courageous Ethan Duniam in the semi-main event.
Atzori dropped Ethan Duniam with a head kick within the first minute of the bout, and quickly followed his opponent to the ground. Duniam was able to power out but as they scrambled to their feet, Atzori secured the double leg, taking Duniam’s back. Atzori immediately looked to slide his arm under the neck for the submission but Duniam frustrated Atzori with backwards punches. Atzori secured full mount late in the round.
After eating a jumping knee, Duniam shot in for a takedown which allowed Atzori to come ahead in the scramble, getting the top position against the cage where he looked to unload. Duniam momentarily escaped, taking the back before Atzori was able to reset against the cage.
Duniam came out strong in the last round, landing the early punches as Atzori looked to find his distance and jab. Duniam shot in for a takedown which allowed Atzori to use a kimura to sweep his opponent. Atzori dominated from top transitioning from mount to back control, back to mount before finishing with strikes in half-guard.
All three judges gave Atzori the decision 30-27.
In a lightweight bout, Issac Hardman remained undefeated with a devastating knockout over Sean LeGourrierec in the first round. LeGourrierec countered nicely early in the bout but the youngster Hardman quickly found his distance. The Integrated trained fighter landed a straight right that dropped LeGourrierec, quickly followed up with further shots knocking Le Gourrierec down and out against the cage.
The win came 2:22 into the fight and takes his professional record to 5-0. Impressively, Hardman just a week ago competed in an eight-man under 85-kilogram tournament where he knocked out all three of his opponents to win the tournament.
Earlier in the night, Paul Loga overcame a slow start to secure a TKO stoppage over Dalton Jenkins while Daniel Ginane looked dominant in his first round TKO over Paul Traish.
Fight Card (Pro):
- Michael Tobin def. Richie Ivory via Technical Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:59
- Greg Atzori def. Ethan Duniam via Decision (Unanimous)
- Issac Hardman def. Sean LeGourrierec via KO (Punches), Rd 1, 2:22
- Paul Loga def. Dalton Jenkins via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 4:35
- Daniel Ginane def. Paul Traish via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 3:24
- Joel Kendrick def. James Londrigan via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 2, 2:26
- Uriel Loutina def. Blake Sheppeard via Decision (Unanimous)
- Simon Carson def. Michael McDaniel via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 2:41
Catubig upsets Mullarkey at Brace 42, Alchin, Hayward among other winners from the event
