Veteran fighter Gustavo Falciroli will face off against Julian “Julz The Jackal” Wallace for the vacant XFC bantamweight title next Saturday night.
The bout headlines the XFC 27 card which also features Muay Thai fighter Michael Badato making his MMA debut and the four-man international ‘Road to Pancrase’ tournament. The promotion, which returns for the first time since changing ownership earlier year, will host the event at the Mansfield Tavern in Queensland, Australia.
Wallace (formerly Julian Rabaud) went viral in 2015 as the tattooed fighter who was knocked out by Ben Nguyen after an aggressive stand-off at the weigh-ins. Wallace went on to lose his next bout against Shane Young but returned in November 2015 to stop Jacob Mahony with strikes at XFC 25. In preparation for this bout, “Julz The Jackal” has spent majority of his camp at the highly acclaimed Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California; home to the likes of Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt and Paig VanZant.
His return to the cage will arguably be his toughest test to date as he faces Melbourne based Brazilian Gustavo Falciroli who will be eager to secure a win following an upset loss to Sydney’s Darwin Sagurit back in March. Despite that loss, Falciroli is still regarded as one of the best fighters in the country and throughout his career has defeated the likes of Richie Vaculik, Kaiwhare Kara-France and Hideki Kadowaki.
A champion Muay Thai fighter, Michael “Badass” Badato makes his transition to MMA for the first time when he faces New Zealand’s Brogan Anderson in the co-main event. Badato has won numerous Muay Thai titles, including the IKBF and WBC, and is the current Caged Muay Thai champion where he has compiled an impressive 7-0 record with all wins coming via knock out.
He faces Kiwi Brogan Anderson who comes into the fight with a professional MMA record of 7-2 and is the current Supremacy Fighting Championships welterweight and light-heavyweight champion. From the Hammerhead MMA gym, Anderson comes into the contest on the back of a unanimous decision win at Brace 41 against Renan Secco.
Four fighters will battle it out in the first round of a lightweight tournament, with the winner earning themselves a bout in Japanese promotion Pancrase MMA. Tasmania’s Ethan Duniam meets New Zealand’s Kieran Joblin while Brisbane based South Korean fighter Sung Hwa Han comes up against former lightweight challenger Pumau Campbell.
In a late shake-up to the card, Beau Luxford steps up on late notice to take on Bevan O’Malley after New Zealand fighter Sam Gascoigne was forced off the card.
Fight Card (Pro):
- Gustavo Falciroli vs. Julian Wallace – XFC bantamweight title
- Brogan Anderson vs. Michael Badato
- Ethan Duniam vs. Kieran Joblin
- Sung Hwa Han vs. Pumau Campbell
- Robbie Paraha vs. Joel Fahey
- Bevan O’Malley vs. Beau Luxford
- Issac Hardman vs. Glen Pettigrew
- Nick Skidmore vs. Matt Thompson
- James Vake vs. Michael Williams
Fight Card (Amateur):
- Luther Kruger vs. Connor Birch
- Sam Lawson vs. Fergus Tonkin
- Sean Olsen vs. Alfred Campbell
- Ben Salm vs. Michael Williams
- Allan Poppleton vs. Lewis Shally
- Mathew Moore vs. Matthew Jones
- David Hudscher vs. Logan Price
- Alex McAntee vs. Patrick Byrne
