XFC flyweight champion Stewart Nicoll kept his unblemished MMA record intact last night with an easy first-round submission victory over Mitchell Birkett last night.
The bout headlined XFC 43 which took place at the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane’s south.
Nicoll, a BJJ Black Belt, used the opening exchange to secure a takedown though was forced to defend an armbar attempt from Birkett which he slammed his way out of. Nicoll passed to mounted crucifix, landed some punches and elbows before locking up the inverted triangle to get the tap.
Nicoll defends his XFC flyweight title for the first time and moves to 3-0 as a pro.
“I was hoping to stand-and-bang a little bit for you guys. I hit that right hand and he sort of fell over. I was thinking of letting him back up,” Nicoll said in his post-fight cage interview.
“I threw those kicks but I was like, you know what, I’m one of the best Jiu-Jitsu guys in the flyweight division, in the world, in MMA. I have to take it to the ground if he gives it to me.”
Travis Hutchins missed weight for his co-main event bout against Tim Schultz. It lit a fire on Schultz who was making his professional debut. The Integrated MMA product wasted no time in getting a takedown but was made to defend a tight guillotine choke. Once he passed that, he began to land heavy ground-and-pound that allowed him to move to side-control then mount. Hutchins worked to his feet and Schultz stayed on him against the cage. With a minute remaining in the round, Schultz again secured full mount. He rained down punches to secure the TKO stoppage.
In the only other pro fight on the card, Justin Van Heerden recovered from being dropped, to submit his opponent Nathan Wilson. Having taken the fight on short notice and up two weight divisions from where he regularly fights, things were not looking good early as the Southside MMA trained fighter was dropped with a solid jab in the opening seconds. “The Springbok” Van Heerden recovered and locked up a tight triangle choke submission to force the tap.
Results (Pro):
- Stewart Nicoll (c) def. Mitchell Birkett via Submission (Inverted Triangle Choke), Rd 1, 1:18 – XFC flyweight title
- Tim Schultz def. Travis Hutchins via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 4:56
- Justin Van Heerden vs. Nathan Wilson via Submission (Triangle Choke), Rd 1, 1:13
Results (Amateur):
- Andy Le def. Connor Birch via Decision (Unanimous)
- Michael Moss def. Alex Hong via KO (Punch), Rd 1, 2:02 – XFC amateur middleweight title
- Trevor Sinclair def. Christian Merino via Decision (Split)
- Harrison Miller def. Jacob Brouwer via Submission (Guillotine Choke), Rd 1, 1:44
- Kevin Sheridan def. Jimo Rangi via TKO (Strikes), Rd 2, 0:35
- Michael Mamoril def. Marcus Horvath via TKO (Strikes), Rd 1, 2:40
- Alex Young def. Ryan Leavey via Decision (Unanimous)
- Matt Vonhoff vs. Jesse Brooks – Fight cancelled
- Setope Meke def. Jackson Murrie via TKO, Rd 3, 1:44
- Kiera Lee Botfield def. Jo Renton via TKO, Rd 1, 2:59
- Brian Tran def. Rozay Hassan via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 2:43
