Robert Whittaker is the biggest winner in UFC Fight Night 101 in Melbourne after a TKO win over Derek Brunson in the main event. (Photo : Getty Images/Quinn Rooney)
From the get-go, Brunson pounded on Whittaker with a flurry of hits and the win seemed like for the taking for Brunson. Whittaker, however, came back with a left and then landed a kick to head before finishing the fight at 4:07 in the first round with his ground and pound.
With the win, the New Zealand native won his sixth straight fight as he improved his UFC record to 8-2. His beatdown of the American earned Performance of Night and Fight of the Night honors.
In the co-main event fight, hometown bet Jake Matthews, who was the favorite coming into the fight, surrendered a split decision loss of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 to Andrew Halbrook in their lightweight bout.
This is Matthews second straight loss after suffering a technical knockout against Kevin Lee in The Ultimate Fighter last July. Holbrook, on the other hand, bounced back from his first career loss against Joaquim Silva also in July.
Australian Tyson Pedro also pulled off a first-round finish after submitting Khalil Rountree in their light heavyweight fight. The still undefeated Pedro put Rountree on a rear-naked choke to end the bout at 4:07 in the first round.
In other main card fights, Alexander Volkanovski TKOed Yusuke Kasuya in the second round while Omari Akhmedov went home with the unanimous decision win over Kyle Noke. Danielle Taylor, meanwhile, nipped Seo Hee Ham for the split decision victory.
In the undercard fights air at Fox Sports 1, Dan Kelly defeated Chris Camozzi via unanimous decision while Demian Brown took a split decision win over Jon Tuck. Jonathan Meunier and Ben Nguyen also pocketed unanimous decision victories over opponents Richard Walsh and Geane Herrera, respectively.
UFC Fight Pass undercard bouts featured Jason Knight, Marlon Vera and Jenel Lausa beating Dan Hooker, Ning Guangyou and Yao Zhikui, respectively, all via unanimous decision.
