{"id":175057,"date":"2025-09-28T11:47:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/175057\/"},"modified":"2025-09-28T11:47:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-28T11:47:10","slug":"ufc-perth-rookie-report-michelle-montague-shines-brando-pericic-crushes-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/175057\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC Perth Rookie Report: Michelle Montague shines, Brando Pericic crushes debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!<\/p>\n

Four rookies stepped into the Octagon \u201cDown Under\u201d yesterday (Sat., Sept. 27, 2025) at UFC Perth<\/a> inside RAC Arena in Perth, Australia. The newcomers went 3-1 overall, with two scoring knockouts<\/a> and one making history for her country.<\/p>\n

Now that the dust has settled, let\u2019s grade<\/a> their respective performances below:<\/p>\n

\"PERTH,<\/a><\/p>\n

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 28: Brando Pericic of Australia prepares to face Elisha Ellison in a heavyweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at RAC Arena on September 28, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Ed Mulholland\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

Australia\u2019s Brando Pericic skipped Contender Series week three this year and jumped straight into the big show \u2014 and it may have been the right call. The 31-year-old Heavyweight steamrolled Elisha Ellison, knocking him unconscious in under two minutes with vicious ground-and-pound (watch highlights<\/a>).<\/p>\n

While it was a quick fight, \u201cThe Balkan Bear\u201d showed some of his game.<\/p>\n

Pericic used heavy kicks to gauge distance, and then when he let his hands go, he cracked Ellison with an overhand right that sparked the beginning of the end. He stuffed a takedown attempt, punished Ellison in the clinch, and then unleashed nasty ground-and-pound when his foe pulled guard.<\/p>\n

At just 5-1, who knows how far Pericic will go in the division because he\u2019s so raw; however, the 31-year-old has got a few things going for him \u2014 he\u2019s 6\u20195,\u201d powerful, and trains at City Kickboxing.<\/p>\n

I would like to see him fight Kennedy Nzechukwu in his next outing.<\/p>\n

\"PERTH,<\/a><\/p>\n

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Michelle Montague of New Zealand works for a submission against Luana Carolina of Brazil in a bantamweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at RAC Arena on September 28, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Ed Mulholland\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

Former PFL standout Michelle Montague became the first woman from New Zealand<\/a> to compete in the UFC \u2014 and she delivered a dominant debut by smothering Luana Carolina en route to a unanimous decision win.<\/p>\n

Montague snapped her 100 percent finish rate, but she proved she can push a relentless pace for three rounds.<\/p>\n

The story of the fight \u2014 and really her career to this point \u2014 was how quickly she could drag things to the mat without absorbing too much damage on the feet. For the most part, she succeeded, though Carolina did manage to crack her a couple of times.<\/p>\n

She dragged Carolina down in every frame, punished her with elbows and punches, and even fought through a cut and an illegal upkick. She definitely took notes from her teammate Kayla Harrison: take down, smash, repeat.<\/p>\n

Her striking remains amateurish, but she dominated a ranked opponent and looked like a massive Bantamweight in the process.<\/p>\n

With the Bantamweight division lacking fighters, Montague will most likely get ranked opposition in her next outing, so I would like her to take on France\u2019s Nora Cornolle.<\/p>\n

\"PERTH,<\/a><\/p>\n

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 28: (L-R) Cam Rowston of Australia punches Andre Petroski in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at RAC Arena on September 28, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Ed Mulholland\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

What a turnaround for \u201cBattle Giraffe.\u201d A year ago, Cam Rowston was dominated on Contender Series<\/a>. Four weeks ago, he earned redemption with a contract-winning knockout (watch highlights<\/a>). Yesterday, he stopped Andre Petroski in his UFC debut.<\/p>\n

Rowston used his height and reach to keep range against Petroski, while getting his legs chopped. He then opened up his striking and landed a check left hook that dropped Petroski. Rowston followed him to the canvas and unleashed ground-and-pound until the referee stopped the fight (watch highlights<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Known mainly for his submission game, it\u2019s nice to see Rowston evolve his game in his last two outings, and he\u2019s looked good doing it \u2014and while the competition he ran through on the regional scene was absolutely awful, he\u2019s showing up against much better opponents.<\/p>\n

Cody Brundage seems like the no-brainer for his next outing.<\/p>\n

\"PERTH,<\/a><\/p>\n

PERTH, AUSTRALIA – SEPTEMBER 28: Elisha Ellison warms up prior to his fight during the UFC Fight Night event at RAC Arena on September 28, 2025 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Mike Roach\/Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n

Like his opponent, Elisha Ellison skipped going through the Contender Series and went straight to UFC; however, it went horribly as he got knocked out in under two minutes by Pericic after showing little more than a quick burst of offense and a stuffed double leg.<\/p>\n

At 0-1 in the UFC, it\u2019s probably safe to say that Ellison is not UFC caliber, but given the division\u2019s thin depth, he may get one more shot. If he does, a loser-leaves-town showdown with Austen Lane would fit.<\/p>\n

Who impressed you most in their UFC Perth debut \u2014 Pericic\u2019s knockout, Montague\u2019s grappling, or Rowston\u2019s evolution?<\/p>\n

For complete UFC Perth results, coverage, and highlights click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut! Four rookies stepped into the Octagon \u201cDown Under\u201d yesterday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,32785,85,1396,6656],"class_list":{"0":"post-175057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-mma-prospects","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-ufc-news","16":"tag-ufc-results"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}