UFC Fight Night 85 scheduled to be held at Brisbane Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on March 20 will see former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir (18-10 MMA, 16-10 UFC) take on the famous slugger March Hunt (11-10-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC).
The match will be the headliner of UFC Fight Night 84 that will be aired in North America on March 19 due to the difference in time zones. A native of Samoa, Hunt has had his last two UFC bouts in Australia. He recouped after losing two fights against Stipe Miocic and Fabricio Werdum and knocked out Antonio Silva in the first round at UFC 193 in Melbourne’s Eithad Stadium last November. Currently, Hunt is at No. 11 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings,
On the other hand, Frank Mir had a dismal outing against Andrei Arlovski in UFC 191 although he defeated Todd Duffee and ‘Bigfoot’ Silva back to back prior to that fight.
The other highlight of the day is the co-main event where No. 9 welterweight Hector Lombard (34-4-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) takes on No. 14 Neil Magny (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC). Lombard returns after a 14-month break. He won his last bout at UFC 182 against Josh Burkman in a unanimous decision but the verdict was later ruled a no-contest. Later, 37 year old Lombard was suspended for 12 months when he tested positive for anabolic steroids. His suspension ended Jan. 3, this will be his first match since. Prior to the Burkman fight, Lombard had won two fights in a row, one against Jake Shields which was a decision win, and the other a KO against Nate Marquardt.
28 year old Neil Magny is on a winning spree having won 9 of his last 10 fights. His latest was a UFC Fight Night 78 split decision win over Kelvin Gastelum last November. His only loss was to Demain Maia last August.
Some of the additional bouts at UFC Night 84 include Steve Bosse (10-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) vs. James Te Huna (18-8 MMA, 5-4 UFC), Antonio Carlos Junior (6-1-1 MMA, 2-1-1nc UFC) who takes on Daniel Kelly (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), and Alan Jouban (12-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) who will square off with Brendan O’Reilly (6-1-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC).
Author : Rory McGregor
