Dana White to make UFC history with stacked Australia event as record set to be smashed after announcement

Dana White could make promotional history through his UFC Fight Night card in Australia on September 27.

Carlos Ulberg’s light heavyweight title eliminator main event with Dominick Reyes features on a stacked UFC Perth card.

Getty

Getty

Several fighters are expected to represent Australasia on the night, including brothers Justin and Junior Tafa, Jack Jenkins, and Jimmy Crute.

On Monday, White’s promotion added four fights to UFC Perth at RAC Arena, meaning the card could be set to break a new record.

With the addition of Jenkins vs Ramon Taveras, Jake Matthews vs Neil Magny, and Jonathan Micallef vs Oban Elliott, UFC Perth is expected to put on a whopping 16 fights.

This would put the Perth event in a league of its own as the single UFC card with the most bouts in the promotion’s history.

MMA’s premier promotion has only ever put on a maximum of 14 fights on one night, with UFC 263 at the top of the record books for the longest event of all time.

The 15-fight card, headlined by Israel Adesanya’s middleweight title defence against Marvin Vettori, lasted three hours, 19 minutes and 32 seconds.

Kamaru Usman vs Jorge Masvidal at the top of a 13-fight card at UFC 251 comes in second place, having lasted three hours, seven minutes and 27 seconds.

So, technically speaking, if every fight goes ahead as planned at UFC Perth, the event could not only break the record for the highest number of bouts on a single card, but it is also likely to set the record for the longest event in the organisation’s history.

UFC Perth has also, over the last few days, seen Cam Rowston vs Andre Petroski added to the card.

Rowston punched his ticket to the UFC by knocking out Brandon Holmes in the second week of Dana White’s Contender Series this month, and called to fight at the upcoming Perth event after the bout.

UFC Perth: All 16 fights

Main event: Carlos Ulberg (pictured) vs Dominick Reyes (light heavyweight)

• Junior Tafa vs Ibo Aslan (light heavyweight)
• Jack Jenkins vs Ramon Taveras (featherweight)
• Jimmy Crute vs Ivan Erslan (light heavyweight)
• Jake Matthews vs Neil Magny (welterweight)
• Justin Tafa vs Louie Sutherland (heavyweight)
• Tom Nolan vs Evan Elder (lightweight)
• Navajo Stirling vs Rodolfo Bellato (light heavyweight)
• Loma Lookbonmee vs Alexia Thainara (women’s strawweight)
• Daniel Santos vs Joosang Yoo (featherweight)
• Jonathan Micallef vs Oban Elliott (welterweight)
• Colby Thicknesse vs Josias Musasa (bantamweight)
• Jamie Mullarkey vs Rolando Bedoya (lightweight)
• Michelle Montague vs Luana Carolina (women’s bantamweight)
• Brando Pericic vs Elisha Ellison (heavyweight)
• Andre Petroski vs Cam Rowston (middleweight)

Getty

Getty

White was originally told by matchmakers that there wasn’t enough room to fit Rowston on the UFC Perth card.

However, when awarding the Australian his UFC contract, White told Rowston he ‘didn’t give a s***’ and told the fighter he would be contesting a bout in Australia.

This means Rowston will be one of many fighters making his first UFC appearance in Perth on September 27.

LFL heavyweight champion Louie Sutherland is another name entering the Octagon for the first time, as he takes on the older Tafa brother, Justin.

The sheer number of debutantes has left some members of the MMA fraternity worried that UFC CEO White has prioritised quantity over quality on the card.

One fan took to X and responded to the expected 16-fight card: “This would be fine, but the majority of them are regional scene MMA.”

Getty

While others believe the UFC should be including this many fights in all upcoming cards, especially off the back of the promotion’s historic $7.7 billion broadcast deal with Paramount.

Another added: “This should be the standard for fights… with all the recent missed weights and fight week pull outs, if none fall through, you get a max 16 fights, but at the very least you get 12 or 13.”

Nonetheless, UFC Perth could prove to be a huge card for White in 2025, although the event is missing some notable stars from Australasia.

UFC lightweight star Dan Hooker, who was born in Auckland, has admitted to refusing a fight on the card after a disagreement with the promotion.

Hooker had planned to make his return to the sport in Perth, but insists his comeback will now be booked on his ‘own terms’ after a run-in with UFC bosses.