Live updates: UFC Fight Night Auckland – Mark Hunt vs Derrick Lewis

Hello and welcome to our live updates from Spark Arena in Auckland where Kiwi Mark Hunt will square off with Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 110 in what's set to be a colossal heavyweight encounter.

The 'Super Samoan' will be looking to get back on track against the hard-hitting Houstonian in a bout which is bound to be a square-up slugfest, while Auckland's Dan Hooker chases what would be the biggest win of his career to date against veteran Brit Ross Pearson.

We bring you live streaming written commentary, video highlights, and all the action. Video of the main event will be available as soon as the final fight ends.

Hunt vs Lewis - Hunt via fourth-round TKO

"He may be from the hood, but this my hood!" says Hunt post-fight.

Big win over a dangerous opponent for Hunt to get himself back in the win column. Stay tuned for highlights.

Round four - Nobody expected this, but here we are! The championship rounds are underway and we pick up where we left off, Hunt pursuing his reluctant prey. Heavy left from Hunt and Lewis felt that one, the smile is a dead giveaway. Hunt to the body and he's almost landing at will now, Lewis is well and truly gassed. Monster right from Hunt, unsure how Lewis is still standing. Another massive blow and Lewis covers up, he doesn't want anymore...referee steps in and this is over!

Round three - Lewis opens with a high kick and Hunt goes to the body. Lewis tags him with a couple of uppercuts but Hunt stands firm. Lewis almost a standing target now as Hunt stalks him down, the American is breathing hard. Hunt springs into action with a right cross followed by a leg kick as Lewis continues to try to move out of range. Lewis with hands on hips now, the petrol light is on. Hunt plants a kick of his own to secure another round in the bag. Lewis is going to have a tough time negotiating this round.

Round two - More kicks from The Black Beast, now starting to look a bit more telegraphed as Hunt easily eludes. Lewis tags him with a straight right, the Kiwi responds with a glancing blow of his own. Brief stoppage by ref Mark Goddard, may have been a stray eye poke from Hunt, although the crowd disagree upon seeing the replays. Lewis wobbles him with a body shot, and Hunt's left foot has a nasty looking welt forming on it. Lewis takes a run-up and planst a flying knee but Hunt responds immediately with some huge shots which send Lewis reeling, crowd is baying for more. Lewis is undeniably hurt and Hunt is chasing the kill. What a fight. Big round for Hunt.

Round one - Early feeling out process as the bout kicks off, Hunt controlling centre of the Octagon. Lewis lands with a heavy leg kick. Hunt reluctant to swing, then leaps in with a winging right which doesn't quite land. Lewis responds with two further weighty kicks, Hunt felt those. Hunt with the uppercut now, that one got through. Lewis circles off the cage and triggers another hefty kick. Both fighters trade blows, Lewis with half-hearted flying knee. The 'Hunt' chants start to ring out, and that round comes to a close. Tight round, Lewis may have edged that with his frequent kicks, although Hunt did control the pace.

4:26pm - Hunt draws an enormous cheers upon introduction after The Black Beast plods to the Octagon. Here we go.

4:19pm - Oddly enough it's Hunt who makes the first entrance, and the decibel levels instantly hit the roof. Looking standardly relaxed and confident as some throwback Naughty by Nature graces the speakers.

4:17pm - Here we go! The fight everyone's been waiting for. 

Kelly vs Brunson - Brunson via first-round KO

That was a vicious finish by the American who came here with a statement to make after two straight defeats, including his own KO loss to NZ-born Robert Whittaker. It took Kelly a long time to get up off the canvas after that.

Round one - The round opens with a lazy 'Aussie! Oi!' etc chant which quickly dies off as Kelly just moves out of range of a looping right hand. BANG goes Brunson, with a lethal left hook and some punishing ground and pound, and just like that, it's over. Brunson has barely broken into a mild sweat. The under-stated celebration says it all.

3:59pm – In comes Brunson to the strains of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Humble’. The crowd approves.

3:55pm - Into the co-main event of the day now, the four-time Olympic judo representative Dan Kelly from Australia against heavy-hitter Derek Brunson. Look for the fans to get right behind Kelly, at 39 years old 'Mr Dad Bod' has quite a cult following.

For all you Luke Jumeau fans...

Hooker vs Pearson - Hooker via second-round KO

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Getty

Stunning finish for the Aucklander and that may well earn him an extra 50k in his pocket for knock-out of the night. He couldn't have asked for much more than that, spectacular performance which should see the rest of the lighweight division stand up and pay plenty of attention.

And his first words for the crowd? 'Auckland, Stand up!' Auckland stood up.

Round two - Pearson lunges forth with the double jab to start, landing only a glancing blow. Hooker mixing up his high/low attacks well, keeping Pearson guessing. Both fighters bleeding from the nose now as the 'Hooker!' chant goes up. Huge knee from Hooker! Huge knee from Hooker! Pearson is out cold and this one is in the bag for the local hero.

Round one - The buzz in Spark Arena has lifted now, it's more of a nervous hum. Hooker looking relaxed early, calmly evading some winged shots from the Brit. The Kiwi in with the leg kick then out of danger promptly. Lands another body kick. The reach advantage is glaring for the Aucklander. He continues to use his kicks to keep the distance, cashing on his length. Big high-kick finds its mark but Pearson deflects most of its power. Hooker goes to the teep now, lands flush through Pearson's guard. Pearson is struggling to reach him on the counter. That's a clinical opening round win for the Kiwi.

3:26pm - And here comes the Hooker, hoisting the NZ flag proudly behind him as he saunters to the cage, head down as David Dallas' 'Runnin' rings through the Arena. 

3:25pm - It's Hangman time! The crowd is juiced. Pearson walks out to Oasis' 'Wonderwall' and the masses can't help but join in. A tribute to the recent terror attacks in the UK.

Cutelaba vs Da Silva - Cutelaba wins via first-round KO

Cutealaba tells Brian Stann via translator that he was in a rush to finish the fight as his daughter back home had to get to sleep, it's well past her bedtime. What a guy.

The Moldovan signalled his intent during the intros, literally walking across the octagon to stare his opponent in the eyes while signalling the throat slit. He then proceeded to starch Da Silva within 30 seconds. Way to deliver.

Round one - And this one is over! Cutelaba hammers the Brazilian with a brutal left hand to send him to the mat, where he follows up with some piston-like shots to the head to force the stoppage.

3:05pm - Here come the heavy hitters, the Brazilian Da Silva instantly winning the crowd's favour with a 'Back in Black' themed octagon entrance. Safe to say the West Auckland presence in here is significant.

Elliott vs Nguyen - Nguyen by first-round submission

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Getty

Nguyen tells Stann post-fight that he felt the pressure after his wife won her own pro bout last week, there was now way he was going to come home empty-handed.

Enormous win for the young Australian-based fighter and he knows how much it means, leaping to the top of the octagon to soak up the roars of the crowd. 

Round one - Frantic opening as both fighters tussle for position, attacking and countering as the fight swings to the mat. Nguyen passes to the back expertly and sinks in a deep rear-naked choke in a flash. Elliott taps and this one is over! Wow.

2:45pm - Ever the showman, Elliott shuffles his way to the octagon. Don't underestimate the frisky Vietnamese-American Nguyen.

2:40pm - This should be a high-octane match-up between two uber-energetic flyweights. Elliott is only a fight removed from a head-turning performance against who many consider to be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, champion Demetrious Johnson. A more than worthy replacement for Joseph Benavides, who was scratched from the card late due to injury.

Volkanovski vs Mirota - Volkanovski wins via unanimous decision

Volkanovski dubs himself one of the 'good guys' post-fight, before departing with a hearty 'Kia ora!' much to the delight of crowd. Easy way to win yourself some fans there.

Round three - Few hasty scrambles from which both emerge unscathed. Mirota looking to force the Aussie to grapple with him. A few chants of 'Let's go Alex, let's go', you know the one. Needless to say it fades out quickly. Mirota looks for a late flurry in an attempt to salvage some points, but this should be a comfortable one for the Aussie.

Round two - Much more measured action both men willing to engage, Mirota looking the fresher fighter. Volkanovski wings two wilds punches, catching Mirota on the shoulder but still able to force the takedown. The Aussie sneaks in some effective ground shots to finish the round. Tight contest thus far, anyone's to take.

Round one - A brief feeling out process to open before the Aussie drops his opponent with a thunderous left. He jumps straight into clinch and continues the assault with elbows while Mirota attempts to stand up, referee very close to stopping the fight as he manages to get to his feet for a much needed respite. Volkanvoski tags him again as the round winds to a close, should be a comfortable one for the Aussie.

2:11pm - Volkanovski makes his entrance to a slow-metal version of the 'Game Of Thrones' theme song in what is clearly a highly dubious link with his ancient greek-themed nickname.

2:10pm - It's Australia vs Japan in the opening fight of the main card. Can Alexander 'The Great' chalk another one up for Oceania?

2pm - Intro video for the main card starts to roll. 'It was a mistake for Lewis to come here. He's just not as good as me,' Mark Hunt succinct as always. And the crowd agrees.

1:50pm - That concludes the preliminary fights, now we move into the event's main card.

Pichel vs Brown - Pichel wins via first round KO

Vinc Pichel lands the final blows. Photo credit: Getty
Vinc Pichel lands the final blows. Photo credit: Getty

Pichel admits the nerves were weighing heavy after a three year layoff, Stann revealing he even had a retirement speech prepped and ready.

Now he wants 'more violence and more knock outs'. Can't blame the man after that.

Round one - Pichel looking light on his feet, looking to box. The Aussie obliges, landing a heavy uppercut in a quick flurry. Pichel circles out of trouble. BANG - Pichel starches Brown with a heavy right hook to fell the Australian, pounces with some daggers from above and the ref has to stop this one. Pichel lets out a guttural roar. That was impressive.

1:37pm - The man with one of the best nicknames in the sport - Vinc 'From Hell' Pichel into the action.

Had a busy week planting trees out at Muriwai, now it's time for business as he goes head-to-head with the Aussie, Damien Brown.

Jumeau vs Steele - Jumeau wins via unanimous decision

Live updates:  UFC Fight Night Auckland – Mark Hunt vs Derrick Lewis
Images courtesy of Getty
Images courtesy of Getty

Chalk one up for the Tron! Jumeau is massively emotional as he thanks the crowd. He 'just believed, that's all it was bro'.

'I'm on a four-fight contract but you never know, now I'm here to stay!'

Never underestimate the power of a social media campaign.

Round three - Mutual showing of respect to open proceedings before the violenece ensues, and it's Steele with the early clinch. The Jedi defends well to force the referee to seprate them and Jumeau unleashes with the strieks, staggering Steele badly. It is defeaning in here. The boos ring out as Steele clinches again, he's clearly troubled by Jumeau's power and wants none of the standing battle. They spli with 30 seconds remaing and Jumeau take the opportunity to land a few parting blows as the clock expires. That should have been enough to win the fight 29-28. Jumeau looks elated, and so he should.

Round two - Jumeau with the early left lands well, Steele looks for the takedown but the Kiwi defends well. Huge left staggers Steele, Jumeau follows with another right hand which lands on the money. Jumeau takes it into the clinch as they grapple against the cage, placing some well-directed knees to the gut of the American. Steele looks for another spinning attack but it's easily evaded, drawing some stick from the locals. Steele in a standing clinch, Jumeau defending the takedown clinically and eventually reverses position as the round expired. That should've evened the scorecard heading into the final round.

Round one - Lengthy feeling out process for both men before Steele unleashes a heavy spinning backfist, Jumeau defends. Steel catches him with a right backing up and clinches, Jumeau squashes the danger and spins off the fence. A loud 'Give em a taste of Kiwi!' from the crowd gets the fans vocal. Fighters exchange kicks and it's Steele who catches a leg and takes Jumeau down. Works into half guard as the clock ticks down. 'Use the force, Luke!' screams another punter. Somebody had to say it. Rounds ends with Steele on top, probably clinches the 10 points.

1:11pm - More boos for Steele on the intro. 'The Jedi' Jumeau predictably receives a huge round of applause.

1:10pm - The opening strains of 'Gangsta's Paradise' drop and that's the cue for the Arena to get noisy. Hoodies up for Jumeau, he's locked in.

1:08pm - Steele strolls out casually and is drowned in boos from the fiercely partisan Spark Arena crowd.

1:06pm - New Zealand's own Luke Jumeau is up next. It's about to get rowdy in here.

1:05pm - Big win for Moraga, a couple of 10-8 rounds in there, and deservedly so. Tells Brian Stann how desperate he was to secure a victory and he's done so emphatically.

Mokhtarian vs Moraga - Moraga wins via unanimous decision

Round three - Moraga quickly back into top position and the elbows are raining down. Comes close to another arm-bar but Mokhtarian fends it off in a scramble. Moraga now working for a head and arm choke, switches to full mount resumes the 'bow assault. Moraga has this one in the bag.

Round two - Nasty inside leg kick from the Iranian drops Moraga to one knee, could hear that thud echo through the arena. Mokhtarian swings wildly and Moraga counters with a brutal flying knee, somehow he's still standing. Moraga wobbles him again with a stinging left hook and he's back on top and straight into side control, working for the head and arm choke. Another convincing one for the American who's dominating in all facets.

Round one - Moraga catches the takedown attempt early and immediately sinks in what looks to be a tight guillotine choke as they both go to ground. The Iranian fights the hands well however, and wrangles out after a lengthy squeeze from Moraga. That may have taken a toll on the gas tank. rapid exchange on the ground as both men look for submission attempts but it's Moraga who's dictating proceedings, running out of time to finish a deep arm-bar attempt. Big round for Moraga.

12:36pm - The Iranian walks out with the longest rat's tail you've ever seen and the bandit mask. Moraga follows him to the strains of 'Thuggish Ruggish Bone' and immediately wins himself the favour of the entire Spark Arena faithful.

Kunimoto vs Ottow - Ottow wins via split decision

Round three - Kunimoto ducks under the right hook and completes a picture-perfect double-leg takedown. The Japanese fighter struggling to advance his position as Ottow defends stoutly. Now he takes the back and looks to sink the rear-naked choke but Ottow continues to deny him his neck. Now it's Ottow who turns and gets top position, almost steals a choke himself but he runs out of time.

Round two - Ottow starting to land the jab at will which leads to Kunimoto seeking the takedown, tenaciously completes it but the American soon advances position, and sinks both hooks in from the back. Kunimoto looks up at the clock in despair to see still two minutes remaining, he has some work to do here on defence. And he does that work well, reversing the position briefly before Ottow ends the round on top again.

Round one - Even opening round, although Ottow looked to have got the better of the exchanges and controlled the Kunimoto in the clinch. Ottow swinging for the fences with every head shot.

No time wasted, we're straight into the next fight, USA vs Japan in a welterweight showdown.

Jeon vs Aldrich - Aldrich wins by unanimous decision

What a way to start proceedings, both fighters laid down and the crowd appreciate it wholeheartedly.

Round three - Huge war-cry from the Korean as the round starts and the crowd absolutely loves it. Jeon has a steady stream of blood from the nose now, a good hunk of which sprays across the octagon as Aldrich catches her with a spinning back-kick. The Korean barely flinches, has displayed a granite chin. Another heavy exchange as the round draws to a close, I think Aldrich should take a 29-28 decision.

Round two - Aldrich catching Jeon regularly with the jab and left cross now, finding her range nicely. Jeon finishes with a fantastic flurry which may well have secured her the round.

Round one - Great back and forth scrap through the first stanza, Jeon dropping Aldrich with a head-kick but the American was quick to recover and return a few shots of her own. The Kiwi crowd are primed and ready for this, it's a 'chahoo' fest inside Spark Arena.

11:37am - Aldrich makes her walk to the Octagon to what sounds like a poor man's Dropkick Murphys. The strawweight looks serious.

11:35am - Chanmi Jeon makes her entrance and a sizeable chunk of Korean supporters take their cue to get loud.

11:10am - We are officially live in the building and Spark Arena is beginning to fill out nicely, in spite of the early start time scheduled to meet US TV network requirements.

The Fight Pass opener between Gouti and Kim has been dropped from the card due to an illness to the Frenchman.

Stay tuned, we're about 20 minutes away from the first fight of the day. 

11:35am - Chanmi Jeon makes her entrance and a sizeable chunk of Korean supporters take their cue to get loud.

11:37am - Aldrich makes her walk to the Octagon to what sounds like a poor man's Dropkick Murphys. The strawweight looks serious.

 

UFC Fight Night 110 Fight Card:

Main event - Mark Hunt vs Derrick Lewis

Co-main event - Derek Brunson vs Daniel Kelly

Dan Hooker vs Ross Pearson

Ion Cutelaba vs Henrique da Silva

Tim Elliott vs Ben Nguyen

Mizuto Hirota vs Alex Volkanovski - Volkanovski wins via unanimous decision

Damian Brown vs Vinc Pichel - Pichel wins via first-round knockout

Luke Jumeau vs Dominique Steele - Jumeau wins via unanimous decision

Ashkan Mokhtarian vs John Moraga - Moraga wins via unanimous decision

Kiichi Kunimoto vs Zak Ottow - Ottow wins via split decision

JJ Aldrich vs Chan-Mi Jeon - Aldrich wins via unanimous decision

Thibault Gouti vs Dong Hyun Kim - Bout cancelled due to ilness

 

Pre-match banter

Hooker ready for toughest test of career

Daniel Hooker is looking to put three years of hard work to the test in the biggest fight of his career against Ross Pearson on Sunday.

The Kiwi MMA star made his UFC debut in Auckland in 2014 when he knocked out Brit, Ian Entwistle, much to the delight of a raucous home crowd.

Five-fights later and the Aucklander has spent the best part of the last 36 months travelling the globe, looking to hone his skills at some of the best fight camps in the world.

Hooker said his fight with the UFC veteran is the perfect opportunity to put everything he has learned together.

"It's so good to be back and get to showcase those skills and I'm looking to put on a show for the New Zealand fans," said Hooker.

England native Pearson, has a UFC career that spans eight-years and 22 fights, including winning the Ultimate Fighter reality series in 2009.

The 32-year-old provides Hooker with his toughest challenge as a professional and the Kiwi acknowledges that he will need to fight at an elite level to come out on top.

"Ross is just an amazing opponent. He is fit, strong and tough and he comes to fight. He is not looking to run around the Octagon and that's exactly what I am after in my home town.

"There is no real position where he is not capable, he has seen everything. I'm going to go out there and put on the fight of my life and it will have to be the performance of my life to get the win."

Hooker added, "Regardless of everything else, I just want to put on an amazing performance and the kind of fight that the home town crowd can be proud of.

Pearson believes he has the tools to put the Kiwi away and silence the home crowd.

The Australian-based lightweight admitted that Hooker is dangerous when fighting at range given his six-inch reach advantage, but he won't allow the local the chance to show that come Sunday.

"Once you close the distance and keep it to punch, elbow and wrestling range he struggles a little bit," said Pearson.

"I'm going to be in and out of that range where he is throwing shots and not hitting, and I can be inside and hitting, which is eventually going to be the shot that takes him out."

It's a pressure fight for the Brit, having lost his last three-fights.

"He is a tough guy, but at the end of the day my last couple fights haven't been great so I need to get back on that performance bandwagon and show people what I can do and get up where I belong.

"I'm going to take him out, hurt him and move forward and keep that ball rolling."

Pressure is something that Hooker is embracing this time around, with the 27-year-old admitting his laid back attitude to fighting has cost him in the past.

"I have put more pressure on myself for this fight," said Hooker.

"A lot of people have to turn the pressure tap down but for me it goes the other way. I have to make myself a bit nervous because you need that adrenaline to keep you sharp and make you reactive, so for me I want to turn that pressure up."

UFC Fight Night Auckland is headlined by a heavyweight fight between American Derrick Lewis and Kiwi MMA legend Mark Hunt.

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