Robert Whittaker continues to make his assent up the UFC middleweight ladder.
The New Zealand-born, Australian-raised Whittaker stopped Derek Brunson with strikes in a fan-friendly, one-round headliner at a UFC Fight Night event Saturday in Melbourne, Australia.
Brunson (16-4) is known for his aggressive style but charged forward recklessly, leading with his head and throwing sloppy punches, and it cost him as Whittaker stayed composed and rocked Brunson with counterstrikes.
Whittaker (17-4) dropped Brunson with a beautiful jab-to-head-kick combination and the referee stepped in after some follow-up punches. Whittaker is 5-0 at 185 pounds since moving up from the welterweight division. The 25-year-old was the No. 7-ranked middleweight contender prior to beating the No. 8-ranked Brunson and will close in on a title shot if he can beat one of the fighters ranked above him in his next outing.
Canadian Jonathan Meunier used a variety of flashy techniques in a win over Richard Walsh on the preliminary card that saw all seven fights go to a decision. Meunier, a Quebec City native who trains out of Tristar Gym in Montreal, improved to 8-1 as a pro and bounced back from a submission loss to Colby Covington in his UFC debut earlier this year.
Here are the full results from UFC Melbourne:
MAIN CARD
— Robert Whittaker def. Derek Brunson by TKO
— Andrew Holbrook def. Jake Matthews by split decision
— Omari Akhmedov def. Kyle Noke by unanimous decision
— Alex Volkanovski def Yasuke Kasuya by TKO
— Tyson Pedro def. Khalil Rountree by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Danielle Taylor def. Seo Hee Ham by split decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Dan Kelly def. Chris Camozzi by unanimous decision
— Damien Brown def. Jon Tuck by split decision
— Jonathan Meunier def. Richard Walsh by unanimous decision
— Ben Nguyen def. Geane Herrera by unanimous decision
— Jason Knight def. Dan Hooker by unanimous decision
— Marlon Vera def. Ning Guangyou by unanimous decision
— Jenel Lausa def. Yao Zhikui by unanimous decision
