After a first-round knockout win in his UFC debut, Cameron Rowston had certain expectations for his next assignment from the world’s top mixed martial arts promotion.
He may, however, have not expected his name to be batted back on the other end of that assignment.
On Sunday in his hometown of Sydney, the Auckland-trained middleweight will step inside the octagon against American UFC veteran Cody Brundage, looking to advance his career once more.
“I was expecting my next opponent for this fight to be someone that’s been in the UFC for a while. There were a few names that were offered around – well, my name was offered around to a few people,” Rowston told the Herald.
“Cody was one of them who said yes. A couple said no, so I’m pretty grateful that I got such an experienced vet and a big name like Cody for a home fight.”
Asked if he knew which fighters said no when offered a bout against Rowston for the Sydney card, the “Battle Giraffe” said: “I do know who said no to me, but I can’t say.”
Brundage will make the walk for his 14th time as a UFC athlete and to this point in his tenure with the promotion, he has had a strange stay.
The 31-year-old has a 5-6 win-loss record, with one draw and one no-contest in the UFC, and he comes into the clash with Rowston after a split-decision loss in his most recent outing.
For Rowston, who holds a 13-3 professional record with 12 wins inside the distance, the booking presents another opportunity to test himself against someone already established in the division, after cruising through American Andre Petroski last September.
“I want to keep cooking while the pan’s hot, you know, and just start pumping these fights out and getting my name in there. I’ve waited a long time to get here and I don’t want to waste any more time.”
Rowston’s road into the UFC came with a few twists and turns, including having to withdraw from his first shot at a contract on Dana White’s Contender Series and then losing a decision to American Torrez Finney the second time he had such an opportunity.
Finney will also fight on the card in Sydney this weekend, against Australian Jacob Malkoun, who handed Rowston his first career loss back in early 2017.
But Rowston wasn’t to be denied his place, and after a first-round knockout win in his third booking on the Contender Series, the 31-year-old finally earned his place.
Now heading into his second official UFC fight, he said he had no doubts that he belonged among the best athletes in his sport.
“After that last fight, I felt like I feel quite comfortable in there, you know, fighting guys who have had 10, 11 fights in the UFC,” Rowston said.
“I’ve had a lot of fights outside of the UFC as well, like kickboxing and MMA, so like I’ve had a lot of experience, but just, just going in there and feeling the crowd and stuff, it doesn’t feel that new to me. It just feels like another fight, which is really good.”
Rowston will be one of four fighters trained at Auckland’s City Kickboxing gym on the card. Lightweight Dan Hooker competes in the co-main event, while Aaron Tau and Lawrence Lui will fight for UFC contracts in the Road To UFC finals, which open the event.
Main card
Main event: Alexander Volkanovski (c) v Diego Lopes (2) for the UFC featherweight championship
Lightweight: Dan Hooker (6) v Benoit Saint Denis (8)
Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev (9) v Mauricio Ruffy (14)
Heavyweight: Tai Tuivasa (12) v Tallison Teixeira (15)
Lightweight: Quillan Salkilld v Jamie Mullarkey
Preliminary card
Light heavyweight: Junior Tafa v Billy Elekana
Middleweight: Cam Rowston v Cody Brundage
Middleweight: Jacob Malkoun v Torrez Finney
Welterweight: Jonathan Micallef v Oban Elliott
Early prelims
Featherweight: Kaan Ofli v Yizha
Road To UFC final match-ups will also appear on the early prelims, including New Zealand’s Aaron Tau and Lawrence Lui.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.