The road to a UFC contract came with more bumps than Cameron Rowston could have expected.
For more than a decade, the 30-year-old Australian has honed his craft with the ultimate goal of competing under the brightest lights in mixed martial arts.
For years, he has been doingso in Auckland under the watchful eye of Eugene Bareman and the team at City Kickboxing, putting the steps in place to earn that opportunity.
On Wednesday, Rowston sealed his entry into the UFC’s middleweight division with a first-round TKO win over American Brandon Holmes on Dana White’s Contender Series.
After the win, before officially being awarded the contract, Rowston immediately asked for his promotional debut to be at UFC Perth in late September.
“UFC Perth – sign me up. Doesn’t matter if it’s Brandon Holmes, Jon Jones, two weeks’ notice, two days’ notice, two minutes’ notice, it doesn’t matter. I’m more well-rounded than an Australian $2 coin. Sign me – I am him.”
As it turned out, UFC boss Dana White took that request on board.
“I love that Cameron came back,” White said when giving his decision on whether Rowston would be signed.
“Wins by TKO, you went 3-0 since you left here. You asked me if you can fight in Perth. The matchmakers said you can’t fight in Perth because we already have 16 fights. I don’t give a s*** – you’re fighting in Perth. Congratulations. Get over here.”
It was a moment in the spotlight that came later than Rowston might have hoped.
In 2023, he was booked to fight for a contract on the show, which pits top prospects from around the world against one another. He made the trip over to Las Vegas, but after going through medical checks on the ground, he was not cleared to compete and had to withdraw.
Cameron Rowston (right) earned a UFC contract on Wednesday. Teammate Aaron Tau will have his Road To UFC semifinal on Friday night. Photo / Dean Purcell
In 2024, he was asked to compete on the Contender Series again, but lost a competitive decision against American Torrez Finney, who was able to hold Rowston down long enough to get the nod from the judges and Rowston fielded plenty of criticism online.
That loss left him with work to do to earn another shot, but three straight wins between October and February saw him called back.
This time, he showed exactly why the UFC clearly had interest in signing him. Rowston, who fights under the moniker of the Battle Giraffe, used his reach advantage well to settle in as Holmes looked to bring the pressure early.
Rowston was able to take the fight to the mat about two minutes into the round, though lost the controlling position after landing an accidental low blow when Holmes got back to his feet.
After a brief wait while Holmes regathered himself, the action resumed and Rowston landed a couple of good right hands to wobble Holmes, before ultimately forcing the referee to step in.
“This is my life,” Rowston said. “It means a lot of my hard work, a lot of my graft in the last 12 or 13 years, it’s justified. All the sacrifices a lot of people made, and the birthdays and the parties that I missed, the family gatherings and stuff, it hasn’t been in vain.”
It was the first in a big week of fights for the City Kickboxing team, with flyweight Aaron Tau and bantamweight Lawrence Lui in the semifinals of the Road To UFC competition in Shanghai on Friday, before lightweight Rongzhu returns on the UFC fight night card, also in Shanghai, on Saturday.
