Cameron Rowston made himself undeniable.
Among the many mixed martial artists around the world hoping to earn a shot at a UFC contract, few can claim to have had quite the journey as the Auckland-based 30-year-old.
Under the UFC banner alone, Rowston had not one but three opportunities at earning a gig with the world’s top promotion through Dana White’s Contender Series – where top prospects go head-to-head in a bid to earn a contract. While a health issue forced him to withdraw from that first opportunity, a loss to American Torrez Finney in 2024 in the second left him at a crossroads.
Finney failed to impress the UFC brass with his win and did not earn a contract from it, which gave Rowston’s manager hope of his fighter getting another shot weeks later.
“Then they didn’t want to give me another shot," Rowston recalled.
“He didn’t really hear back from them after that, so I was like, right, I’m just going to bang out a bunch of fights and make myself undeniable to get another shot, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Putting together three wins between October and February, Rowston again got the call-up for the Contender Series, earning his spot on the UFC middleweight roster with a first-round knockout in mid-August.
Not only did he earn a contract, he also impressed UFC boss White enough to have his request for a UFC debut in Perth a little more than a month later granted.
“In a perfect world, it goes exactly like that. It’s brilliant,” the Australian said.
“That’s just the sport. The sport is just full of ups and downs. It’s not like a linear straight line to getting into the UFC for a lot of people and I’ve been lucky enough to have one of those careers which has had very high highs and very low lows.”
Rowston will make his UFC debut in Perth this weekend against established middleweight Andre Petroski. He’ll be one of four from City Kickboxing fighting in Perth this weekend, alongside fellow debutant Brando Peričić, Navajo Stirling and headliner Carlos Ulberg. Kiwi Michelle Montague is also on the card, which will see her become the first New Zealand woman to fight for the promotion, and Australian-based Kiwi Justin Tafa is also competing.
It’s an opportunity that comes six years after Rowston went all-in on himself and moved from Sydney to Auckland to train with the established team of UFC-level talent at City Kickboxing.
It’s a decision that Rowston says has been justified now that he can call himself a UFC fighter.
“A lot of the sacrifices that I made, like, especially during Covid – I missed a few big key celebrations like birthdays, a few weddings and stuff like that and a few friends weren’t happy about that, but I guess now they’re coming to Perth so they’re happy,” he says.
“It’s just the life you live, like, training 24/7 and always trying to be on call, ready to take a fight or ready to fight.”
RAC Arena. Sunday, September 28.
Light heavyweight main event: Carlos Ulberg (3) v Dominick Reyes (8)
Middleweight: Cameron Rowston v Andre Petroski
Heavyweight: Brando Peričić v Elisha Ellison
Light heavyweight: Navajo Stirling v Rodolfo Bellato
Bantamweight: Michelle Montague v Luana Carolina
Heavyweight: Justin Tafa v Louie Sutherland
Lightweight: Tom Nolan v Charlie Campbell
Light heavyweight: Jimmy Crute v Ivan Erslan
Strawweight: Loma Lookboonmee (14) v Alexia Thainara
Welterweight: Jake Matthews v Neil Magny
Featherweight: Jack Jenkins v Ramon Taveras
Welterweight: Jonathan Micallef v Oban Elliott
Bantamweight: Colby Thicknesse v Josias Musasa
Lightweight: Jamie Mullarkey v Rolando Bedoya
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.