The three stars of ‘UFC Fight Night 43: Te Huna vs. Marquardt’ in New Zealand

The UFC made its debut in New Zealand on Saturday with UFC Fight Night 43 at Auckland’s Vector Arena.

Even though the event streamed on UFC Fight Pass in the middle of the night in North America, a few fighters still managed to get fans from around the globe talking about their memorable performances.

Three fighters stood out from the rest of the pack at a highlight-filled event. And with that, here are MMAjunkie’s three stars for UFC Fight Night 43.

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Third Star: Jake Matthews

What were you doing when you were 19 years old? Maybe it was something pretty cool, but it certainly wasn’t winning UFC fights, as Jake Matthews (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) did in the wee hours of Saturday morning in Auckland.

The Australian became the youngest fighter to ever score a submission win under the UFC banner with his third-round tap-out of Dashon Johnson in the featured preliminary-card bout. Moreover, he’s the second youngest overall to get his hand raised in the UFC octagon, trailing former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort by a mere three days.

That’s quite the feat for someone who was studying for high school exams a little more than a year ago. Matthews is still very early in his career, and it’s impossible to say where he’ll go from here. But there’s no doubting he’s off to a good start.

Second Star: Nate Marquardt

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Nate Marquardt (33-13-2 MMA, 11-6 UFC) was at a moment of desperation as he entered his main event fight with James Te Huna while on the first three-fight losing streak of his career.

From the minute the bell sounded, it was clear Marquardt was willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. Before eventually submitting Te Huna toward the end of the first round, Marquardt blasted his opponent with a vicious knee in the clinch, scored a nice takedown and showed accurate offense from on top. Simply, he came to fight.

“The Great” looked like the fighter who holds a top-five spot on the UFC’s all-time middleweight wins list and once worked his way up to a championship fight. If Marquardt can maintain that form in the future, he’ll be a dangerous fight for anyone at 185 pounds.

First Star: Charles Oliveira

There’s no denying Charles Oliveira (18-4 MMA, 6-4 UFC) is one of the top submission artists on the UFC roster. Look no further than his masterful second-round finish of the hard-to-finish Hatsu Hioki.

Submitting the average UFC fighter is difficult enough, but to choke out a fighter such as Hioki is a nearly impossible feat. But “do Bronx” managed to find a way. Hioki hadn’t been finished in more than 30 professional fights, but Oliveira snapped that streak with a modified arm-triangle/guillotine-choke combination.

Oliveira has always been a whiz on the ground, but his recent submission arsenal appears more dangerous than ever. The tap-out of Hioki gave the Brazilian the most submission victories in UFC featherweight history, and at just 24 years old, Oliveira’s immediate future looks bright.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 43, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.

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Check out our UFC Fight Night 43 recap video:

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