UFC Fight Night 101 winner Andrew Holbrook not mad about boos after massive upset

MELBOURNE, Australia – Andrew Holbrook knew he was a big underdog coming into his fight against Jake Matthews.

But the lightweight was neither surprised nor bothered by his position. So much that he took no particular satisfaction in silencing the Melbourne crowd as he took the split-decision nod over Matthews, an Australian prospect who entered the fight as much as a 6-1 favorite.

“I’m not mad at them for booing me or anything like that,” Holbrook said after the FS1-televised co-headliner at UFC Fight Night 101, which took place at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. “This is their guy. They’re gonna cheer their own guy. It was just nice to get the win either way.

“I kind of have got to expect that a little bit, you know, coming into someone else’s home territory that they’re going to root for him. That they’re going to boo me, try to help him out, and kind of get inside my head. I didn’t actually look at the odds or anything like that, but I knew I was going to be the underdog. It’s fine.”

The split decision put Holbrook (12-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC) back in the win column after a 34-second knockout loss to Joaquim Silva back in July; Matthews (10-3 MMA, 4-3 UFC) is on a two-fight skid following a TKO loss at the hands of Kevin Lee.

As the conflicting scorecards (29-28, 28-29 and 29-28) show, Matthews did have some success in the scrap, particularly in the striking department. It was on the ground that he found trouble, and he had to fight off a handful of dangerous submission threats by Holbrook.

Complimenting the “tough” Matthews, Holbrook said he wasn’t really surprised by anything he saw – not even his opponent’s willingness to shoot for takedowns even as he was getting the worst of the scrambles.

“He did say, I think, in an interview that he thinks he’s a better wrestler than me,” Holbrook said. “He thinks he’s better than this. He thinks he’s better than that. So I’m not surprised. Just like me, if it’s there, go for it.

“The little bit of stuff I’ve watched and whatever – he likes to move a lot, and I know I did do that in the middle of the ring, and I don’t think a lot of people like that, you know? I just said, ‘Let’s just come fight right here. I’m tired of moving so much.’ I want to be lazy, I guess.”

As far as getting your name out there goes, pulling a big upset over a touted prospect in a co-main-event spot might just be the way to do it. But leverage or not, Holbrook remains unwilling to pick his octagon challenges.

“They say the name, I’ll fight him,” Holbrook said. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t care. It’s what we’re in the business for – just to fight, right?”

To hear more from Holbrook, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 101, check out the UFC Events section of the site.