UFC Fight Night 43 results: Jared Rosholt dominates Soa Palelei for decision win

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Jared Rosholt used a dominant wrestling attack to get past Soa Palelei.

Rosholt (11-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) stayed unbeaten in the UFC as he topped Palelei (21-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC) with a unanimous decision that quieted the New Zealand crowd – except when it was booing.

The heavyweight bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 43 event at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. It streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

Palelei got a takedown 45 seconds in, and Rosholt tried to fight it off to get back to his feet. He did so fairly easily, and then went after a single-leg takedown of his own. Midway through, tied up on the fence without much activity, Steve Perceval warned them to get busy. Rosholt did and went after an arm triangle. Then he took Palelei’s back and landed knees to the body. With 10 seconds left in the round, Palelei reversed and got to full mount to close the frame.

Palelei landed a left hook in the second, but moments later, Rosholt stormed on him and landed big punches and put Palelei on the canvas thanks to some uppercuts. Palelei got back to his feet again, though it was more control by Rosholt, who dominated the frame in the clinch.

Another takedown for Rosholt came early in the third, as Palelei seemingly had no answers for the ground game.

Rosholt won for the seventh straight time. His three-fight UFC winning streak trails only Andrei Arlovski, Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez in the heavyweight division. Palelei lost for the first time since a November 2010 setback against Daniel Cormier. He had an 11-fight winning streak of knockouts stopped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 43 results include:

• Jared Rosholt def. Soa Palelei via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Charles Oliveira def. Hatsu Hioki via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 4:32
• Robert Whittaker def. Mike Rhodes via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jake Matthews def. Dashon Johnson via submission (triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:16
• Richie Vaculik def. Roldan Sangcha-an via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Vik Grujic def. Chris Indich via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:55
• Neil Magny def. Rodrigo Goiana de Lima via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:32
• Daniel Hooker def. Ian Entwistle via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 3:34
• Gian Villante def. Sean O’Connell via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

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

(John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Auckland.)