Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker will be front-and-center today at UFC 243, but they aren’t the only fighters representing New Zealand and the renowned, City Kickboxing gym. That’s because another decorated kickboxer and rising MMA fighter out of that camp, Brad Riddell, will make his Octagon debut.

Riddell’s prospect buzz

There is a lot of hype tied to Riddell amongst prospect observers, who will face lightweight Jamie Mullarky today at UFC 243. Riddell has gone 5-1 to date in professional MMA, but before that, “Quake” won various championships in Muay Thai and kickboxing, including the WKBF world middleweight title. As you can see by watching the highlights below, the buzz surrounding Riddell’s striking is well-founded.

The now 28-year-old fighter made his pro-MMA debut in 2016, and he’s recorded stoppages in four of his five wins. In a recent interview with Newshub, City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman, had this to say about Riddell:

“Brad is a bit of an understated bloke – a bit of a quiet man,” Bareman said.

“I guess a typical South Island, Christchurch-born-and-bred boy, but he’s going to have to get used to these bright lights and reporters, because he will make some pretty big waves in the UFC.

“His path has been similar to Israel’s. He’s been quietly plugging away and now he is at the stage where he is very quickly going to become a contender in that division.”

Mullarkey (8-2), meanwhile, is looking to get back on track, after losing his last two fights.

UFC 243 line-up

Here is the complete line-up for UFC 243 which will be hosted by Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium (via MMA Mania).

UFC 243 ESPN+ PPV Main Card on (10 p.m. ET)

185 lbs.: Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker vs. Interim Middleweight Champion Israel Adesanya
155 lbs.: Dan Hooker vs. Al Iaquinta
265 lbs.: Sergey Spivak vs. Tai Tuivasa
170 lbs.: Luke Jumeau vs. Dhiego Lima
265 lbs.: Yorgan De Castro vs. Justin Tafa

UFC 243 ‘Prelims’ Under Card on ESPN2 (8 p.m. ET)

170 lbs.: Rostem Akman vs. Jake Matthews
170 lbs.: Maki Pitolo vs. Callan Potter
145 lbs.: Megan Anderson vs. Zarah Fairn dos Santos
155 lbs.: Jamie Mullarkey vs. Brad Riddell
UFC 243 ‘Prelims’ Under Card on Fight Pass / ESPN+ (6:30 p.m. ET):

115 lbs.: Nadia Kassem vs. Ji Yeon Kim
135 lbs.: Bruno Silva vs. Khalid Taha

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