Photo credit to Bleacher Report
Anthony Perosh chronicles (significant Australian UFC wins)
Anthony Perosh is a pioneer of MMA in Australia. He has competed at both light heavyweight, as well as heavyweight and is a UFC veteran.
In part four of the Anthony Perosh chronicles, The Hippo touches on many of his most significant UFC victories as well as his farewell bout at the monumental UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm card.
Anthony Perosh
The first UFC victory over Tom Blackledge on a big card out in Sydney, Australia
“That was probably my number one highlight. My very first UFC win. And like you said, I did it in front of my home crowd with a rear-naked choke. I couldn’t have written a better finish for my first win.”
His fight against Cyrille Diabate and the intriguing stylistic matchup
“At the time I fought him, he was actually ranked number one in the UFC as the most accurate striker. So my boxing coach at the start of the training camp he goes Anthony, are you ready to run a marathon? We really worked a lot of footwork during that match and during that training camp. I just wanted to stay out of his range. And just keep moving. Not staying still. Because he is like a sniper.”
“He doesn’t throw many strikes. The ones he strikes, he connects. He connects the most if you’re standing still. So we made sure that I kept moving, moving, and moving. And there was a time I timed a couple of takedowns off of his body kicks. Take him down, use my ground and pound, and finish with a rear-naked choke as well.”
Nick Penner, Guto Inocente, and UFC 193 swan song
Getting another win on home soil in the Nick Penner fight and the national pride Perosh felt
“At the time of those couple of UFCs, there weren’t that many Australians in the UFC. Pretty much it was three or four of us. Whereas now there are like 30 Australian-New Zealand fighters in the UFC at the moment. Whereas back then, there’s only like three or four, maybe five. So every time they had a show in Australia, they wanted to make sure Australians were on it. So I guess that was one of the reasons I was lucky enough to fight and also win in front of my home crowd.”
Beating Guto Inocente and garnering another significant win in Sydney, Australia
“I felt that was like one of my best performances to date. I was really happy with how I did. It was actually the first match I had after training at Jackson Winkeljohn. So I was really happy that I got the results for them as well. But yeah I was really happy. Everything just came together. My striking, the wrestling, the grappling. He was a good opponent as well. So I was really happy with that match. And on top of that, getting it done in front of my home crowd was sort of just like an extra bonus.”
Anthony Perosh continued, “Yeah, it’s great. Because obviously, everyone knows you in Sydney. You get the biggest cheer. Especially when you win. So it was a great feeling.”
Perosh’s last MMA bout being on the record-breaking UFC 193 Holm vs Rousey card
“Yes, that was my last match. I knew it was gonna be my last match. Probably the match before I should have retired. Because I had it in my head that it was just getting a bit harder and harder to do the training camps. At that time I was 43, I think, for the UFC 193. But I wanted to be a part of it because they were talking about going to Melbourne for so long. It was going to be a record crowd. So I wanted to be a part of it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the result in that one.”
Being on that magnitude of a card despite not getting a favorable individual outcome
“Don’t get me wrong, I would have liked to have won. Because I told myself before the match I was going to retire. Win, lose, or draw. It just didn’t happen on the day.”
