Broome Eternal MMA champion, Quillan Salkilld, successfully defends lightweight title in dominant display

Broome-raised mixed martial arts champion Quillan Salkilld has successfully defended his Eternal MMA lightweight title from his first challenger, Brett Pastore, in a dominating display in the cage at Perth’s HBF Stadium.

Pastore, hailing from the US state of New Jersey and training out of the world-renowned Tiger Muay Thai gym, presented a unique challenge for the reigning champion in the October 28 bout.

Armed with a brown belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and credentials in both Sambo and wrestling, Pastore had the tools to potentially unseat the reigning champion.

Fighting out of the red corner, the 23-year-old champion found a dangerous opponent in Pastore with the two fighters going toe to toe for the whole five 5-minute rounds.

The opening round set the tone as Pastore wasted no time, executing a take-down within the first 10 seconds of the bout.

Salkilld, however, quickly regained his footing in the second minute hitting Pastore with a number of knees to the body before countering with his own take-down.

Then the fight opened up with Salkilld’s superior striking on display as he got some distance from Pastore.

An accidental low blow by Salkilld briefly paused the action, but the WA fighter capitalised on the restart with a kick to Pastore’s face.

Pastore’s repeated take-down attempts were thwarted by Salkilld’s counter-attacks before a rear naked choke by Salkilld nearly ended the fight in the first round but Pastore just managed to escape the submission.

Salkilld dominated the first round with Pastore returning to his corner with a bloody cut above his right eye.

A doctor had to come and check Pastore’s eye before giving him the go-ahead for round two to begin.

In the second round, Pastore once again tried to secure a take-down but found himself on the receiving end of Salkilld’s dominant grappling skills.

Pastore’s strength on the ground was neutralised by Salkilld, leaving the New Jersey fighter in a precarious position.

Salkilld’s striking superiority was evident as he landed numerous blows on Pastore, who managed to land a solid right hook but couldn’t capitalise on it.

Salkilld maintained control by keeping Pastore on the ground for the majority of the round.

Pastore opened the fourth with a left roundhouse which Salkilld successfully blocked.

Salkilld then took Pastore down to the mat and controlled the fight, causing Pastore’s blood to spill onto the canvas.

Although Pastore briefly stood up, he was taken down again in the final seconds of the round.

In the final round, Salkilld unleashed a barrage of hard kicks, eventually taking Pastore to the ground and pummelling him with fists.

Salkilld maintained complete control, leaving Pastore desperately clinging on to avoid a knockout or submission.

Quillan Salkilld’s victory left no doubt that he outclassed Pastore in every aspect of the sport.

Following the impressive victory, Salkilld expressed his confidence on the Eternal MMA Insiders Podcast and said he couldn’t wait for the opportunity to prove his skills in the cage once again.

“I was just full of confidence... I’ve never really felt that calm and relaxed before for a fight,” he said.

“It’s like a big load off my shoulders and I can feel like I can finally relax and I just can’t wait to go through the whole process again.

“Going five rounds, going 25 minutes is like an assurance that I can actually go for five rounds. I can do many rounds in the gym and now I know I can do five rounds in the actual cage.”

It comes after the Broome-raised fighter was denied a lightweight belt earlier this year in Singapore on The Road to UFC.

On the morning of the bout, both fighters successfully made weight at 155lbs, however, the fight was abruptly called off due to unexpected circumstances surrounding another lightweight contender.

Bahatebole Batebolati missed weight by a significant margin, coming in 2.26kg over the limit.

In response to this weight discrepancy, Jae Hyun Park was asked to step in as a replacement for Batebolati in the tournament, leaving Quillan Salkilld without an opponent.