Salkilld seals victory with second round submission over Mar Fan in title defence

Quillan Salkilld has successfully defended his Australian lightweight title after taking down Dom Mar Fan in the second round of the main event at Eternal MMA 82 on Saturday night. It marked the second time Salkilld faced Mar Fan in less than 18 months. The Broome product earned a third-round submission win with a rear naked choke at Eternal MMA 68 to hand the Queenslander his first career loss. Under the lights at HBF Stadium, Mar Fan opened the first round with a take down and held the top position for most of the round before Salkilld turned the tables with a triangle choke. Salkilld then took the dominant position, following up the triangle with a rear naked choke attempt on Mar Fan to close out the first round. Round two opened with Salkilld quickly hitting Mar Fan with a face kick and then taking him to the ground. Salkilld dominated Mar Fan on the ground looking for an opportunity for a rear naked choke before finding it in the third minute to win the fight by submission. “I knew Dom would come in super aggressive and super hungry and that gave me a motivation . . . because I knew he would be giving 110 per cent in the training room, so I had to match that,” Salkilld said after the fight. “I just knew I had to find my moment and wearing on him. I knew a stubborn guy as good as him straight away would be hard work so you got to wear them down.” Talking to the West Australian before the fight, Salkilld said he was confident heading into the bout. “I’m feeling good, I’ve had a good camp and have improved in all facets but mainly my strength game. I feel like I’m going to dominate this fight,” he said. “He presents a good challenge for me. He’s improved since the last time we fought and I know he’s going to be hungry to get that loss back. “I’ve used that as motivation knowing that he’s going to be giving 110 per cent, coming at me to try to take my belt but also to avenge his loss.” Salkilld also boldly declared he will be the next West Australian to break into the UFC. “I’m going to be next in there. I’m going to be the next Aussie boy to make some noise in the UFC,” Salkilld said. “I haven’t heard from them (the UFC), but I’ve got my fingers crossed that I’m really close now. Salkilld was closing in on the UFC last year when he was scheduled to compete in the Road to UFC TV series, but it fell through. Still he has been in the sights of the organisation, even getting a mention on its website as one of the fighters to watch and describing him as “one of the most dangerous fighters outside of the UFC”.