Jamie Te Huna Signs To Fight at UFC 110

Gritty Kiwi James Te Huna (11-4) signed a four-fight contract with the UFC and will debut in the Octagon at UFC 110 in Sydney February 20, Fighters.com has confirmed.

Fighters.com profiled the top prospect Down Under after he knocked out two-time UFC fighter “Hippo” Anthony Perosh (6-4) in 2:21 to win the Cage Fighting Championship’s Light Heavyweight Grand Prix at CFC 10 in Sydney August 21.

For Te Huna, it was an arrival on the international MMA scene, and his biggest win to date.

The Mark Hunt (5-6)-trained Te Huna has never lacked the heart of a champion. In a 2006 fight versus Takahiro Oba (4-5) at X-plosion in Sydney, Te Huna’s right arm went stiff and motionless while on his back with Oba dropping bombs above him. The referee stepped-in to pause the fight and discovered Te Huna’s shoulder had popped out of socket. In Te Huna’s corner, Hunt pressed Te Huna’s forearm beneath his arm pit and yanked the arm back into socket. Te Huna popped his mouthguard back into his mouth and won a decision over Oba.

But, heart doesn’t win the big ones. Te Huna had come up short in his two previous steps-up in competition. At King of the Cage in Australia in 2006, Te Huna was tapped in a rear naked choke in 1:37 by eventual PRIDE and UFC fighter James Lee (14-5). At Warriors Realm 8 in Australia the following year, arguably the top prospect fighting in Australia, “Shango” Hector Lombard (20-2-1), submitted Te Huna.

Fighters.com had predicted the UFC would sign Te Huna after his victory over Perosh.  On a side note, Te Huna was actually signed by PRIDE in 2007, shortly before the organization was bought by the UFC’s parent company, Zuffa, LLC. Te Huna never got the opportunity to fight for PRIDE and his contract wasn’t picked up by the UFC after buyout.