Eternal MMA 83: Ben Johnston vs John Fraser | March 16, 2024

0:00 Championship rounds set to determine

0:02 who will become Eternal's middleweight champion.

0:05 33 [music] years old for Ben Johnston, 2 years younger at 31 for the champ.

0:10 Height and reach in a favor of the contender,

0:14 but leave it to John Fraser to close

0:18 that distance [music] in a typical Welsh fashion.

0:23 And for the final time here tonight,

0:24 we go inside to Hollywood Blake Richardson for your official introductions.

0:30 Here we GO, FIGHT FANS.

0:31 ETERNAL 83 main event.

0:34 This fight is sanctioned by MMA Australasia.

0:37 UK side doctors are Dr.

0:39 Steve Windley, Dr.

0:40 Stephanie Tran.

0:41 Your three judges scoring this fight cage side are AJ Perry,

0:44 Chris Hay, and Nathan Waters.

0:46 And when our action begins, our referee in charge, Peter Hickmott.

0:51 Well, ladies and gentlemen,

0:52 the time has arrived for THE MAIN EVENT OF the evening here at Eternal 83.

0:58 Streaming live and exclusive from the sold-out crowd

1:01 of the Southport Sharks here in the Gold Coast, Australia.

1:07 This fight will be contested over five

1:09 five-minute rounds to determine the Eternal Middleweight Championship.

1:15 And introducing to you first, fighting out of the blue corner,

1:19 he weighed in at 83.8 kg and trains under Daniel

1:24 Bell and Eugene [cheering] Bareman out of the Fight Centre,

1:28 City Kickboxing, and Iron Fist.

1:31 Boasting a professional record four wins, one loss.

1:35 Fighting out of Brisbane, Australia.

1:38 Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise FOR THE CHALLENGER, [screaming]

1:53 AND INTRODUCING HIS OPPONENT, fighting out of the red corner,

1:57 he weighed in at 84.4 kg.

2:00 He trains under Ryan Dunstan and Ryan Doyle

2:04 out of Ignite Martial Arts and Vice Training Centre.

2:08 His professional record stands at seven wins, three losses.

2:12 Fighting out of Sunshine Coast, Australia.

2:16 Ladies and gentlemen, make some noise FOR THE REIGNING,

2:20 THE DEFENDING ETERNAL MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION, [screaming] [groaning] [applause]

2:36 OKAY, GENTLEMEN, WELCOME.

2:37 YOU KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT.

2:38 We've been here before.

2:39 Listen to my commands at all times.

2:40 Defend yourselves at all times.

2:41 For the belt.

2:42 Hook 'em up.

2:43 Good luck to you both.

2:43 Come ready to fight.

2:48 [cheering] Eternal 83 main event live and exclusive on UFC Fight Pass.

2:53 What an atmosphere inside the Southport SHARKS ARENA.

2:59 IT'S JOHNSTON VERSUS FRASER.

3:01 NO TOUCH OF GLOVES to open round number one.

3:05 MCT CAGE SIDE with Matt Williams.

3:09 And Matt, I can tell you right now, you could cut the tension with a knife.

3:14 This main event brought to you by Proper No.

3:17 12 Irish Whiskey.

3:19 And we are off.

3:21 John Martin Fraser coming in early with the kicks.

3:24 This is the big, tall Ben Johnston goes low, collects the knee on that occasion.

3:32 Big height Big height advantage going the way of Johnston in the blue.

3:36 Muay Thai world champion, but now a complete mixed martial artist.

3:40 Brown belt to boot.

3:42 A lot of his victories come by way of submission.

3:44 Both boys exchange low kicks in the center of the cage.

3:49 This is huge.

3:50 This is a huge main event for those in the know.

3:53 The ramifications following the outcome of this fight are massive.

3:57 Both these guys putting it all on the line.

4:01 Not just the Eternal Middleweight Championship,

4:03 their futures are on the line here.

4:06 And Ben Johnston, he's kind of skyrocketed to the top.

4:09 Only six rounds at the top level, but John Martin Fraser,

4:14 he's accumulated about 25 at the highest level, so Look at that.

4:19 Early Ben Johnston going in for the grapple.

4:22 And it's Martin Fraser with that left hand a cross cupped two

4:28 hands cupped in the air where he's trying to lift Johnston up,

4:32 driving some knees into the thigh of Martin Fraser as Johnston.

4:36 Big hard knees and his team getting behind him in the crowd.

4:41 One side of the arena packed out with fans supporting Johnston.

4:46 The other side supporting the champ, John Fraser.

4:50 A sold-out Southport Sharks Arena here ON THE GOLD COAST.

4:53 A REVERSAL FROM FRASER now has the contender up against the cage.

4:58 I feel like this is good for Fraser earlier.

5:00 I think good strategy for him is to initiate the clinch,

5:04 get dirty in there, and wear on those big arms of Johnston.

5:08 Good hip position for for Fraser initially,

5:11 but Johnston does well to negate that.

5:13 And the boys once again Oh, big hard clash of shins.

5:18 And a hard right hand over the top for Johnston.

5:21 That thing's got thunder in it.

5:24 Catching the attention of the contender is the champ, John Fraser.

5:27 That right hand from the orthodox stance over

5:30 the top to the body now for Johnston.

5:32 He's staying at range and wisely so.

5:35 Fraser looks to rush.

5:36 STILL IN THE FIRST TAKEDOWN OF THE FIGHT.

5:38 DOWN GOES JOHNSTON.

5:39 YEAH, there was some big kicks from Johnston,

5:41 and Martin Fraser didn't want to have any piece any piece of that, and he

5:47 elected to shoot in on the hips

5:49 as uh we progress halfway through the first round.

5:54 In a good position now against the BJJ brown belt in Johnston.

5:59 Fraser good shoulder pressure through the hips,

6:02 driving those hips towards the corner of the cage.

6:07 Johnston extending that left arm to to prevent John Martin Fraser,

6:12 the champion, from progressing further.

6:16 A wealth of experience in both camps for both challenger and champion

6:21 as we take a look in the corner of John Fraser,

6:24 Ryan Doyle, Ryan Dunstan alongside former UFC veteran Kyle Noke.

6:28 And here's a main sparring partner for this one.

6:31 And in the corner of Ben Johnston

6:34 over Fight Centre and City Kickboxing HEAD COACH

6:36 EUGENE BAREMAN here on the Gold Coast

6:38 as Johnston rallies to his feet, crowd behind him.

6:42 Yeah, Fraser did well just to drive all the weight

6:44 all his weight onto Ben Johnston's hands there for a second.

6:47 These exchanges are going to suck the power out

6:49 of those big arms of Johnston as the fight progresses.

6:52 And let's look to see if Johnston goes back to that big right kick.

6:55 It's a right elbow from Johnston followed by a right Yeah.

6:59 Oh, followed by a right kick and a right hand.

7:03 Beautiful Muay Thai from Johnston.

7:06 And a spinning left kick from John Martin Fraser, the champion.

7:10 Shows some technique.

7:11 Once again, returns Johnston to the mat in the scramble temporarily.

7:16 Well done from Johnston.

7:17 LOOK AT THIS.

7:18 He's no stranger to this, THE SCRAMBLE FROM BEN JOHNSTON,

7:22 but he goes down again.

7:23 Two from two for Fraser, Matt.

7:25 Yeah, he did well initially in that scramble,

7:27 but it was the persistent John Martin Fraser who

7:30 just reshot and drove him through to the defense.

7:33 The thing with the fences you you can't sprawl out on it.

7:36 You run out of room, and it provides an opportunity for the offensive

7:41 wrestler to get into a good position.

7:44 Approaching the final 10 seconds of round number one.

7:47 This round has gone by all too fast.

7:50 There goes the clapper,

7:52 and I think both these guys will look

7:53 forward to meeting with their corners between the break.

7:58 Great round for the champ, John Fraser.

8:00 Round two coming up next.

8:03 Yeah, what an opening round.

8:05 It had it all, didn't it?

8:06 Mar- Martin Fraser did well with his wrestling,

8:12 was able to to force Johnston to the And on the feet,

8:16 Johnston with that big right body kick.

8:19 Trying to pay dividends over the championship rounds,

8:22 suck some of the gas out of John Martin Fraser.

8:27 Initiated the clinch early did Johnston, which surprised many in attendance.

8:33 And but Martin Fraser was able to reverse

8:35 the position and come chest to chest with his opponent.

8:39 Rounding out an incredible month for Aussie UFC fighters,

8:42 Sydney's own Jacob Malkoun facing off against Andre

8:45 Petroski on March the 31st at UFC Fight Night.

8:50 With both fighters looking to get back in the win column,

8:52 you don't want to miss this [music] one.

8:54 Alongside Sydney Kickboxing's own Carlos Ulberg taking

8:58 on Alonzo Menifield in the UFC light heavyweight division.

9:02 Catch all the action from Atlantic City, New Jersey only on UFC Fight Pass.

9:09 Peter Hickmott signals us underway for round two in our main event.

9:14 And here's the boys square up.

9:16 Both in orthodox stance initially.

9:18 And Martin Fraser shifts through with the right hand, but misses.

9:21 Oh, it connects on that occasion.

9:24 Wow, that appeared to rock Johnston who came back with a return elbow.

9:28 It did indeed.

9:29 Ben Johnston.

9:30 But that that is

9:31 Eyes wide open.

9:32 Sorry, Matt.

9:32 Go ahead.

9:33 Oh, I was just going to say to you, that's signature John Martin Fraser.

9:36 That shifting right hook that he's been able to drop so many opponents with.

9:42 He shoots in on the hips once more trying to drag Johnston

9:47 out into deep waters to see if he can swim back to shore.

9:52 Trying to tie up those feet now.

9:55 He locks them up beautifully is Martin Fraser.

9:57 who looked for the wrist.

9:59 He's got the feet.

9:59 He'll look to turn turn the corner try and pick up that far

10:02 wrist from Johnston who does well to frame and get back to his feet.

10:06 He's back up again, Matt.

10:08 Oh, AND A WIZARD KICK FOR GOOD MEASURE.

10:10 JOHNSTON LOOKING TO TURN THE TABLES ON THE CHAMP HERE IN ROUND TWO.

10:16 Here and the Martin Fraser does well to return looking for the rear naked choke.

10:21 He got this against Jeffries WITH NO HOOKS.

10:24 IT'S DEEP AND HE'S GOT IT.

10:27 AND [cheering and screaming]

10:29 NEW BEN JOHNSTON IS THE NEW KING OF THE MIDDLEWEIGHTS HERE ON THE GOLD COAST.

10:35 [screaming] HOLY SMOKESCREEN.

10:38 [cheering] WOW.

10:43 Ben Johnston's fans have just turned

10:45 the Southport Sharks Stadium into a convertible.

10:48 The roof has gone clean off as he finishes the rear

10:52 naked choke with no hooks just like he did against Jeffries.

10:56 This time the middleweight king is dethroned and there is a new king in town.

11:03 Out of nowhere again.

11:09 Goodness gracious me, Ben Johnston, YOU ARE THE MAN.

11:15 AND A GREAT SHOW OF RESPECT shown between [music] Johnston and Fraser.

11:22 Let's take a look at the replay, Matt, brought to you by Just Kick Club.

11:25 I felt like Martin Fraser hurt him there

11:27 with the right hand and assisted with the wrestling,

11:31 but there was that beautiful little hip toss

11:33 that led to the scramble and look at that.

11:35 Johnston no hooks cross body right,

11:38 but the squeeze was tight and pinpoint and Martin

11:41 Fraser just had to give up that position and tap.

11:45 There was nothing left to do.

11:47 What a squeeze for Ben Johnston.

11:49 He is no longer a Muay Thai fighter.

11:51 This man is the eternal middleweight mixed martial arts champion.

11:56 Goodness gracious me,

11:58 TFC stand up FOR THE NEW ETERNAL middleweight champion, your man, [music]

12:04 Ben Johnston.

12:05 How good does that one feel?

12:09 The belt is going TO LOGAN OF ALL PLACES, MATT WILLIAMS.

12:12 OH, MAN.

12:14 YEAH, I hope they got a safe to lock it up down in Logan.

12:19 Well, there's not much more to be said on this one, Peter Hickman.

12:27 [music]

12:26 Single fighters to come to the middle as we go inside for one final time.

12:32 Here's Blake to make this one official for the new champ.

12:34 Ladies and gentlemen, our referee in charge has got to stop to this fight

12:38 at 1 minute and 15 seconds of round number

12:41 two declaring your winner by submission due to a rear

12:44 naked choke and new eternal [cheering] middleweight champion, Ben Johnston.