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Fighters From New Zealand
A relative newcomer to the international MMA landscape, New Zealand's premier mixed martial artists have been crossovers from professional kickboxing, in which New Zealanders have made a name for themselves as tough, skilled professionals. Ray Sefo (born Auckland, New Zealand) was a five time Muay Thai world champion and an eight time K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament participant in kickboxing before lacing up the fingerless gloves to try his hand at MMA. He currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he trains with Xtreme Couture. Mark Hunt (born South Auckland, New Zealand) hails from a similar background, boasting extensive K-1 experience, and is well known to North American fans of Pride, who have seen him take on MMA heavyweight greats from Fedor Emelianenko on down. In 2010, Hunt was submitted in his UFC debut for his sixth straight loss in MMA, five of which have come by shoulder and armlocks on the ground. It is a reminder that New Zealand's future stars will need to develop ground games consistent with their impressive standup abilities.
With the UFC's recent entrance into the nearby Australian market, and New Zealand's unofficial national sport of rugby representing a promising breeding ground for rugged and durable young athletes, there is reason to think more international stars will emerge from New Zealand in short order.
Fighters From New Zealand (19)
| Fighter | Weight Class | Record | Forum | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antz "Notorious" Nansen | Light Heavyweight | 1-1-0 | View | |||
| Daniel Hooker | Lightweight | 6-4-0 | View | |||
| Ev Ting | Featherweight | 3-1-0 | View | |||
| Gareth "Fists of Fury" Ealey | Welterweight | 6-3-0 | View | |||
| Ian James "Goshu Hurricane" Schaffa | Lightweight | 7-8-2 | View | |||
| Jacques Marsters | 4-1-1 | View | ||||
| James Te Huna | Light Heavyweight | 14-5-0 | View | |||
| Jason "Nobunaga" Suttie | Heavyweight | 0-1-0 | View | |||
| "Big" Jim York | Heavyweight | 15-5-0 | View | |||
| Kaiwhare Kara-France | Bantamweight | 1-1-0 | View | |||
| Luke "The Jedi" Jumeau | 3-0-0 | View | ||||
| Mal "Twin Tiger" Foki | Heavyweight | 5-5-0 | View | |||
| Mark "Super Samoan" Hunt | Heavyweight | 8-7-0 | View | |||
| Matt "Twin Tiger" Foki | Heavyweight | 5-4-0 | View | |||
| Pat "The Luchidor" Crawley | Middleweight | 8-2-0 | View | |||
| Ray "Sugarfoot" Sefo | Heavyweight | 2-1-0 | View | |||
| Rodney "Hot Rod" MacSwain | Welterweight | 13-4-0 | View | |||
| Rony Sefo | Heavyweight | 0-2-0 | View | |||
| Sam "Striker" Brown | Light Heavyweight | 11-4-1 | View |
