Kevin Jousset will make his return to the octagon at UFC 312 in Sydney. Photo / Dean Purcell
Kevin Jousset will make his return to the octagon at UFC 312 in Sydney. Photo / Dean Purcell
With the UFC’s return Downunder just four weeks away, welterweight Kevin Jousset had not been expecting to feature on the Sydney card.
But with the new year has come a new assignment for the City Kickboxing-trained Frenchman, who will take on UFC newcomer Jonathan Micallef across the ditch at UFC 312 on February 9.
Speaking to the Herald, Jousset said the bout was confirmed only a few days ago, but fighters fight and the relatively short notice nature of the bout wasn’t a problem.
“I was hoping to fight around this time or slightly later, but I was in the gym these past few months, so I’ve been training every day as I always do,” Jousset said.
“Four weeks, back to Sydney where I had my UFC debut, and against an Aussie guy. I’m looking forward to it.”
The bout will see the 31-year-old return to the site of his memorable UFC debut, where he submitted Irishman Kiefer Crosbie in the first round of their match-up in September 2023.
Jousset followed that bout with an impressive points win over UFC veteran Song Kenan, before his momentum was halted in his most recent outing, falling to a second-round TKO loss against fellow rising contender Bryan Battle in Paris.
“It is what it is. You win some, you lose some,” Jousset said.
Kevin Jousset won his UFC debut fight in Sydney at UFC 293. Photo / Photosport
“Obviously it was extremely disappointing, the result of that. But I was ready, I have no excuses. I trained hard for the fight and he was better than me on the night. It is what it is.
“He tried to take me down but couldn’t take me down. He hurt me quite early in the fight, which made it hard for me to recover, but that’s what we do, right? We try to hurt each other as early as we can. Nothing surprised me, he was just better than me on the night.”
Jousset is one of two New Zealand connections currently confirmed on the Sydney card, with Kiwi heavyweight Justin Tafa also booked to compete against undefeated Brazilian Tallison Teixeira.
The card will be headlined by two title fights – Dricus du Plessis putting his middleweight belt on the line against Sean Strickland and strawweight champion Zhang Weili taking on Tatiana Suarez – but also features a lot of upcoming talent relatively new to the promotion.
“It’s a bit of a weird card, to be honest. Especially with the main and co-main events – no one from this end of the world, so that’s quite surprising, but it is what it is,” Jousset said.
“At the end of the day, I don’t really care what card I’m fighting on. It’s always good to be on a pay-per-view, though, and also knowing I’m going to be fighting on Sunday morning is great.
“I would always rather fight in the morning, to be honest. I know for the fans it’s better in the evening, but the morning is when I train every day. But at the end of the day, when you’re going to fight, whatever time of day it is, wherever it is, however many people are watching, a fight’s a fight, so it doesn’t change a thing.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
