After already losing its originally scheduled co-main event bout earlier this week, UFC Perth has taken another hit to its card.
A scheduled preliminary card bout featuring Oban Elliott and Jonathan Micallef is now off mere hours before weigh-ins, per a report from MMAJunkie’s Nolan King.
According to King, the bout was scrapped after Elliott came down with an illness.
Oban Elliott vs. Jonathan Micallef Scrapped From UFC Perth
The UFC has confirmed the news of both this bout’s cancelation, as well as that of the originally planned co-headliner featuring Junior Tafa and Ibo Aslan. Tafa withdrew earlier this week due to injury.
No replacement opponent will be found for Micallef; meanwhile, Jimmy Crute vs. Ivan Erslan has been promoted to the new co-main event slot.
Elliott, who won a UFC contract on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2023, went 3-0 in the Octagon in 2024 before a loss to Seok Hyeon Ko at UFC Baku in June.
Micallef, who won a UFC contract on DWCS last year, made his UFC debut at UFC 312 in February, scoring a decision win over Kevin Jousset.
Ko Seok-hyun secured perhaps the biggest victory of his career, and perhaps the biggest win out of all who came out on top in the UFC Baku prelims, scoring a major upset of Oban Elliott.
Elliott had come into the bout as a -485 favorite, according to Draftkings, while Seok-hyun was a +370 underdog.
Seok-hyun wasted no time showcasing his power, landing a hard left hand early and showing off his impressive judo abilities. Elliott had his moments with body kicks in the first, but Seok-hyun showed more aggression and landed the heavier shots.
Seok-hyun continued to dominate with grappling in the second, repeatedly dragging Elliott to the ground and attacking with heavy punches and elbows — and even threatening a choke at one point.
Seok-hyun continued to battle strong, opening up a cut on Elliott with an elbow. Elliott battled back and attempted a last-minute submission, but it wasn’t enough, as Seok-hyun swept the judges’ scorecards.
Ko Seok-hyun Pulls Off Major Upset Of Oban Elliott In UFC Debut At UFC Baku
Seok Hyun Ko exhibition. Oban is no mug & he’s had his way with him for 15 mins there. Physical monster
— Sparring with Reality (@SWR_Betting) June 21, 2025
Seok-hyun has now won five fights in a row. This marked his UFC debut after a decision win over Igor Cavalcanti on Dana White’s Contender Series last year.
Elliott sees an eight-fight unbeaten streak snapped with his defeat.
One of the more unexpected MMA beefs in recent times has taken place between Chael Sonnen and Jorge Masvidal after both men criticized and called each out during appearances on The MMA Hour. At one stage, “Gamebred” was defending Ariel Helwani who had a heated exchange with Sonnen live on air and unsurprisingly, “The Bad Guy” has continued to get the last word in.
There was even talk of them fighting although there was never anything set in stone even if they could have come face-to-face during a UFC event at one stage. In a recent post on X, Sonnen reignited the feud by coming up with a new idea.
At 47-years old, the former UFC title challenger doesn’t intend on making any kind of serious combat sports return though he did box Anderson Silva in an exhibition bout this past June. Masvidal, on the other hand, has recently stated that he will return to the UFC in April next year for a Miami event after initially retiring in 2023.
Sonnen suggested that rather than him stepping inside the Octagon with the former BMF champion, he would nominate a champion to be his tribute. That man who could welcome Masvidal back to the UFC would be none other than “The Welsh Gangster” Oban Elliott who has a great relationship with Sonnen.
I nominate @obanelliottufc to whip Jorge in my place. Miami you say?
Elliott has gone 3-0 inside the Octagon this year after earning his spot on the rankings via 2023’s season of the Contender Series. Wins at UFC 298, UFC 304 and UFC 309 have proved that the 26-year old doesn’t just walk the walk and talk the talk like his greatest inspiration, he can perform inside the Octagon as well.
Oban Elliott secured his first finish inside the Octagon in the second fight of the night at UFC 309 when he squared off with Bassil Hafez at welterweight.
“The Welsh Gangster” came into the fight off back-to-back wins since signing via Dana White’s Contender Series last year but wanted to produce a statement this time around.
His displays against Val Woodburn and Preston Parsons showed a lot of sides to his game, but with both wins coming via decision, a finish is what he wanted at UFC 309. That’s exactly what he delivered at the world’s most famous arena.
The opening two rounds weren’t particularly action-packed, with Elliott seemingly winning the fight convincingly with his striking from the outside, utilizing his speed and a variety of kicks to stop Hafez from closing the distance. Despite the favorite appearing in control up until the finish, two judges had the fight even going into the third whilst one had Hafez up two.
At the start of the third frame, a huge right overhand from the Welshman sent his opponent crashing to the canvas.
Several follow-up strikes on the ground forced Marc Goddard to step in and wave the fight off, producing the first finish of the night back in the old gloves.
At UFC 309 on November 16, one fighter will make a childhood dream come true when he makes the walk at the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. 2024 has been a year of bucket list moments for Oban Elliott who has earned back-to-back wins inside the Octagon.
The Welsh fighter secured his UFC contract on the Contender Series and will now look to make it three wins in a row at welterweight when he faces off with Bassil Hafez on the prelims. Elliott is a big pro wrestling fans and therefore, it’s no surprise that his MMA idol growing up was none other than “The Bad Guy”, Chael Sonnen.
They’ve been in communication for many years but at Elliott’s debut at UFC 298 in February, they finally got to meet in person. Though this was clearly a full-circle moment for “The Welsh Gangster”, it was also a great interaction for Sonnen, as he spoke about in a recent video on his YouTube channel.
Sonnen gave some insight into Elliott’s life and career so far and how he feels privileged that the rising talent would take him along for each step of the journey.
“It’s a bit of a triple threat from Oban. He’s got the skills, came with the DNA and the grit. Little boy that had a dream and never lost sight of it, right. All discipline is is remembering what your goal is. That’s all it is but it’s a very hard thing to do and he embraced social media, he was a smart guy… when he did the whole thing, he stayed nice. He’s a real triple threat.”
Elliott’s personality and mentality is what Sonnen wanted to draw the most attention to. He went on to compare him to Anthony Smith who Sonnen believes is another fighter that doesn’t just know how to fight and play the game, he’s a strong individual outside the cage too.
“He never got somewhere and forgot how he got there and that’s a special kind of person. The fighter, yeah man, this guy can squabble. He’s about to fight at Madison Square Garden. He went from a railroad with a guy with a dream thanking Lord in heaven above that he got airtime on Ariel Helwani’s show, he’s going to be fighting at Madison Square Garden so it’s quite a story and there’s a lot more to it. I’m just getting started but moving forward, learn the name.”
