Jamie Mullarkey is hoping to pull off an upset victory on Sunday in front of a ‘hostile’ Brazilian crowd

Jamie Mullarkey is on a mission to silence the ‘hostile’ Brazilian home crowd on Sunday by making his mark in the lightweight division and leaving with an upset victory on what could be a successful day for Australian UFC fighters.

UFC 284: Jamie Mullarkey from NSW defeats Francisco Prado by decision. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“UH VAI MORRER” has become a phrase chanted at foreign fighters when fighting a Brazilian, but even though the saying translates to “you will die” Aussie Jamie Mullarkey can’t wait to hear it echo around Jeunesse Arena.

Mullarkey, who will fight his first of the year this Sunday is planning on starting what looks to be a successful event for Aussie UFC fighters and silence a very hostile Brazilian crowd. 

“I’m expecting a bit of a hostile crowd, the Brazilians are just passionate and that’s very exciting to me,” Mullarkey said.

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“I wanna just silence them.”

Mullarkey is heading into this fight welcoming Brazil native Mauricio Ruffy to the UFC in what he is hoping to be a “very fan friendly fight”.

Although the odds are stacked against him, the Central Coast native is looking to use the home crowd advantage against Ruffy and capitalise on the new fighter’s nerves.

Jamie Mullarkey had a good win in Perth. Picture: Getty Images

“Making his debut in front of his home crowd has its dangers and he will have that nervous fast twitch reaction which can be dangerous,” Mullarkey said.

“Once I get through those first few hurdles I think it’s going to be my fight.”

Coming off a disappointing end to 2023, Mullarkey has made it a priority to reset and start his year off with a bang to try and get himself back in the win column.

Will Jamie Mullarkey win on Sunday? Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Things were looking good for the 29-year-old Aussie after a decision win in Sydney last September, but after a quick turnaround into a vicious knockout loss, Mullarkey opted to use some time to reset and rejuvenate.

“I think the last three fights I had last year were inside of six months, so it was back to back to back training camps,” Mullarkey said

“It just feels good to be rested, rejuvenated and ready to really switch it on and go in there hard this weekend.”

Jose Aldo is a UFC Hall of Famer. Picture: Getty Images

Even though Mullarkey is there to take out one of Brazil’s own, he can’t help fanboying over the fact he is sharing a card with one of his favourite fighters in Jose Aldo.

Aldo has come out of retirement with hopes to test himself in the cage and see how much gas he has in the tank, but if Mullarkey has it his way the UFC icon will also be sharing a picture with him before his time is up.

Mullarkey is also sharing this card with Western Australian title challenger Steve Erceg who will look to finish the night bringing by taking the belt off UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja.

After Mullarkey’s fight he plans on supporting his fellow countryman who he said “looks cool as a cucumber and ready for the moment.”

If all goes according to plan for Mullarkey, his fight on the undercard of UFC 301 in Rio this weekend will be a launchpad into another quick turnaround and a return to fighting in his own country with the Perth event later this year.

“That’s the plan. I’m obviously not looking past this fight, I have to get through this weekend first but the plan is to come out of this fight unscathed and have a busy end to this year.”

Originally published as Jamie Mullarkey is hoping to pull off an upset victory on Sunday in front of a ‘hostile’ Brazilian crowd