You only get one Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut!
Only one athlete made her Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut in the Middle East yesterday (Sat., Oct. 25, 2025) at UFC 321 inside Etihad
Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi.
And it couldn’t have gone much worse.
UFC 321’s lone rookie lost, so now that the dust has settled, let’s grade his debut below:
Louie Sutherland
English Heavyweight Louie Sutherland was originally set to make his long-awaited debut last month at UFC Perth, but a day before weigh-ins, his fight fell apart when Justin Tafa pulled out due to weight issues — which sucked, because Sutherland likely would have won that one.
Instead, the 31-year-old was rebooked against surging Brazilian prospect Valter Walker at UFC 321, and his debut turned into a nightmare. Sutherland landed a nasty leg kick and even cracked Walker with a solid hook, but within seconds, he was taken down and quickly became the fourth straight victim to be heel hooked by the rising contender — a submission streak that’s now a UFC record (watch highlights).
There’s not much to dissect from Sutherland’s performance — it was short, painful, and disastrous.
As for his future in the division, he’s got enough power and composure to pick up some wins against lower-tier Heavyweights, but breaking into the Top 15 seems unlikely … which says a lot, considering how shallow the division is right now.
For his next outing, Sutherland should get a bounce-back fight against fellow newcomer Brando Pericic on the rumored UFC Sydney card early next year.
