Athletes
Quillan Salkilld | A Dangerous Man
Streaking Lightweight Talks Rapid Rise, Mateusz Gamrot Ahead Of Main Event Debut
Quillan Salkilld earned his spot on the UFC roster on September 3, 2024, with a unanimous decision win over Gauge Young on Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series. The victory elevated the Luistro Combat Academy product to 7-1 as a professional, extended his winning streak to seven, and placed him alongside teammate Cody Haddon as two more ascending talents from Perth, Australia.
Less than two years later, Salkilld is back to compete in Las Vegas for the first time, owning a perfect 5-0 mark inside the Octagon with four finishes, four Performance of the Night bonuses, and a number next to his name as he readies to face Mateusz Gamrot in the main event of Saturday’s return to the Meta APEX.
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“I would have been stoked, but I wouldn’t have been surprised,” Salkilld said, reflecting on his meteoric rise and how it compared to his own expectaitons. “I believe in my ability to do that. It doesn’t really feel surreal… I think with how things have played out fight after fight, it’s been kind of like a natural progression. After the last one, you get thinking something like this would happen. It was definitely in my sights. Afterwards, when I sit back, look back and reflect, it will be ‘G*****n! I did that s***!’ But, for now I’m just focusing on the task at hand and handling business.”
Breaking into the rankings in the lightweight division in less than two years is an impressive achievement as is headlining against a proven talent like Gamrot, and it is the proper next step for the streaking Australian standout. Although he scored a brilliant 19-second knockout win in his promotional debut, a hard-earned decision win in his sophomore outings cooled expectations for Salkilld a little heading into the back half of his rookie campaign. However, a knockout of Nasrat Haqparast on short-notice at UFC 321 thrust the 26-year-old back into the spotlight and he’s been rolling ever since.
After kicking off 2026 with a first-round submission win over veteran Jamie Mullarkey in Sydney, Salkilld got a home game in May against Beneil Dariush, navigating his way through an early knockdown to rally and finish the veteran contender well before the first round expired, sending the crowd at RAC Arena in Perth into hysterics.
Now, he’s back in Las Vegas, having signed a poster with his visage on it for the first time, poised to step into the fray with a standout talent that has only been beaten four times in 31 career fights.
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“It’s cool to do a bit of a full-circle moment — getting into the UFC from the Contender Series at the APEX and now headlining an event,” Salkilld said. “It’s a little bit different — bit of a crowd now; that’s cool. It’s gonna be sick. I think it’s gonna be a lot of fun.
“I think it’s just my Aussie attitude of being unserious in serious situations — that’s just how we are, always having fun,” he added. “I think that mindset really helps with just letting go of pressure and being able to enjoy things, let things ride out, and have fun, which is how I approach this fight.”
With all due respect to those Salkilld faced thus far, this is the one everybody has been waiting to see because there is no way to downplay the significance of a potential victory over Gamrot. Mullarkey is a quality veteran, but someone that has never cracked the top-15, and while Dariush has spent the majority of his career in the rankings, he’s now 37 years old and lost four of his last five all by stoppage. Gamrot, however, remains in the thick of the chase, having bounced back from his short-notice loss to Charles Oliveira last October with a dominant win over Esteban Ribovics at UFC 327.
That established status is precisely why Salkilld targeted him in the first place.
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“I’m not cherry-picking my way up,” he said. “I want the hard fights. I heard no one has ever called out Gamrot before. I want hard fights. I’m not gonna be calling out no bums. I want guys that are gonna give me a rough time in there… He’s just someone I’ve have respect for, someone I wanna test myself against. I’ve been watching him for a long time, and he’s someone I always envisioned myself fighting when I was coming up through — even in my amateur days, coming up in the pro ranks. He’s someone I know will put a lot of respect on my name when I get through him… This really puts some eyes on me. Me getting a win over Gamrot — not only just a win, but a finish — these other lightweights are gonna know I’m the real f*****’ deal, and I’m a real dangerous man.”
That last part should have been clear from the second he iced Anshul Jubli with a straight right hand or hit Haqparast’s head with a high kick that left him laid out on the canvas last October. And it should have been reinforced when he made quick work of Mullarkey in Sydney and still got Dariush out of there inside of five minutes.
Quillan Salkilld Stops Beneil Dariush In Round One | UFC Perth
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Quillan Salkilld Stops Beneil Dariush In Round One | UFC Perth
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But if everything goes the way Salkilld anticipates, it will be cemented.
“Well, I need a performance bonus because I’ve gotten used to that now,” he said with a laugh. “That would be ideal — that’s the cherry on top — but honestly, going out there and showing all aspects of my game on the ground, on the feet, in between, and ending up with a finish, preferably towards the mid-point of the fight, that would be ideal for me, but I’m prepared for anything. I’m prepared to take him out in the first 10 seconds or the last 10 seconds.
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“We’ll see what happens. I’m going into this fight with a very open and free mind. I know I’m gonna get the job done, I know I’m gonna get my hand raised with a finish, but I just don’t know how yet. I’ve got a lot of methods of victory, and I’ve got the ability to mix things up and attack and finish the fight from any position in that cage.”
UFC Fight Night: Gamrot vs Salkilld took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 8, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!