Rivalries: Jimmy Crute

Jimmy Crute finally has his return date in sight.

The former Hex Fight Series titleholder will draw his first Ultimate Fighting Championship assignment in well over a year when he dukes it out with Rodolfo Bellato as part of the UFC 312 main card on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Crute, 28, has compiled a 4-4-1 record across his nine appearances inside the Octagon. Only one of those nine bouts reached the judges.

As Crute prepares to get back to business in the light heavyweight division, a look at a few of the rivalries that have helped shape his career to this point:

Paul Craig

Crute raised some eyebrows when he dispatched the onetime British Association of Mixed Martial Arts champion with a kimura in the third round of their UFC Fight Night 142 light heavyweight showcase on Dec. 1, 2018 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia. Craig capitulated 4:51 into Round 1, suffering the first submission defeat of his career. Crute did his best work in the first and third rounds, where he climbed to full mount, applied his ground-and-pound and threatened with submissions. Late in the third, the Australian prospect relinquished an attempted arm-triangle choke, pummeled Craig with punches and settled in side control. Crute then isolated the arm, clamped down on the kimura and forced the tap in the waning seconds of the match.

Misha Cirkunov

The Xtreme Couture mainstay dismissed the previously unbeaten Crute with a Peruvian necktie in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 158 light heavyweight attraction on Sept. 14, 2019 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia. The end came 3:38 into Round 1. Cirkunov was the aggressor from the start, landed a takedown inside the first 30 seconds, applied his ground-and-pound from the crucifix position and eventually achieved full mount. However, Crute scrambled on top after dodging an armbar and appeared to be on the verge of a hammerfist-induced finish before being swept. Cirkunov caught the rarely used choke on the transition, rolled into mount and elicited the tapout.

Modestas Bukauskas

Crute cut down the two-time Cage Warriors Fighting Championship titleholder with punches in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 180 light heavyweight feature on Oct. 17, 2020 at the Flash Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Bukauskas bowed out 2:01 into Round 1, his seven-fight winning streak snapped. Crute softened the Lithuanian with thudding leg kicks, probed for openings and threaded the proverbial needle. The 2018 Dana White’s Contender Series graduate countered a body kick from Bukauskas with a crushing right hand and swarmed with follow-up punches, a right uppercut and left hook sealing the deal before referee Anders Ohlsson could arrive on the scene. It was Crute’s eighth first-round finish as a pro.

Alonzo Menifield

The Saekson Muay Thai rep put away Crute with a guillotine choke in the second round of their UFC 290 rematch on July 8, 2023 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Operating in the shadow of the Alexander Volkanovski-Yair Rodriguez main event, Menefield pulled the plug 1:55 into Round 2 and put a stamp on their head-to-head series after settling for a majority draw with the Australian some five months earlier. The result of their second encounter was far more decisive. Menefield held his own in the clinch for much of the first round and made “The Brute” pay with sharp punches at close range. He countered Crute at the start of the middle stanza, forced him into an ill-advised takedown attempt and bit down on the guillotine. Menefield then powered into top position, cut off avenues of escape and prompted the tapout.