The Duke of Canberra reigns again as Duke Didier beats DJ Taumoepeau on Endouro Fight Series

But anyone who thought that would be enough to keep Didier out of the cage this past Saturday night needs to learn a little more about the Duke of Canberra.

Didier improved to 8-1 with a unanimous decision victory over DJ Taumoepeau [3-4] in the main event of the inaugural Endouro Fight Series event at a sold-out Hellenic Club of Canberra on Saturday night.

It marked Didier's first fight since September 2019. The heavyweight mixed martial artist's career since then has been as good as over, at least in the eyes of some doctors.

But somehow, he found the will to keep turning up. To keep walking through the door of the gym, or to keep training in isolation, solely for a night like this: headlining a promotion in his hometown once more.

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"Just in the last six weeks I've had bulged disc in my neck, I've had a torn triceps, I've had COVID. It's just good to be back doing what I love," Didier said.

"Honestly, I had a bit of rust, it's good to be back. Not my best fight, hats off to DJ, hats off to Stockade. I've been out of the cage for two and a half years, it was hard to get back in.

"For a long time there it didn't look like I was going to. I'm not slowing down, I'm not stopping. I've got another one, and another one, and another one, until the wheels fall off baby.

"Eight and one and I ain't done yet, baby."

Endouro's first show in history looms as a pivotal moment for combat sports in Canberra.

Promoters Mick Douros and Ben Edwards have sown the seeds of something special. A sold-out crowd with ticketless punters still turning up to see if they could squeeze their way through the doors says as much.

Bantamweight Patrick Hill goes down as the promotion's first winner, outpointing Sam Daniel. Jayden Ratkovic turned heads with a stunning knockout of Khoi Trang before his stablemate Lochie Brooks recorded Endouro's first submission win over Abzy Alaliwi.

Danielle Curtis returned home to beat Gillian Raymond in a thriller. Stellios Tsiatsios pipped Asif Sultani via split decision and Dan Low was too good for Alex Young.

Nick Verreynne outpointed Sekope Meke via split decision in the co-main event in a thrilling striker versus grappler match-up. The main event used the same recipe, and again it was the grappler reigning supreme as Didier beat his former teammate Taumoepeau.

"He's still got those takedowns," Taumoepeau said.

"It was a bit disappointing that I couldn't get the win for everyone who came out for me, but we learn and move on and we'll do better."

Didier's face was bloodied and bruised, but his hometown record remains intact. As the saying goes: water is wet, fire is hot, and "I still don't lose fights in Canberra".

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