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Anshul Jubli, an Indian mixed martial artist, defeated Indonesian Jeka Saragih in the Road to UFC finals and won a historic lightweight UFC contract on Sunday at the UFC Apex in Nevada.
With his victory in Vegas, the fighter from Delhi became only the second Indian-born fighter after Bharat Khandare to secure a UFC deal.
Jubli was the underdog going into the bout, but he fired blows and severely injured his opponent, ultimately winning by KO in the second round.
Anshul landed early punches and attempted to establish his authority in the high-octane two-round fight. The Indian immediately took the attack on his opponent by grappling with him and throwing punches in his face as Jeka tried to make fun of him by making funny faces early in the first round. Jeka made numerous attempts to escape that situation, but none of them were successful.
In the second, Jeka found himself fighting to escape the grip after hitting early punches, as Anshul got an advantage over him.
This time, Anshul put Jeka to the ground using his knees before using the same technique to deliver routine blows. The contest had to be stopped by the referee, and Anshul was declared the winner.
“The game plan was to keep the distance, hurt him in the ground and dominate. And that’s exactly what we’ve done, we’ve dominated this fight, and we’ve proved why we are here, why Indian fighters deserve to win the UFC, and I’m gonna keep evolving, keep grinding,” said Jubli to the broadcasters.
“It is very important. Our Indian MMA community has really worked hard to send a boy into this promotion (UFC) to represent India. They have done a great job and I’m gonna make them proud,” Anshul added.
Anshul Jubli has joined hands with Paradigm Sports management, the same agency that represents two of the finest UFC athletes, Conor McGregor and Israel Adesanya.