Anshul Jubli becomes first Indian fighter to get a win at a UFC cage.

Road to UFC

Venue: Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi.

It’s a good day for combat sports fans in India with one of its finest MMA fighters securing a hard earned win in a UFC cage.

Anshul was one of the contenders in the road to UFC event organised by the UFC. His bout in the quarter finals had to be cancelled due to his opponent missing weight. He got a bye and moved on to the semi final. 
In the semi final, Anshul would face one of Korea’s best, Kim Kyung Pyo. Kim made short work of his opponent in the quarter final and was raring to go. On paper Kim was a more experienced fighter compared to Anshul. There was no trash talk involved between the two, but Kim was a favourite leading up to the fight.

Fight summary.

The fight lasted for 3 rounds. Anshul stood face to face with Kim in the cage and shadowed him throughout the entire fight. There was a heavy striking exchange right from the get go. Anshul fared well in these exchanges and his work was showing its result from the first round itself. Throughout the fight, Kim was trying to mix his game, but it was matched by Anshul every time and even dropped Kim a few times. Kim secured a few takedowns but Anshul defended each of them well and Kim couldn’t control him on the ground. 

After the second round, Anshul seemed to have run out of steam but his coaches rallied him. When the third round came, he stood back up and got right back to where he left. At the end of the fight, both fighters seemed to have land an equal number of shots throughout the fight. But the difference maker were the knockdowns which Anshul got. When the announcer gave the judges results, Anshul was declared the victor.