Jack Jenkins celebrates after his win over Freddy Emiliano Linares.
Australian Jack Jenkins has secured a contract with the UFC, with a dominant TKO win over Ecuador’s Freddy Emiliano Linares in Las Vegas.
Jenkins conceded that the pressure of the Contender Series – where you don’t just have to win, but win impressively, to secure a UFC deal – possibly got to him.
“I was just a bit overwhelmed – you get the finish … on paper, in any other scenario you go ‘wow, what a performance’, but with the pressure that comes with being in the Apex for the Contenders you go ‘f–k, was that enough?’,” he said.
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The Victorian was made to sweat a little bit by UFC boss Dana White, who announces at the end of the program which winners are going to receive contracts for the sport’s top promotion.
“My thing with Jack Jenkins tonight he looked like a one-trick pony. He kept going to the ground, he absolutely dominated, but the boys are telling me he’s actually a great kickboxer – I didn’t see any of that tonight,” White said.
“Jimmy Crute thinks he’s going to be a world champion, I saw him post that – he’s on a seven-fight win streak, he did get the finish tonight, it’s the last show of the year, on a night where I may not have taken him, I’m definitely taking him tonight – show me some kickboxing!”
An ecstatic Jenkins screamed with joy as he walked over to accept.
“I was pretty nervous when I went out the back – I agreed with Dana’s criticisms completely, it was a little bit of a one-trick night tonight, I think maybe the moment got the better of me a bit, but I said all week this was just the start for me,” he said.
“I did what I needed to do to get the start and now I’m really going to ramp it up, and start to show everybody what I can do.”
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