Jack Jenkins beat Jamall Emmers with a split decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC on ABC 5 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Take a look inside the fight with Jenkins, who won for the ninth straight time.
Jamall Emmers vs. Jack Jenkins
Result: Jack Jenkins def. Jamall Emmers via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Jenkins (12-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), Emmers (19-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC)
Key stats: Emmers won the overall striking battle and had nearly a full round of control time compared to just 15 seconds for Jenkins.
Jenkins on the fight's key moment
“He landed a couple of really crisp 1-2s. He landed one big right hook – maybe it was a left hook – that came straight down the pipe, which was a really good shot. But I hit him with a really nice check hook right at the start of the third round where he took a big step in and threw that right hand, and I kind of stepped off and cracked him with the check hook and he stopped for a second. He looked at me. He said, ‘That was a good shot.’ I was like, ‘All right – respect. Thanks.'”
Jenkins on the split decision
“(I was) not super confident, but I thought I did enough in the first two, especially at the end of each round, to get it done. I was open about the fact that Jamal going to be the best guy I’d ever fought. I prepared like that, and then I fought like that. I gave him his respect and he gave me mine, and I felt like I just did a little bit more damage. That was the way the fight panned out.”
Jenkins on what he wants next
“I want to fight Nate Landwehr – ‘Nate the Train’ – in Sydney. He just briefly missed out on a top 15 spot against Dan Ige, who I don’t think is a top 15 guy. I think Dan Ige is a top five guy, and he just got edged out in a decision there. ‘Nate the Train,’ come down to Sydney. We’ll open the main card or close the prelims – winner gets spot No. 15 in the rankings.”
To hear more from Jenkins, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ABC 5.
