A battle between two light heavyweight dark horses got off to an exciting start at UFC on Fuel TV 7 on Saturday in London.
Ryan Jimmo hadn’t lost since the very first fight of his career in 2007. James Te Huna had only lost once – to top contender Alexander Gustafsson – in his last 10 bouts.
Neither man wanted to get knocked a step down the ladder to the title.
Jimmo scored first, nearly finishing the fight in the opening round, although not nearly as quickly as his seven-second debut knockout of Anthony Perosh at UFC 149.
He did drop Te Huna with a lead-leg head kick in the opening moments of the fight and followed him to the mat, bludgeoning him with ground and pound for the majority of the opening stanza.
Te Huna answered in round two, scoring a big takedown that planted Jimmo on his back. Te Huna kept Jimmo on the mat for the remainder of the round, landing some heavy elbows and punches, trying to take back what he lost in the first round.
The closing round didn’t have the same fireworks as the first two, but Te Huna managed another takedown and finished with a strong dose of ground and pound that swayed the judges in his favor for a unanimous decision.
Since losing to Gustafsson, Te Huna has now won four consecutive bouts and he’s ready to keep moving up the ranks, stepping up the light heavyweight ladder.
“With this win,” said Te Huna after the fight, “hopefully I’ll get a Top 10 guy and test my skills again.”