Jeremy Kimball thrilled with UFC Fight Night 112 TKO after he 'couldn't sleep at all' on fight week

OKLAHOMA CITY – Jeremy Kimball finally got his first taste of octagon victory, but it took some sleepless nights to get there.

Kimball (15-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) walked away from this past Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 112 with a massive first-round TKO over Josh Stansbury (8-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) and a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus to show for his efforts. What turned out to be a good night for the 26-year-old “Grizzly,” however, didn’t start off that way.

“I was super nervous up until the point I started hitting pads,” Kimball told reporters after the light heavyweight bout, which streamed on UFC Fight Pass from Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Okla. “Then I realized how much power was there tonight. Then I knew I was on, and it was going to be a fun night for me.”

This wasn’t Kimball’s first quick night in the octagon, but it was the first successful one. Back in January, on a short-notice UFC on FOX 23 encounter with Marcos Rogerio de Lima, the light heavyweight was the one on the unfortunate end of a first-round TKO.

Coming off a four-fight streak into his losing UFC debut, Kimball makes no secret of just how tough of a pill that was to swallow.

“I took it hard,” Kimball said. “All the way up to this point. I was nervous all week. I couldn’t sleep at all. I hate losing. So losing on the biggest stage really sucked. So I really wanted this one.”

In any case, there were at least some lessons learned in the setback.

“In my last fight, I didn’t pull the trigger with my punches,” Kimball said. “And my dad always tells me, ‘If you don’t pull the trigger, you can’t win.’ Stansbury caught me early, and I just decided at that point to pull the trigger. And that’s what happened.”

To hear more from Kimball, check out the video above.

And for complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 112, check out the UFC Events section of the site.