Judge’s scorecards? They won’t be needed at UFC Vegas 50 this weekend, says Kamuela Kirk.
After grinding on the regional scene for years and a failed appearance on Dana White’s Contender Series, Kirk (11-4) made his UFC debut last June on short notice. He defeated Makwan Amirkhani via a very close unanimous decision.
“It felt great. It’s been a grind, a lot of ups and a lot of downs,” Kirk told Cageside Press in an exclusive interview. “It just felt good to finally get into the show that I’ve wanted to fight in since I was a kid, and then to win my UFC debut. Just the whole experience was surreal, but at the same time, it wasn’t. The fan in me was like, ‘dude!’ because I’m a huge MMA fan on top of being a fighter. But then the fighter in me was like; you belong here, you’ve worked your ass off, let’s go take of business.”
“The Jawiian” returns for his second UFC fight at UFC Vegas 50. He faces Damon Jackson, and between the two of them, they have nearly 30 finishes. Kirk says the judges will not be needed again.
“I love the match-up. Damon is a tough guy; I believe he has 17 finishes, 17 of 19 wins are by finish, and 14 of those are by submission. Those are the kind of guys I like to fight. I want to fight someone that goes out there and looks for the finish. As much as I am looking for the finish,” Kirk said.
“Between the two of us, we have 28 finishes. I don’t think the judges are going to need to stick around for this fight; they won’t be needed. He’s going in there with the same mentality as me— to finish the fight.”
Watch the rest of our interview with Kamuela Kirk above. Kirk vs. Jackson goes down Saturday at UFC Vegas 50 (UFC Fight Night 203), airing live on ESPN+ in the U.S.
