Las Vegas, NV – UFC lightweight Jalin Turner finally got a shot at a ranked opponent and he took full advantage as he finished Brad Riddell at UFC 276 on Saturday night.
The fight lasted less than a minute forcing Riddell to tap to a guillotine choke.
“What more would you want from that? It means a lot. You guys keep saying oh it’s going to be fight of the night, it’s going to be a crazy fight, and then I go out there and finish them,” Turner told Cageside Press along with other media at his post-fight scrum.
The win extends Turner’s win streak to 5 in a very competitive lightweight division.
“All it means is I’m just going to be a guy with a number next to his name. I’m soaking it in as it comes, but I just feel like it was going to be inevitable regardless,” Turner said.
Even with the win at UFC 276, and the inevitability of having a ranking come Tuesday, Turner remained humble, but left a bit of wiggle room to when he’ll be comfortable calling out names.
“Nah I ain’t looking for nobody right now, but you’ll start seeing some showmanship out of me when I start cracking the top 5. Then i’ll sell a few tickets,” said Turner.
Riddell came into the fight with a large part of his team on the card itself with City Kickboxing’s two title holders defending their belts on the main card. That turned into a bit of what some may have felt was disrespect towards Turner.
“Man, it is what it is. That’s his team they’re going to ride for their teammate. No skin off my nose. I told them what I was going to do, I’m about to halt all that momentum. It is what it is, no ill will, I’m still a big Izzy fan. I’ve been watching Izzy since before I got in the UFC,” he said.
So who’s next for “The Tarantula”? Everybody.
“Everybody ahead of me is on my radar, man. Everybody’s been on my radar. I’m going to end up crossing paths with all these guys. That’s why I got my coach in my corner. He’s my secret weapon. He’s a grappling expert. That’s why he’s on my team,” Turner said.
“He’s helping me get ready for all these guys. I know it’s just grappler’s row after this. Everybody’s just going to be trying to hump my leg and take me down. I’m prepared for it. I’m prepared for it all.”
Watch the full UFC 276 post-fight press conference with Jalin Turner above.
