One of five newcomers on the UFC 284 card in Perth, Australia on Saturday, Jack Jenkins looked to build on a seven-fight win streak against “Shameless” Don Shainis.
Having picked up a UFC deal on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, Jenkins was fighting at home for his debut.
The crowd gave Jenkins, the first Australian to make the walk on the night, quite the welcome.
Shainis went right into Jenkins as the action got underway, but Jenkins landed a lot of knees to the body. Shainis was still able to push him against the cage but kneed Jenkins to the groin and lost his position. Shainis went right in on a deep single-leg but Jenkins defended. A beautiful jab to a left hook to a leg kick was landed by Jenkins. Then another hard outside leg kick buckled Shainis for a second. Jenkins landed a few more lead leg kicks which were nasty. The round ended with some added-on jabs and leg kicks. A great round from Jenkins with his ability to mix it up.
Round two, Shainis wasn’t backing down. He was throwing some good combinations of his own. When he started to get some momentum he hit Jenkins in the groin again. That halted that momentum. When they started back they clinched up and Jenkins threw Shainis to his back. On top, Jenkins was controlling for a bit and even got the back momentarily.
Shainis eventually got back to his feet. A leg kick, hook to the body and the left hook all landed by Jenkins. Out of nowhere Shainis tripped Jenkins down and mounted him right away. He landed a good elbow but Jenkins scrambled back up and got a takedown of his own. He then quickly took the back, but Shainis turned in towards his opponent right at the bell.
Shainis went for a takedown to start the final round but Jenkins defended and took the back. Shainis proved to be game in bad positions and scrambled back to his feet. He took a few knees on the way up and Jenkins got another takedown. From the bottom, Shainis had in a deep kimura but didn’t have the position. Jenkins ended up mounting Shainis but only briefly. Shainis got back to his feet but ate a barrage of right hands. To close the fight Jenkins landed a nice front kick to the face.
This one went to the scorecards, with Jenkins earning a hard-fought decision win with a solid performance.
Official Result: Jack Jenkins def. Don Shainis by unanimous decision (30-27, 30, 27, 29-28)
