England’s “Black Country Banger” Jai Herbert made the trip to Abu Dhabi for UFC on ABC 7 on Saturday, taking on Rolando Bedoya in a lightweight match-up early on the preliminary card.
UFC Abu Dhabi offered Herbert a chance to bounce back from a loss to Fares Ziam last July, making it a year between fights for the Brit.
Ninety seconds in, and Herbert drew first blood, connecting with a right hand that sent Bedoya to the mat. Bedoya recovered, but had clearly been put on notice. Herbert would go back to that right hand again, and add a knee up the middle, circling outside with Bedoya finally grabbing on and stalling the action. Herbert reversed, only for Bedoya to reverse again before they broke and moved back to the center of the cage.
Herbert continued to show some slick striking in round two, and despite Bedoya tying things up, the action was stalled when he landed an errant knee roughly two minutes into the frame, the ref warning him twice not to receive any coaching during the ensuing time out. Herbert didn’t take much time, and back underway, worked his jab to set up low kicks and the right hand that had served him so well through half the fight. A high kick from Herbert just missed; Bedoya landed an outside leg kick moments later, but was trailing in the round.
In the final 90 seconds of round two, Bedoya picked up the pace, landing a right hand of his own and drawing Herbert into a few brief, explosive flurries of offense.
Round three saw Bedoya take the fight to the fence early, but he couldn’t pin Herbert down. Instead, Herbert went back to circling and showing smart shot selection. His jab and front kicks were both connecting. Herbert however was beginning to show some damage on the fact, perhaps accrued starting during those brief exchanges towards the end of the second. As the third wore down, Bedoya had arguably crept back into the fight, but Herbert appeared to have the edge in volume. Both men raised their arms in victory at the final horn, but only one would walk away the winner, that being Jai Herbert.
Official Result: Jai Herbert def. Rolando Bedoya by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
