Australian featherweight Jack Jenkins and Brazil’s Gabriel Santos faced off in the featured prelim at UFC 312 on Saturday, with both fighters looking to put together a second straight win.
Jenkins had soundly defeated Herbert Burns in his last outing, while Santos was coming off his first UFC victory over China’s Yi Zha.
The first round started with both fighters using the open stance match-up to throw leg and body kicks. Jenkins then switched targets and fired a head kick that dropped his opponent. The Australian followed him to the ground and started landing ground and pound, but Santos grabbed a triangle out of nowhere. Jenkins stayed calm, and got out. The Brazilian wall walked his way back to the feet and got a takedown in the last minute. He got to side control and held top position until the buzzer.
Santos opened the second round with a head kick that almost caight Jenkins by surprise. Santos tried a takedown that Jenkins successfully defended. Both fighters started throwing with bad intentions and landed big punches on each other. Jenkins shot a takedown from way out of range that Santos easily defended. That failed takedown attempted pushed both fighters to a clinch along the fence. Santos used his double under-hooks to get a takedown, landing in Jenkins’ guard. He tried to pass Jenkins’ guard, but failed to advance position. Despite what the referee’s warning would have you believe, “Mosquitinho” made the most of his top position to land brutal elbows for the entire second half of the round.
As round three started, Santos immediately wobbled Jenkins thanks to a massive front kick to the face and used that opportunity to hop on his back. Santos then surgically worked his way to a rear-naked choke that forced a reluctant tap out of the crowd favourite.
After losing his first two UFC fights, the fighter out of Brazil earned his second straight victory in the promotion. The Australian, moves to 3-2 in the UFC and will look to bounce back from this defeat.
Official Result: Gabriel Santos def. Jack Jenkins by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 3, 2:06
