FILIPINO pride Jenel Lausa overcame the pressure to take the spotlight when he outclassed Chinese fighter Yao Zhikui in his debut match in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night 101 on Sunday at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia.
The 28-year-old former professional boxer dominated the entire three-round flyweight bout with the three judges all scoring in favor of the Iloilo native, 30-27. His victory ended the dry spell for Filipino fighter inside the octagon with the last local bet had the upperhand in 2014.
“I want to thank all of my family, my wife and son, my team, my fans, everyone who has always supported me in the Philippines and around the world, I am especially thankful to God for this blessing,” Lausa said after the match.
“This win is going to be the first of many and I hope to get more blessings, more fights and, hopefully, I will eventually get to the belt,” he added.
Lausa improved to seven wins and two losses. Zhikui, on the other hand, fell to 2-5 win-loss slate.
The Pacific Xtreme Combat flyweight champion landed hard punches from round one, clearly schooling his Chinese opponent with solid combinations with one of his head kick sneaking perfectly to Zhikui’s face in the second round that dropped him to the mat.
Lausa continued to impress the judges in the final frame with explosive hooks and an even greater footwork that evaded most of Zhikui’s attempts to steal the match.
Their match was originally scheduled in UFC Fight Night Manila at the Mall of Asia Arena, only to be postponed after headline fighter BJ Penn suffered an injury during his training camp in preparations for his matchup with Ricardo Lamas.