Kiwi fighter Luke Jumeau lost a unanimous decision to to Shinsho Anzai earlier today in a hard-fought welterweight contest.
The bout was on the preliminary portion of today’s UFC Fight night 117 event that took place at the famed Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
It was Anzai’s first bout in over two-years, but he showed no ring rust early landing a big right hand and strikes inside the clinch. Jumeau finished strongly but by the end of the first-round, the 29-year-old had noticeable damage near his right eye though round was closely contested.
In the second-round, Jumeau gave up a pair of takedowns, in particular one midway through the round that allowed Anzai to control a large portion. Jumeau worked back to his feet in the final seconds and stunned his opponent with an uppercut.
Jumeau had his strongest round in the third, successfully defending takedown attempts but couldn’t quite find that decisive strike to turn the tide squarely in his favour. Two judges scored the bout 29-28 to Anzai with the other unanimously 30-27.
Aznai takes his record to 10-2 (UFC 2-1), while Jumeau drops to 12-4 (UFC 1-1).
The main event had a spetacular finish as light-heavyweight Ovince Saint Preux put the lights out on the Octagon comeback of Yushin Okami. Saint Preux locked up the rarely seen Von Flue choke to put his opponent to sleep only 1:50 into the fight.
Main Card:
- Ovince Saint Preux def. Yushin Okami via Technical Submission (Von Flue Choke), Rd 1, 1:50
- Jessica Andrade def. Claudia Gadelha via Decision (Unanimous)
- Dong Hyun Kim def. Takanori Gomi via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 1:30
- Gokhan Saki def. Henrique da Silva via KO (Punch), Rd 1, 4:45
- Teruto Ishihara def. Rolando Dy via Decision (Unanimous)
- Jussie Formiga def. Ulka Sasaki via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Rd 1, 4:30
Preliminary Card:
- Keita Nakamura def. Alex Morono via Decision (Split)
- Syuri Kondo def. Chan-Mi Jeon via Decision (Split)
- Shinsho Anzai def. Luke Jumeau (New Zealand) via Decision (Unanimous)
- Daichi Abe def. Hyun Gyu Lim via Decision (Unanimous)
