India's Anshul Jubli defeated Indonesia's Jeka Saragih in the lightweight division via knockout, Sunday, to script history. Following his estatic win over Jeka Saragih at the UFC Apex, Uttarkashi-born Anshul became only second MMA fighter from India to bag a contract with UFC -- one of the most prominent promoters in martial arts. Indian-born Bharat Khandare is the first-ever martial artist from the country to bag a UFC contract with a win in Vegas.
Anshul Jubli entered the match against Jeka Saragih as an underdog but dominated the proceedings in both the rounds. As the match began, Anshul produced a flurry of vicious punches, showed great reflexes to gain command over his opponent in the opening round itself.
In the second round, Anshul executed the same approach from the 1st round, sticking to his plan of keeping safe distance, and hurt his opponent on the ground. He eventually brought the fight to an end by knocking out Saragih in the second round in just 3:44 seconds.
"Namaste UFC....we have arrived! INDIA IS HERE! Captain India is here. We have arrived and we are not stopping here, we are going all the way to the top. See, what we have just done. First-ever road to UFC lightweight winner from the Himalayas of Uttrakhand, from the great country India," he said after the win.
"The game plan was to keep the distance, hurt him in the ground and dominate. And that's exactly what we've done, we've dominated this fight, and we've proved why we are here, why Indian fighters deserve to win the UFC, and I'm gonna keep evolving, keep grinding, and my plan is to be one of the best in the world, and I will do whatever it needs to be done," said Jubli to the broadcasters.
"It is very important. Our Indian MMA community has really worked hard to send a boy into this promotion (UFC) to represent India. They have done a great job and I'm gonna make them proud," Anshul added.