VIDEO: Jeka Saragih gets a win over Pawan Maan of India at Road to UFC

09 June 2022

Indian MMA fighter Pawan Maan suffered a loss in the opening round of the Road to UFC tournament. One of the most experienced names from the Indian MMA circuit, Pawan went up against Jeka Saragih of Indonesia at the event in the lightweight bracket. The fight started with Pawan trying to push Jeka against the cage only to see the Indonesian getting takedown. Jeka worked from the top once he got the takedown and pushed for an Americana which was fended off by Pawan. The Indian was in the defense mode throughout the first round. 

Pawan went for the takedown in the opening seconds of the second round but Jeka once again reversed the pressure and took down the Indian. The referee took a point off Pawan Maan for an elbow to the back of the head. This break reset the fight to the standing position where the action resumed. The remaining part of the round saw both fighters looking for an opportunity without landing anything major. Pawan landed some huge shots in the opening minutea of the third round. Jeka managed to weather the punches and landed a spinning back fist out of nowhere to secure a third-round TKO win. 

This was the first fight for Pawan at Lightweight since 2013. Prior to fighting at Road to UFC, Pawan competed in Matrix Fight Night and was a two-division champion in the Super Fight League as well. He was also the captain of a franchise in the Super Boxing League.

As for Jeka, he improves his professional record to 12-2 with the win and also improves his winning streak to four fights. He was on an impressive run in One Pride MMA before testing the waters in the Road to UFC event. 

Elsewhere, India’s Anshul Jubli progressed into the next round of the Road to UFC event after his opponent Sho Patrick Usami was removed from the bout due to weight management issues.

Fighting out of Crosstrain Fight Club in Delhi under Siddharth Singh, Anshul made weight for the fight as he came to the scale at 155.5 LBS. He was scheduled to fight Usami at Road to UFC Episode 3 on 10 June 2022 but now, he will have to wait for the semi-finals to complete.

ALSO READ | Anshul Jubli of India progresses into next round of Road to UFC Tournament

He is expected to fight the winner of Asikeerbai Jinensibieke (China) vs. Kim KyeongPyo (South Korea) in the semi-final showdown. The semifinals are scheduled to take place later this year, and the finals will be on the prelims of a UFC Fight Night. At that event, each of the four divisions' winners will be awarded a UFC contract.

What do you think of its performance of Pawan? Let us know in the comments below

This is how you make an impression!????

When you all thought he was coasting, Jeka Saragih does a spinning back fist KO! #RoadToUFC pic.twitter.com/MCiFMYQMtP

— UFC_Asia (@UFC_Asia) June 9, 2022