Luke Jumeau says fighting in his home country of New Zealand helped wash away Octagon jitters.
This past Saturday night (June 10), Jumeau took on Dominique Steele on the preliminary portion of UFC Fight Night 110. “The Jedi” took a unanimous decision victory. It was his UFC debut.
Jumeau told MMAJunkie.com that seeing his family, friends and fans enabled him to calm down and handle business:
“(It) got me through my jitters, picked me up in spots where I needed it. It was absolutely amazing. Now I’m just happy that I got the W for them. To do this at home, with the screaming crowd, all for me – I felt I was the main event. Amazing.”
Going into the bout, Jumeau admitted that he thought Steele’s strength would exceed what he got on fight night.
“He wasn’t as strong as I thought he was going to be. He wasn’t as explosive as I thought he was going to be. I was better in every way than I sort of held him. I held him higher than I should have. I put on – not a real high expectation on him. I knew I was going to go in there and do well. But I sort of held him a little bit.”
