Jalin Turner called a first-round stoppage over Uros Medic at UFC 266 and he did just that.
In the lead-up to his fight on the stacked pay-per-view card, Turner made his return against the undefeated Medic and many thought Turner would get finished early. Yet, it was the other way around as Turner submitted Medic in the first and he said he’s still not surprised people continue to doubt him.
“I’m used to being the underdog and people thinking I’m going to get smoked, it did kind of bug me but I used it as a motivator,” Turner said to BJPENN.com. “There is going to be a point in my career where people hate me or boo me, it’s part of the territory.”
Early on in the fight, Turner hurt Medic and then took him to the ground and quickly got his back. Once he got his back, he sunk in the choke and the fight was over, which Turner says was the perfect execution.
“It was a perfect execution, everything went great, I can’t complain at all about my performance. I was surprised at how nervous he was though,” Turner said.
With the win, Jalin Turner is now on a three-fight winning streak. The hope for Turner is to fight early next year, but he says for right now, the focus is recovering his body from the tough weight cut.
“Honestly, I do want to, I’d love to. But, I feel like my body is still recovering from the weight cut, the weight cut was hard,” Turner said. “It was difficult getting the last few pounds off, so I may take my time and see how I feel. We will assess it and go from there. It was a long camp, I’m not in a rush mentally, I do think I need a break mentally. Early January, February will be good for me.”
When he does return, Turner believes he is likely a win away from fighting a ranked opponent. However, he doesn’t care who is next as he says he won’t call anyone out until he enters the rankings, but for now, the goal is to just make money and continue to build on his winning streak.
“It’s always whoever. I fought Vicente Luque on two weeks’ notice up a weight class, I don’t give f**k who’s in front of me,” Turner said. “I am trying to take my career smarter than that, as proper fights and the proper time for fights is what I need, just having a championship mindset. Give me another win before the rankings though. I’m in debt, I need to get my money up, and then I’ll fight someone ranked,” Turner concluded.
Who would you like to see Jalin Turner fight next?