Back at UFC 313 in March, Jalin Turner (15-9) looked completely uninspired inside the octagon. He was submitted in the first round by Ignacio Bahamondes and after the event was over, he announced that he was retiring from MMA.
After months away from the sport, Turner started to get the itch to compete again and he said that he was ready to return. He was booked to return this past Saturday against veteran Edson Barboza (24-14).
Just watching Turner throughout fight week, I thought we were in for a special performance. When he’s on and motivated, he’s incredibly talented and dangerous. He showed just how dangerous he can be at UFC 323.
He dropped Barboza bad early in the first round and then just proceeded to beat him down. He blooded Barboza badly and ultimately the fight was stopped just before the halfway point and Turner put the lightweight division on notice.
What’s next after UFC 323?
Jalin Turner has been a very frustrating fighter to follow. When you see him perform like that or like he did against King Green back in 2023, he looks like a guy who could be a top contender in the lightweight division. However, he hit a really tough stretch where he went 1-4 and I just think it destroyed him mentally and hurt his confidence.
Jalin Turner looked like a confident fighter at UFC 323 and you saw what he could do. Now, in terms of his next fight, I think you could look at the guy who beat Edson Barboza back in August in Drakkar Klose. I think that would be an excellent fight, I think you could also look at a guy like Rafa Garcia who is 4-1 in his last five fights.
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