This past Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Austin, we saw a big time matchup in the lightweight division. Entertaining top fifteen contenders went to battle as “King” Bobby Green (31-15-1) took on Jalin Turner (14-7).
Originally, Dan Hooker was supposed to face off against Bobby Green. However, less than two weeks’ out, Hooker broke his arm and Turner stepped in. I was a little nervous for Jalin Turner taking this fight because of the weight cut. Lightweight is a struggle for Turner with a full camp, but he was being asked to make the weight on short notice.
He missed weight on his initial attempt on Friday before the fight, but made weight on the second attempt. Because of that and the lack of a full camp, I wondered what kind of condition he’d be in to take on a guy like Green. Turns out, he didn’t need much cardio at all.
Turner came out throwing heat in the first round and you could tell that the length and speed was bothering Green. Then, Turner landed a massive 1-2 and Green’s legs went to jell-o. One more right to the temple and down went Green. Turner followed up with a bunch of shots and got the knockout win at UFC Austin.
What’s next after UFC Austin?
This was such a huge win for Jalin Turner on so many levels. Entering this year, he had won five straight and looked like he was going to rise towards title contention. Then, he lost back-to-back split decisions against Mateusz Gamrot and Dan Hooker. He also missed weight for the fight against Hooker.
His stock took a huge hit with those two losses and the weight miss. However, if you want to earn good favor with the UFC, you take a fight like this and step up for the promotion. Turner stepped up for them and he delivered the biggest performance of his career.
So, what’s next for him after that knockout win? Well, if Rafael Fiziev wasn’t hurt, that would be a great matchup. Renato Moicano has expressed his desire to fight Turner and I do think that would be a great fight. Beneil Dariush could potentially be an option after his loss in the main event. Drew Dober could even be a name to watch. Someone in the rankings but isn’t in that top five should work for Jalin Turner’s next bout.