By Iestyn Samuel
Welsh UFC fighters, Swansea’s Brett Johns and Abertillery’s Jack Marshman, collected hard fought wins at Glasgow’s Fight Night 113 last weekend.
Marshman faced Ryan Janes, a Canadian whose black belt in Brazilian ju-jitsu promised a fascinating encounter due to Marshman’s preference to box on his feet.
Marshman’s fate was in the judges’ hands after a gruelling three rounds could not separate the two, where all three judges scored the contest 29-28 in the Welshman’s favour.
Marshman started very brightly, immediately rushing into the centre of the Octagon with confidence. He then began to live up to his ‘Hammer’ nickname, delivering heavy punches in a similar manner to his first UFC contest against Swede Magnus Cedenblad.
His powerful punching combinations won him the acclaimed ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus on that occasion, but Janes would not be floored.
Although Janes improved towards the end of the contest, he surprisingly didn’t try to ground Marshman on many occasions. When against the fence, Marshman grappled effectively, stopping Janes from attempting his favoured submission moves.
This undoubtedly impressed the judges, who will also have awarded points based on Marshman’s octagon control, which was generally dominant throughout.
The third round was an intense one, with both fighters attempting technical knockout wins, throwing heavy, tired punches.
Marshman will have been relieved when the contest came to an end, having seemed to struggle to get within reach of his opponent as the fight went on.
He was evidently the more tired of the two by the end of the bout, but his high energy output in the first round was the significant element to the win.
The Tillery Combat product was ultimately impressive, picking up his second win out of three fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
His heavy punching clearly makes him a fan favourite on the UFC circuit. His increasing reputation was proven as his bout featured highly on the evening’s card, evading the preliminary tag.
Marshman will now surely look to build on his growing attraction by competing on at least one more occasion by the end of 2017, perhaps in a hotly anticipated fight against fellow Welshman John Phillips.
Johns beat American Albert Morales in their bantamweight fight on the preliminary card.