SALT LAKE CITY – Jake Matthews beat Darrius Flowers with a second-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 291 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Take a look inside the fight with Matthews, whose most recent two wins are by stoppage after a stretch of three straight by decision.
Darrius Flowers vs. Jake Matthews
Result: Jake Matthews def. Darrius Flowers via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:37
Updated records: Matthews (19-6 MMA, 12-6 UFC) def. Darrius Flowers (12-6-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC)
Key stats: Matthews outstruck Flowers 71041 before he landed the fight-ending choke.
Matthews on the fight's key moment
“I started second guessing myself, and then the crowd started booing. I was like, ‘Man, I love Salt Lake (City) – I don’t want the fans here to hate me. But I don’t think they were booing me at the end of the day. I was told that it was low, but then people that were watching from the outside said it was on the belt of the shorts, which is not necessarily low. But who knows. He’s a martial artist. I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, believe that we’re all honest people. Maybe it caught his shorts. Maybe it pulled his cup up. So if it was low, I do apologize and I’ll just keep it more consistent next time.”
Matthews on the late opponent change
“It was just a big rush: Watch all his fights. And just for anyone who’s not sure, I believe it’s harder for the fighter who was already going to fight than the person who stepped up last minute, because we have to completely change good habits that we’ve made in seven or eight weeks of training. I’d love it if they called me up and said, ‘Fight in a week.’ I would absolutely love that: Nothing to lose, go in first round, try and swing and take the head off – which is what Darius did. We just had to weather the early storm and wait for him to wear out and get the finish.”
Matthews on what he wants next
“In my mind, it was this fight and then potentially Abu Dhabi. I love Australia, but I think I’ve watched one UFC live in my life, so it’d actually be good to go and relax and watch one, and being in Sydney would be a great one to go to. There are so many Aussie UFC fighters now. The first half of a decade of my career was pretty much all on Australian cards. It comes to mind when Sean Shelby said if you want big fights, big opponents, you have to go overseas. You can keep fighting in Australia, but eventually we’re not going to be able to get these ranked guys to you – you’ve got to go to them. When I say I’m not fussed if I fight in Australia or not, that’s the reason why.
“Kevin Holland: He called me out at weigh-ins. I called him out a long time ago. I think it was when my opponent pulled out and I was in Vegas, and I was just calling everyone out. And then he goes, ‘Jake, did you call me out?’ I go, ‘Yeah.’ He goes, ‘We’re fighting in two weeks.’ I’m like, ‘Relax man. We’ll fight.’ But let’s win these fights first. If he did mean that, then we could tear that up. That’d be a fun fight. I’ve wanted that for a long time.”
To hear more from Matthews, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 291.
