PERTH, Australia – Loma Lookboonmee beat Elise Reed with a second-round submission Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 284 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
Take a look inside the fight with Lookboonmee, who picked up the first submission win of her career.
Loma Lookboonmee vs. Elise Reed
Result: Loma Lookboonmee def. Elise Reed via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 0:44
Updated records: Lookboonmee (8-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC), Reed (6-3 MMA, 2-3 UFC)
Key stat: Lookboonmee was involved of her first finish of any kind in more than four years. She came into UFC 284 with seven straight decisions, win or loss.
Lookboonmee on the fight's key moment
“After the first round, I went and asked my coroners, ‘Did I lose that round?’ My coach told me that it was a close round and we don’t know what the judges were thinking. But for me, I was worried that I lost. She had control for about a minute and a half, two minutes. I listened to my corner.
“George told me to pick my shots, to use my head. … So I went out there in Round 2 listening to what my corner told me, but I also had a fire inside of me and a drive to really be dominant this round. So when the opportunity came, I was able to to do exactly what I set out to do.”
Lookboonmee on her first submission win
“I’m so happy. This is my first submission win as a professional MMA fighter. To be honest, I doubted myself a little bit that I was going to be able to pull this off, and when I finally did, I was so happy.
“Early in my career, I lost by submission and I’ve never really liked jiu-jitsu. It’s never been my favorite part of training. But I realized if I want to be the best, I can’t run away from this. So I just really focused a lot on getting better and putting myself in a position where I can submit my opponent.
“I’m so excited, and I’m extremely excited, too, that my first professional submission win happened here in the UFC. So many people like to say I can only win a fight standing. I can only win a fight standing. So it felt so good to show people what I can do. I’m so unbelievably proud of myself.”
Lookboonmee on what she wants next
“My goal this year is to remain undefeated for this year and to make my way into the top 15.”
To hear more from Lookboonmee, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
