Having split his previous two bouts in 2020, welterweight Jason Witt was looking to close out his year in strong fashion when he faced Cole Williams at UFC Fight Night in October. Thankfully for Witt, he was able to deliver.
Part way through round two, Witt submitted Williams, going above .500 for the year and picking up his first UFC win in the process.
“We heard through the grapevine that (Williams) didn’t have a lot of training partners to put a lot of work in, and missed weight obviously,” Witt told MMAWeekly.com. “We changed the game plan when he missed weight.
“We changed the game plan to shoot in real quick. I feel like I executed the game plan pretty well considering I shot two takedowns and got them both, got him on the ground and cut him up and submitted him in the second round. I pretty much pitched a shutout and it feels good to get a win in the UFC.”
For Witt, getting his first UFC win was both a relief and something with which he is using to push himself.
“It’s great to get that win out of the way and to have that feeling of the accomplishment of something you’ve worked for, for so long,” said Witt. “It definitely feels fantastic, but it’s also a motivator for me.
“I came out of that fight and wanted to go back and work on getting better. I know the competition is only going to get harder, so there’s a lot I really want to work on and level up so the next time I’m ready.”
This Saturday in Las Vegas, Witt (18-6) will look to pick up his second straight win when he faces Matthew Semelsberger (7-2) in a preliminary welterweight bout at UFC Vegas 21: Edwards vs. Muhammad.
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“Matt’s a good fighter,” Witt said. “He’s tall. He’s got that Thai style, that stand-up style, so we haven’t seen a lot of wrestling out of him. Once in a while he uses Jiu-Jitsu, so it’s hard to get a sense of what he can do in that aspect.
“I think it’s going to be a tough fight, but I think I’m going to come through. I can (envision) grappling him, wearing him down, taking away some of his power and athleticism, then TKOing him in the second round.”
While he was able to get in three fights in 2020, Witt would like to either match or exceed that number in 2021.
“I definitely enjoy setting goals,” said Witt. “I always set a couple goals for the year. Last year, I set three and I accomplished all of those. So in 2021, I want to fight three or four times in the UFC.
“I always set goals: career goals, personal goals, relationship goals. There’s always accomplishments I want to do.”