LAS VEGAS – Bubba Jenkins beat Chris Wade with a unanimous decision Friday on the main card at 2023 PFL 1 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Jenkins, the 2022 featherweight season runner-up who got his 2023 campaign started with 3 points.
Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade
Result: Bubba Jenkins def. Chris Wade via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Updated records: Jenkins (20-6), Wade (22-9)
Key stat: More than two-thirds of the fight was spent on the canvas, and Jenkins used top control to dictate things for most of that time.
Jenkins on the fight’s key moment
Bubba Jenkins vs. Chris Wade
“It feels amazing. Victory Lane is where we live. I’m driving in my coupe down the street with my boys, so Victory Lane is how we’re doing it. It would’ve been more special had I been the first person to stop him. I feel like that knee that landed was a clean knee. It hurt him. It stopped the fight. So technically, I should have a quick 6 (points). We got the win, so I’m happy. I’m not going to beat a dead horse. I got the ‘dub’ and it’s three (rounds) to three (rounds between us). But me and him, he’s in the water, ain’t he? Damn. I knew he was in the water. It ain’t too long before that alligator catches him.”
Jenkins on the brief stoppage from his knee
Chris Wade
“I don’t want to say on purpose, but he was milking it for sure. I know the knee hurt. I landed it. I felt it on his sternum. Quick six was in my thinking, but he got to recover from it (because) the referee stopped it thinking it was (an illegal) knee. I had him in the front headlock, so I knew that I pulled his head up and opened his chest up for the knee. But we’ll take it. … There’s nothing you can do about it. Referee made a call. It was the wrong call and replay corrected it, so I’m glad we got it the right way.”
Jenkins on what he wants next
“Anybody can get it. Whoever’s got a belt. (They’ve) got to get beat this year, anyway. I need that belt, so whoever’s got it can come get this away.”
To hear more from Jenkins, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2023, Week 1.