All eyes still on improving Bellator MMA featherweight Bubba Jenkins
ANAHEIM, California — Bellator MMA featherweight Bubba Jenkins knew his mixed martial arts career wasn’t always going to be as easy as his first three professional fights.
In fact, very few things in life are that easy.
The 2011 NCAA Division I national champion wrestler from Arizona State submitted his first three opponents on the regional circuit in the first half of the first round.
Jenkins had already been tagged for stardom from the day he announced he would pursue a career in MMA. After those three wins, he was anointed as the sport’s next great champion.
Yet he was still just learning how to be a fighter.
Jenkins signed with Bellator MMA and was on the fast track before losing his second fight in the organization. He chalked that up to a self-inflicted wound that could have easily been avoided. But the same couldn’t be said of his next loss five fights later against Georgi Karakhanyan in January 2015.
That was the one that really told Jenkins he had to focus on his development after Karakhanyan choked him out just 1:49 into the opening round.
“My first fight with Georgi, I saw that I could not make the mistakes I was getting away with and succeed,” the 28-year-old said. “The first loss that wasn’t in my control was that one and it really helped me.
“Coming in, I thought I would be better, quicker. But after realizing how tough it is and taking those lumps and getting a better understanding of the athletes in the sport, it’s not the kind of thing where you can just hop up off the couch and compete. I got away with a lot because of my athleticism and wrestling. But now that I’m getting down to the nitty-gritty of what it’s all about, I’m starting to develop quicker.”
Jenkins has been working at Kings MMA in Southern California with former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, whom he credits a great deal for his improvement.
“He’s just helping me so much being the champion that he is and everyone knows him to be,” Jenkins said. “I’m satisfied with how I’m progressing right now. I’ve got great guys around me.”
Jenkins hopes to show just how much he has progressed when he gets a rematch against Karakhanyan on the Bellator 160 card on Friday at Honda Center.
It’s a fight he wants to win more than any other in his young career.
“It means so much to me that he showed up three pounds overweight and it didn’t even matter to me,” Jenkins said. ‘It ain’t going to matter. I think (he) may have even been looking for a way out. But I’m not even going to look at where he’s at. I’m not going to count those eggs, I’m just going to make sure mine aren’t cracking.”
As usual, there will be a lot of attention on Jenkins. He will be one of the most recognizable names on the card just as he has been since the beginning of his career.
It’s not the most ideal way for a young fighter to develop, but Jenkins isn’t really the complaining type.
“It’s true that you don’t really have that time to just develop your skills with so many people expecting so much of you right out of the gate,” he said. “But I kind of lived under that microscope all my life. It wasn’t too different than what I was expecting. I was a top recruit coming out of high school so my first day on the mat in college, everyone was looking around at me to see how good I really was.
“I don’t mind having my growing pains in front of people’s eyes. It’s OK. I trust in God and I’ll live up to everything he wants me to live up to.”
While Jenkins may still have critics who believe he should have already taken over the MMA world by this point in his career, he is a very respectable 11-2 and ready to add to that win total.
Even that second number in his record doesn’t really bother Jenkins.
“I don’t even see myself as having two losses on my record,” he said. “I see that as two learning experiences.”
The bout is part of a main card that will air on Spike TV at 7 p.m.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.
