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'Dream come true' as adopted Leesider Jake Hecht wins on UFC debut

The Cork-based welterweight beat Rich Attonito as part of the preliminary card at UFC 140.

JAKE “THE CORK CRIPPLER” HECHT put Leeside on the UFC map on Saturday night with an impressive win on his debut in Toronto.

The Frankfield-based welterweight scored a second-round TKO over Rich Attonito as part of the preliminary card at UFC 140, earning an estimated €18,000 for his troubles and taking his professional record to 11-2.

Although Attonito had the upper hand for the majority of the fight, Hecht was able to turn the tide with a pair of powerful elbow shots in the second before finishing off his dazed opponent with a flurry of punches.

Hecht, 27, was born in Missouri but moved to Ireland last year to become the head mixed martial arts coach at Cork’s Boxing/MMA Clinic. Saturday’s bout was his first for the UFC promotion, a huge step up from the regional events where he started his career in 2006.

“Words can’t express how I feel right now, this is such a dream come true. I’m overwhelmed,” Hecht told MMAWeekly Videos. ”This has been a goal of mine ever since I learned what MMA was years and years and years ago.

“Coming up through the ranks, UFC has been on the horizon for maybe a year and a half now. I finally got the call and they told me I needed to perform at this stage and that’s what I tried to do tonight.

“I could’ve fought Rich in some small local show and that’s what we had to keep telling ourselves. Don’t let the lights get to you, don’t let the camera get to you. It did a little bit, but I just went in there and fought like any other fight.”

In the card’s main event, Jon “Bones” Jones defended his light-heavyweight championship with a second-round technical submission against Brazil’s Lyoto Machida.

UFC 140 – Main Card Results

  • Jon Jones def. Lyoto Machida (technical submission, 4:26 of round 2)
  • Frank Mir def. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (submission, 3:38 of round 1)
  • Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Tito Ortiz (TKO, 3:15 of round 1)
  • Brian Ebersole def. Claude Patrick (split decision, 29-28 28-29 29-28)
  • Chan Sung Jung def. Mark Hominick (TKO, 0:07 of round 1)

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