Norman Parke started slowly against Jon Tuck at UFC Fight Night 30 tonight, but good cardio helped him emerge a comfortable winner on the scorecards.
Round One
We’re underway and Tuck immediately unleashes a head kick that’s blocked. He lands a leg kick then tries upstairs again, but misses.
Parke not throwing too much so far and Tuck lands a solid body kick. All kicks for Tuck so far and Parke may be looking for an opportunity to get this fight to the ground.
Another high kick blocked by Parke and then he finally unleashes a solid punch that lands to Tuck’s face.
Tuck immediately comes firing back with strikes of his own. Tuck moves in for a clinch and Parke responds with a couple of punches and then backs out.
Tuck unleashes a combo and Parke appears to have been poked in the eye and he signals to the referee. The ref didn’t see it though and Tuck’s not stopping, going again for the head kick.
Parke seems to be ok and keeps fighting.
Final minute of the round and Parke counters his opponent nicely with a couple of significant punches. Then, just as the round is about to end he swoops in and lands a nice takedown, giving the judges something to think about when scoring the opening five minutes.
Round Two
Nice body shot from Parke early in the second. Parke looks more comfortable in the stand-up now and unleashes a few more punches down the pipe.
Tuck still favoring kicks and gets a couple of nice one’s to the body.
Parke starting to pick his shots well now and his opponent seems to be tiring. Good kick lands to the mid-section for Parke.
The left straight is proving successful for Parke and he’s landed it well several times this round so far.
Tuck tries a flying knee, but in general his output has slowed almost to a halt compared to the first five minutes. Parke continues to boss the stand-up action the final moments of the round.
Round Three
Parke goes right back to hunting down his opponent in the third. Tuck’s trying to muster up some offense and starts to fire off a series of strikes, but it fizzles out and he goes back into a more defensive shell.
Parke still looks fresh and continues to pressure him. Tuck’s mouthpiece falls out and as he stoops to pick it up Parke continues throwing.
The workrate from Tuck has definitely been a bit better this round after a very poor second round, but he’s still letting Parke dictate the pace and isn’t matching his offensive output.
In the final minute of the round Parke steps up a gear and lands some good punches and even threatens with a couple of head kicks that wing just past their target, and that’s the final bell.
Decision
No real surprise that former TUF: Smashes winner Norman Parke is the victor here, gaining a unanimous decision verdict from the judges (29-28 x2, 30-27).
