Luke Jumeau used home crowd to get through jitters: 'I felt I was the main event'

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Luke Jumeau wasn’t entirely at ease during his UFC debut, but he thankfully counted on some massive home love to get through it.

Jumeau (12-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) added a seventh win to his current streak by edging out Dominique Steele (14-9 MMA, 1-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 110. Nerves, Jumeau said, certainly came into play on Saturday, but fighting a short drive away from his hometown of Hamilton, the 29-year-old was able to get the push that he needed from his fans, family and friends.

“(It) got me through my jitters, picked me up in spots where I needed it,” Jumeau said after the FS1-televised preliminary-card welterweight scrap at Spark Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. “It was absolutely amazing. Now I’m just happy that I got the W for them. To do this at home, with the screaming crowd, all for me – I felt I was the main event. Amazing.”

Jumeau hadn’t needed the judges for a win since 2012. With Steele, however, he wasn’t able to pull the trigger, and he walked away with 29-28 scores across the board instead. There’s something to be said for Steele’s resilience; Jumeau said he’d dropped men with some of his less potent shots before.

But, otherwise underwhelmed by what his opponent presented, the newcomer said he didn’t perform at his highest.

“He wasn’t as strong as I thought he was going to be,” Jumeau said. “He wasn’t as explosive as I thought he was going to be. I was better in every way than I sort of held him. I held him higher than I should have. I put on – not a real high expectation on him. I knew I was going to go in there and do well. But I sort of held him a little bit higher.

“The jitters did get to me a little bit. I was sort of – not gassing, but just in moments where I felt I should have exploded. I was kind of freezing a little bit. But in saying that, he wasn’t damaging me. So, just a couple of spots where I should’ve put some pressure on.”

It may not have been the perfect UFC arrival, but it was a solid start to his long-awaited UFC run. As far as immediate plans go, Jumeau is now eyeing a November return – with anyone, really, though he does see the logic in a rematch with Australia’s Jake Matthews.

But, in it “for the long haul,” the ambitious Jumeau already has high hopes for the more distant future.

“I’d love to (carry the New Zealand flag),” Jumeau said. “I’d absolutely love to. If I get that gold strap and put this place really on the map.”

To hear Jumeau’s full chat with the reporters, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 110, check out the UFC Events section of the site.