Video: Abel Trujillo says calculated knee strikes are worth the risk

SACRAMENTO – Abel Trujillo felt he won his first bout with Roger Bowling, but a second win at UFC on FOX 9 was nonetheless important.

The lightweights’ first bout was ruled a no-contest when Bowling was unable to continue after taking a knee that appeared illegal. At Saturday’s event, there was no doubt about the winner.

Trujillo (11-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) pounded out Bowling (11-5 MMA, 0-2 UFC) at the 1:35 mark of the second round in a preliminary-card bout, which opened the FOX Sports 1 broadcast at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.

“It was very important I finished him the second time,” Trujillo told MMAjunkie. “Also, I felt like (UFC President) Dana White had my back after the first fight, and he said I won, so it was very important I did the same thing in the second fight.”

The sequence that ended the bout included a knee that, on camera, looked as though it might have been illegal. Further replays, though, showed that it landed legally to the body. Regardless, Trujillo said he isn’t going to make the same mistake twice. And moving forward, the Blackzilian fight team member said he’s not going to change his style of fighting.

“I knee a lot,” Trujillo said. “I knee when guys come up, they’re susceptible to the sternum area, so I threw it. I knew I wasn’t going to hit him in the face.”

With Bowling now in his rearview mirror, Trujillo said he’ll spend some time with his children in Iowa, but he wants to fight again in March.

“I’m not that type of fighter to request somebody,” he said. “I just want to make a statement, and whoever the UFC or Dana White wants me to have next, I’ll accept it.”

For complete coverage of UFC on FOX 9, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.