Austin “Thud” Hubbard, 27, of Denver, Colorado, United States was one of the winners at “UFC Fight Night 158,” also known as “UFC on ESPN+ 16.” It was the American mixed martial artist’s first victory in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
“It feels great to get that first win,” Hubbard said after his first UFC win. “It’s a big stress relief to get that first win and not be 0-2. (I’m) so definitely happy about that.”
Featuring 12 MMA bouts, “UFC Fight Night 158” took place at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In the first bout of the evening, Hubbard fought Kyle Prepolec, 30, of Windsor, Ontario, Canada in the lightweight division.
Kevin Dornan served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, the lightweight contest was left in the hands of the three judges, who all scored it 29-28.
In the end, Dornan raised the hand of Hubbard, who was declared the winner via unanimous decision. It was a redemptive win for the Denver native who was coming out of an unsuccessful UFC debut.
On May 18, 2019, Hubbard made his UFC debut at “UFC Fight Night 152” at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York, USA. He lost to Davi “The Tasmanian Devil” Ramos, 32, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil via unanimous decision.
“He was tough,” Hubbard said of Prepolec. “(He was) a lot tougher than I was giving him credit for and I had to make the adjustments to get the win.”
Winning at “UFC Fight Night 158” improved the professional MMA record of Hubbard to 11 wins and 3 losses. On the other hand, Prepolec now has 12 wins and 7 losses.
Including the U.S. and Canada, seven countries were represented at “UFC Fight Night 158.” The others were Australia, Brazil, Latvia, Poland and Ukraine.
Prepolec was one of the fighters who represented in Canada. Hubbard was one of the seven representatives of the U.S.
Born in Illinois, USA on December 12, 1991, Hubbard went to Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Illinois. He has been competing professionally since 2015.
Here is a “UFC Fight Night 158” post-fight interview with Hubbard:
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