A lightweight matchup between Quillan Salkilld and Anshul Jubli opened up the preliminary fight card at the UFC 312. The event was taking place at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, Australia.
Quillan Salkilld could not have imagined this kind of blockbuster UFC debut. The Australian took only 19 seconds to knock out Anshul Jubli, giving the Australian crowd a moment to remember. Salkilld landed a proper right-hand punch on Jubli and it deemed sufficient because the referee stopped the fight. Jubli immediately lodged his protest with the referee, however the referee did not revert his decision and Salkilld started celebrating his win.
This was Jubli's second consecutive loss in the UFC. The ‘King of Lions’ lost to Mike Breeden in his last UFC outing at UFC 294.
A controversial end to Anshul Jubli’s fight
UFC lightweight Anshul Jubli comeback fight was ended in a 19-second knockout against Quillan Salkilld at UFC 312. But many of the UFC fraternity questioned referee Jim Perdios for the quick stoppage.
Just seconds into the fight, Salkilld dropped Jubli with a brilliant right hand that bounced Jubli’s head off the canvas. Despite the fight initially appearing to be over, Jubli attempted a double-leg takedown as Perdios stepped in to stop the action.
While some of the MMA fraternity argued that the stoppage was justified, others voiced their opinions saying that it was an early stoppage. The MMA Guru wrote on X saying, “Anshul Jubli got smoked seconds into the first round, but honestly I have a problem with how early the stoppage was, you CANNOT take into consideration the fact that he's Indian when deciding if to stop the fight.”
The Indian MMA community was excited for Anshul Jubli’s comeback into the octagon. It was a marvelous opportunity to see an Indian fighter compete on the sport’s biggest stage. But the fans were left disappointed after Jubli’s controversial loss to the Australian fighter.
