5 Defining Moments: Jake Matthews

Consistent results have proven elusive for Jake Matthews.

The 30-year-old Australian will look to stabilize himself in the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division when he puts Francisco Prado to the test in a UFC 312 showcase on Saturday at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. Matthews has alternated wins and losses in each of his past six appearances and now carries a 13-7 record across his 20 assignments inside the Octagon. He last saw action at UFC 302, where he laid claim to a unanimous decision over Philip Rowe on June 1.

As Matthews moves ever closer to his upcoming clash with Prado at 170 pounds, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Triangulation Strangulation

Matthews shined in his promotional debut and put away two-division Xplode Fight Series champion Dashon Johnson with a third-round triangle choke as part of the UFC Fight Night 43 undercard on June 28, 2014 at Vector Arena in Auckland, New Zealand. It came to a close 3:16 into Round 3. The youngest fighter on the UFC roster at the time, Matthews dominated from start to finish. He opened a cut on Johnson’s forehead with a volley of savage elbows in the first round, utilized a suffocating clinch game in the second and turned up the heat in the third. There, Matthews moved to full mount and forced the Californian to yield his back. Johnson scrambled into top position, where he was met with the fight-ending triangle choke.

2. Tall Order

James Vick stood tall in a showdown between undefeated lightweights, as “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 15 graduate disposed of Matthews with a guillotine choke in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 65 attraction on May 10, 2015 at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre in Adelaide, Australia. Referee Steve Perceval waved it off 4:53 into Round 1. Operating in the shadows of the Stipe Miocic-Mark Hunt main event, Vick leaned into his 6-foot-3 frame and frustrated the Aussie with dogged takedown defense. Matthews moved in for a potential double-leg in the waning moments of the first round, left his neck exposed and paid the price for his lack of vision. Vick ensnared him in the guillotine, dragged “The Celtic Kid” to the canvas and cranked on the choke from side control to prompt the tapout.

3. Higher Calling

Matthews continued to redefine himself as a welterweight to watch when he posted a unanimous decision over Jingliang Li in their three-round UFC 221 confrontation on Feb. 10, 2018 at Perth Arena in Perth, Australia. Scores were 29-28, 30-26 and 30-26. The two combatants were awarded $50,000 “Fight of the Night” bonuses for their efforts. Matthews set the tone from the outset. He dropped Li with a left hand in the first round, moved into top position and achieved full mount before battering the China Top Team rep with ground-and-pound, advancing to the back and hunting the choke. Cut by an inadvertent head butt early in the middle stanza, Matthews bit down on a tight guillotine choke. A desperate Li freed himself by blatantly gouging his counterpart’s eye. No point was deducted. Matthews kept his cool, switched gears in the third round and chopped down Li with a right cross. He polished off the win with a takedown in the closing seconds.

4. Caught in the Clutches

Unbeaten former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder Sean Brady turned away Matthews with an arm-triangle choke in the third round of their UFC 259 welterweight prelim on March 6, 2021 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The curtain fell 3:28 into Round 3. Brady navigated a brief brush with adversity in the first round, where his Australian adversary caught one of his kicks, bloodied his nose with a right hand and drove him to the mat. From there, however, the rout was on. Brady assumed top position and applied suffocating control, establishing his clear dominance on the ground. Matthews surrendered takedowns in the second and third rounds, wound up pinned to the mat and retreated to a defensive shell. Brady softened him with punches in the third, framed the arm-triangle from half guard, cleared the legs and elicited the tapout.

5. An Added Dimension

Matthews showed off some newfound aggression when he wiped out Andre Fialho with punches in the second round of their UFC 275 welterweight feature on June 12, 2022 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Referee Jason Herzog intervened 2:24 into Round 2. Matthews followed through on his promise to ditch his typically conservative approach. He exchanged with Fialho on the feet and more often than not beat him to the punch. A left hook set the Kill Cliff Fight Club rep on unsteady footing in the second round before Matthews followed up with a right uppercut and overhand right. Another left hook left Fialho badly dazed and in no condition to defend himself from the vicious right that scrambled his circuits soon after. It was the first knockout win for Matthews in almost seven years.