Jonathan Pearce Wants to Give the UFC London Fans Something to Cheer About

Jonathan Pearce is ready to make some English fans during his trip to London. Pearce (12-4, 3-1 UFC) will face Makwan Amirkhani at the upcoming UFC Fight Night 208, the second "UFC London" event of the year. “JSP” is currently riding a sound three-bout winning streak that includes stopping Kai Kamaka III with punches and submitting Omar Morales at UFC on ESPN 18 and UFC 266, respectively. In his latest Octagon appearance, the Dana White’s Contender Series graduate outpointed last-minute replacement Christian Rodriguez on all scorecards at UFC Fight Night 201 in February. While Pearce thinks that he wasn’t at his best in his latest performance, he aims to put on a show for the fans Saturday at the O2 Arena.

“They were cheering for Mike Grundy last time when he fought in London and [Amirkhani] beat him, and it wasn't like they really even got real loud, like, ‘Watch that.’ I thought that was very interesting because Grundy was from London or from that area. I think it'll be kind of like that again like no one really knows, because we're on the undercard, and it might not be as full, but I'm gonna give 'em something to cheer about. When we get done, I'm gonna be up there saying JSP and making 'em fans because sometimes that's a part. They might be coming for that one guy in the card, but then they see JSP, and they're like, 'Man, that guy is something else. I wanna see him fight again. That's the man,’ and that's my job as an entertainer to go out there and do that. That's my goal, with that being said.”

(00:00) Intro
(00:21) His Fourth of July
(01:02) Preparing for Amirkhani
(01:41) Fighting for the first time outside the U.S.
(02:19) Dealing with the London crowd
(03:45) His sparring partners
(04:32) Training with Kamuela Kirk
(05:35) His cornermen
(05:47) Defeating Rodriguez in February
(07:06) Going the distance in a fight for the first time in a while
(08:33) Adapting to a different time zone
(09:45) The moment he sold his business to focus on MMA
(11:20) Picking Curtis Blaydes vs. Tom Aspinall
(11:31) Predicting a second-round finish for his fight
(12:16) His walkout song
(13:04) Acknowledgments
(13:40) Outro