LAS VEGAS – Jeremiah Wells knew he won in his return to the octagon, despite getting knocked down a couple of times in the process.
The UFC welterweight defeated Matthew Semelsberger in the opening bout of the UFC Fight Night 222 main card, which took place on Saturday night at the UFC Apex. Wells (21-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) won a split decision, defeating Semelsberger (11-5 MMA, 5-3 UFC) with two 30-27 scores in his favor, opposite a dissenting 28-29 score for his opponent from the official judges.
“I knew I had at least two rounds,” Wells said at the UFC Fight Night 222 post-fight press conference. “I know he kind of beat me in the first round, but I was confident that I was going to win. I gave myself two rounds because the first round I was knocked down. I was like, ‘Damn.’ I haven’t gotten knocked down in years. I feel like I was a little rusty. I just needed to move my head a little more and fake.”
Wells did get hurt in the first round, and was touched up again in the second. With the judging criteria favoring damage over anything else, some watching from home thought the fight could lend itself to a difficult scoring.
Wells says it looked worse than it actually was, and that he was fine from the shots taken from Semelsberger.
“I wasn’t hurt at all,” Wells said. “I seen him, I still had control of his legs, and everything. I knew I would get up. … I was surprised about his speed, not his power. He didn’t even hit that hard. His speed was a little faster than I thought.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
UFC Fight Night 222’s Jeremiah Wells confident he outpointed Matthew Semelsberger despite knockdowns