UFC Fight Night 232 Winner Jeka Saragih Says Family, Friends Doubted Him

Criticism in his home country drove Indonesia’s Jeka Saragih to defy the odds in his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against Lucas Alexander.

Fighting on short notice, Saragih’s opponent missed weight by two pounds, giving up 20% of his fight purse. A +350 underdog on some sportsbooks, Saragih handed the Brazilian his first career knockout loss in the first round of their bout at UFC Fight Night 232 to score a huge upset.

Saragih got his UFC call despite coming up short against India’s Anshul Jubli on the debut season of “Road to UFC,” the promotion’s venture to scout Asian talent. Although he scored two finishes en route to the finals, Saragih’s people back home seemingly didn’t have much faith in his skills.

The fact that no Indonesian fighters made the cut in the second season of the show led some people to believe that the country simply lacked Octagon-caliber fighters. Although his own family and friends doubted him, Saragih used it as a source of motivation going into his UFC debut. He also credited his coaches at the MMA Fight Academy in California for his success.

“Of course all the obstacles in my life (became) a motivation for me. Especially my last loss…I think I am the first Indonesian fighter in the UFC, but I don’t know why they talk bad things about me a lot until I cannot think again,” Saragih said in a post-fight media scrum.

“I take all of that motivation for me to get (a) win. All of my friends in the village and my family too, they (doubted) me. They doubt if (an) Indonesian fighter can win inside (the) Octagon. But I don’t care about that, I just make it motivation for me. If you know, (the) last ‘Road to UFC,’ all of the Indonesian fighters, they lost. That’s why most of the people think nobody from Indonesia can win in the UFC. But I have a good coach here, coach Mark, coach Jake.”