Parke win UFC debut bout
NORMAN Parke kickstarted his UFC career with a debut win over former Pancrase lightweight Kazuki Tokudome in the third bout of the UFC 162 FX card on Saturday.
The Bushmills man was given the task of taking on relative unknown Japanese brawler Tokudome as his first bout post The Ultimate Fighter competition. Parke came out strong with a well targeted combination of wrestling and right hands. Tokudome’s complete lack of head movement and defensive footwork left him constantly open to getting hit hard, and he did. Tokudome rallied but it was local man Parke who was given a unanimous decision by the judges.
“The game plan was to keep on the back foot and put the pressure on right off the start,” Parke said. “I nearly had him in the second round, but I was forced into grinding the fight out.”