Jalin Turner is ready to show off his new and improved grappling.
After a nearly a year layoff, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) No. 13 ranked Turner returns to action at UFC 313 this weekend (Sat., March 8, 2025) against surging Chilen Ignacio Bahamondes from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“The Tarantula” has been out of action since losing to Renato Moicano at UFC 300, but it’s been for a good reason: to work on his grappling even more, which kind of got exposed in his fight against Moicano.
Turner almost scored a walk-off first-round knockout against Moicano at UFC 300, but when Moicano survived and the fight entered the second round, Turner was taken down by Moicano, did not get back up, and eventually finished (watch highlights).
The 29-year-old’s grappling has never been bad, as evidenced by his four submission wins and countless high-quality scrambles, but at UFC 300, he got into a place where he got uncomfortable, and Turner does not want that ever to happen again.
“Grappling was a personal journey. It has nothing to do with this matchup or anything like that; it was just me wanting to be a better martial artist,” Turner told UFC.com. “Taking into account how my fight at UFC 300 went, I felt like I needed to stay more disciplined and polished in my grappling. It was something I really needed to focus on and work on. That’s what I did the last 11 months.”
Turner takes on Bahamondes in the ‘Featured’ bout of the UFC 313 main card.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 313 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 313: “Pereira vs. Ankalaev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
