UFC lightweight Norman Parke has never been one to back down from a challenge.
Toomebridge, Northern Ireland, Mar. 12, 2006, A baby-faced 19-year-old, Norman Parke, stepped into battle for the first time. His opponent? Greg Loughran — a bigger, stronger and more experienced fighter. Loughran was already a well-known submission specialist, who had amassed 15 pro fights and put a beating on the young Parke prior to submitting him in the first round. But right there and then, the Parke showed what separates him from the pack — a willingness to face all comers and step out of his comfort zone, which would prove to be integral to his later successes in MMA.
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Parke comes from Bushmills, a small village in Northern Ireland with just over 1,000 inhabitants. Prior to Parke’s success in MMA, the village was primarily known for its chief export, whiskey. Living in this small village left Parke with two options: to party and cause mayhem in the village, or to fight. He chose the latter.
After his bout with Loughran, Parke took a two-year break from fighting, a break that in hindsight was instrumental in his development as a martial artist. Following this hiatus, Parke returned to the sport rejuvenated and ready to impress. In his next 10 fights he amassed 10 straight victories, finishing all of his opponents along the way. That run was unblemished until he met Joseph Duffy in his 12th fight. Duffy, who at the time was unbeaten, made light work of Parke, submitting him in the first. Duffy’s name might sound familiar to fight fans as he seems to be the one major blemish on most European prospects’ records and is also the last fighter to beat rising UFC featherweight Conor McGregor, whom he also finished in the first round.
This loss really lit a fire beneath Parke. Just three weeks after his fight with Duffy, he was back in the cage. This time he was victorious, submitting Ian Jones in the first round. Three more finishes followed to bring 2010 to a dominant close.
Parke continued his run of victories into 2011 when he won the Cage Contender lightweight championship and fought once more before being selected to fight on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes.
Prior to getting the call to be on TUF, Parke was training in Las Vegas and in talks to sign with the World Series of Fighting, but following his offer to partake on the popular reality show, he decided the UFC was to be his home.
Norman entered the The Ultimate Fighter house as an early favorite and was surrounded by fanfare in his native land. He first faced Team Australia’s Richie Vaculik in the preliminary round in a fight that he dominated before plowing through Brendan Loughnane to book his place in the finale where he faced his close friend Colin Fletcher and again dominated en-route to a decision victory.
Post-TUF, Parke was matched up with Jon Tuck at UFC on FOX 7, but Tuck, whom he fights Saturday, pulled out with an injury during fight week. This left Parke without an opponent, and unable to fight on what was supposed to be Parke’s big coming out party on national television in North America. Parke’s initial dismay was quelled by the news that he had been placed on UFC 162, one of the biggest cards of the year.
At UFC 162, Parke faced Japanese prospect Kazuki Tokudome. In this fight, the Northern Irishman showed the skills he had been carefully honing while at Alliance MMA. The improvement to his striking game was noticeable. He landed a number of heavy punches and was close to putting away Tokudome on several occasions.
At Alliance MMA, Parke has some of the best lightweights in the world to train with on a daily basis, including Bellator champion Michael Chandler and UFC lightweights Myles Jury and Ross Pearson who has taken Parke under his wings since the pair first met as Pearson coached Parke to success on TUF Smashes.
Prior to his stint on TUF, Parke had spent the previous four years training at Next Generation in Northern Ireland daily with head coach Rodney Moore. While working his way through Europe’s best lightweights, Parke has sacrificed a lot and on Saturday night he will be hoping to prove his sacrifice was worth it.
In Ireland, the MMA scene has taken a massive boost in the past year with Conor McGregor’s amazing UFC emergence debut drawing plaudits from mainstream media. Throughout their careers, parallels have been drawn between Parke and McGregor. Both are from the isle of Ireland and both are extremely talented. A fight between the two has long been prophesied by fight fans, but as of right now, Parke has Tuck to focus on.
After Tuck pulled out of their scheduled fight in April, Parke has been itching to fight him. Some have said that Parke is afraid to fight him. Parke has taken this statement to heart. Style-wise, this fight is an interesting one. Tuck is a grappler by nature and has won a number of titles in the sport of no gi jiu-jitsu. Parke, who initially began his martial arts journey as a judoka, has finished 12 of his 18 wins by submission.
Parke is anxious to make a statement with a finish in his return to the U.K. fight circuit and with an event in his nation tentatively planned for next year, he will be eager to impress the UFC’s top brass.
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