SHARE
Norman Parke

With an undefeated UFC career thus far it’s time for Norman Parke (pictured) to launch his assault towards breaking into the upper rankings. Set to face the most significant threat of his career, Parke takes on former Strikeforce lightweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal (28-8) at UFC Fight Night on Jan. 18 in Boston, Massachusetts headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dennis Siver.

The Northern Irish lightweight is undefeated in the UFC since featuring on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes in 2012. Parke (20-2-1) out-grappled fellow Brit Colin Fletcher to win The Smashes series before dealing with Kazuki Tokudome and Jon Tuck via one-sided unanimous decision wins.

The only blip on Parke’s UFC record to date comes in the form of a majority draw against Leonardo Santos on March 23 when Parke was deducted one point for grabbing the shorts of his opponent. However, the 27-year-old produced his most clinical effort to date at UFC Fight Night in Dublin where seasoned veteran Naoyuki Kotani fell victim to a forceful TKO at the hands of ‘Stormin” Norman in the second round on July 19.

Parke has the opportunity to break into the lightweight division’s top-15 when he takes on #13 ranked fighter Jorge Masvidal. The 29-year-old American challenged Gilbert Melendez for the Strikeforce title in 2011, but lost the fight on the judge’s scorecards. The man known as ‘Gamebred’ is 5-1 in the UFC, and since conceding to Rustam Khabilov in a ‘Fight of the Night’ contest on Nov. 6 last year, Masvidal has put together three consecutive wins by way of unanimous decision over Pat Healy, Daron Cruickshank, and James Crause.

Photo by Jorden Curran