UFC dream comes true for ‘The Jedi’

Luke Jumeau’s MMA career jumps to lightspeed after his UFC dream came true.

‘‘The Jedi’’ was at last summoned to MMA’s big time and becomes only the second New Zealand-based fighter to have cracked UFC after Dan ‘the Hangman’ Hooker.

The Hamilton fighter faces the American Dominique ‘‘Non-Stop Action-Packed’’ Steele at Fight Night 110 on Auckland’s UFC show on June 11.

Jumeau, 29, has been offered a four-fight UFC contract and that means the panel beater living in Ngaruawahia could be fighting in galaxies far, far away, including the bright lights of Las Vegas for MMA’s grandest stage.

‘‘I’m a needle in a haystack and to pick me out of anyone else is freaking amazing,’’ Jumeau said.

UFC strikes back in New Zealand for the first time since 2014 at Auckland’s Vector Arena in June and Jumeau thought his chance was gone.

‘‘I was starting to look at other fight options just to stay active and I was just about to go through with another deal,’’ he explained.

‘‘Then I got the phone call and everything worked out perfectly. I was speechless. I’m still speechless.’’

Jumeau was contacted at the end of April about fighting Steele, who’s fought four times in UFC since 2015 and has a 1-3 record.

Steele last competed in August and lost to fellow American Court McGee via unanimous decision in Salt Lake City.

The Jedi didn’t think twice because fighting in UFC has been his dream from a long time ago.

Jumeau has emerged from a host of welterweights - one of MMA’s most stacked divisions - to stretch Fight Night 110 to nine fights, which is headlined by Mark Hunt’s heavyweight clash with American Derrick Lewis.

His professional record is 11-3 and he’s avoided defeat since 2013.

Jumeau’s last fight was his biggest to date and proof he can compete with the sport’s elite, as he beat Australian UFC veteran Vik Grujic by TKO in the second round of their clash on the Gold Coast in January.

Beating Grujic, who has made it in UFC in the United States, means the Jedi has struck down his last six opponents and since his professional career began in 2008, he’s fought in seven different countries: New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, UAE, Taiwan and China. But Jumeau’s career reaches new galaxies with UFC.