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Damon Jackson is currently riding a four-fight win streak in the UFC, and the 34-year-old is grateful for the chance to prove himself after his first run in the promotion didn’t go according to plan.
“Action” most recently appeared when he took on Pat Sabatini last September. That bout was highlighted as a Sleeper Scrap due to the momentum both featherweights had, and Jackson ended up stopping Sabatani with strikes in just over a minute to snap the 32-year-old’s six-fight win streak and hand him his first UFC loss.
Jackson is now set to kick off 2023 with a matchup against Dan Ige, who is currently the UFC’s #13-ranked featherweight. The 34-year-old will be looking for his fifth-straight win and to break into the UFC rankings, but “Action” recently told MMA News’ own Curtis Calhoun that the road to his second stint in the promotion was far from a sure thing.
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“I started early into the UFC. When I got into the UFC I was a year and a half into my pro career,” Jackson said. “So I wasn’t really ready to fight anyone that was at that high of a level, like very well-rounded. So, just getting my second chance to come in and to prove to everyone that I deserve to be here and I’m not just a wrestler and just things like that. It’s nice man, it really is.
“Everybody is like, “Oh, hard work always pays off,” but you work so hard for so many years and nothing really happens, and it’s just so frustrating. To get opportunities is something that is great, but then taking advantage of them and getting these wins from it is like the coolest thing in the world…All those years that I’ve had [people] kind of bullshit, they sit there and say “Keep working hard, keep working hard. You’re the hard worker.” People saying that all the time, and you’re just kind of like “It doesn’t work like that.” People get these opportunities that don’t deserve it, so why am I not getting it?”
“It’s Really Cool To See The Evolution Of MMA”
Jackson first joined the UFC in 2014, but a three-fight run that included a loss, a No Contest and a Majority Draw forced him to return to the regional scene to develop his skills.
“Action” ended up joining the then-fledgling Legacy Fighting Alliance and eventually became the promotion’s interim featherweight champion to cap off a five-fight win streak where he finished every opponent. A 2019 opportunity in PFL resulted in a 10-second knockout loss and return to LFA in 2020, but later that year Jackson finally returned to the UFC and submitted Mirsad Bekti? in the third round.
A knockout loss to Ilia Topuria followed his win over Bekti?, but Jackson took nearly a year off before embarking on the current four-fight win streak that has set him up for an opportunity against Ige. “Action” feels he’s only getting better at this point in his career, and he knows that he’s a completely different fighter now than when he first joined the UFC in 2014.
“It’s just nice to be the guy that is getting the opportunities and getting to go out there and have some success and to really just you know, learn. I’ve learned so much, man, like for this last like six camps that I’ve had. Fighting these higher-level fighters, fighting these tough fights. I’ve learned so much from it, and it’s just really cool to see the evolution of MMA from when I started to where I’m at now and to evolve with it and to be this far into my career and still be evolving is really cool.”
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Damon Jackson is currently riding a four-fight win streak in the UFC, and the 34-year-old is grateful for the chance to prove himself after his first run in the promotion didn’t go according to plan.
“Action” most recently appeared when he took on Pat Sabatini last September. That bout was highlighted as a Sleeper Scrap due to the momentum both featherweights had, and Jackson ended up stopping Sabatani with strikes in just over a minute to snap the 32-year-old’s six-fight win streak and hand him his first UFC loss.
Jackson is now set to kick off 2023 with a matchup against Dan Ige, who is currently the UFC’s #13-ranked featherweight. The 34-year-old will be looking for his fifth-straight win and to break into the UFC rankings, but “Action” recently told MMA News’ own Curtis Calhoun that the road to his second stint in the promotion was far from a sure thing.
“I started early into the UFC. When I got into the UFC I was a year and a half into my pro career,” Jackson said. “So I wasn’t really ready to fight anyone that was at that high of a level, like very well-rounded. So, just getting my second chance to come in and to prove to everyone that I deserve to be here and I’m not just a wrestler and just things like that. It’s nice man, it really is.
“Everybody is like, “Oh, hard work always pays off,” but you work so hard for so many years and nothing really happens, and it’s just so frustrating. To get opportunities is something that is great, but then taking advantage of them and getting these wins from it is like the coolest thing in the world…All those years that I’ve had [people] kind of bullshit, they sit there and say “Keep working hard, keep working hard. You’re the hard worker.” People saying that all the time, and you’re just kind of like “It doesn’t work like that.” People get these opportunities that don’t deserve it, so why am I not getting it?”
“It’s Really Cool To See The Evolution Of MMA”
Jackson first joined the UFC in 2014, but a three-fight run that included a loss, a No Contest and a Majority Draw forced him to return to the regional scene to develop his skills.
“Action” ended up joining the then-fledgling Legacy Fighting Alliance and eventually became the promotion’s interim featherweight champion to cap off a five-fight win streak where he finished every opponent. A 2019 opportunity in PFL resulted in a 10-second knockout loss and return to LFA in 2020, but later that year Jackson finally returned to the UFC and submitted Mirsad Bekti? in the third round.
A knockout loss to Ilia Topuria followed his win over Bekti?, but Jackson took nearly a year off before embarking on the current four-fight win streak that has set him up for an opportunity against Ige. “Action” feels he’s only getting better at this point in his career, and he knows that he’s a completely different fighter now than when he first joined the UFC in 2014.
“It’s just nice to be the guy that is getting the opportunities and getting to go out there and have some success and to really just you know, learn. I’ve learned so much, man, like for this last like six camps that I’ve had. Fighting these higher-level fighters, fighting these tough fights. I’ve learned so much from it, and it’s just really cool to see the evolution of MMA from when I started to where I’m at now and to evolve with it and to be this far into my career and still be evolving is really cool.”
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
“Action” most recently appeared when he took on Pat Sabatini last September. That bout was highlighted as a Sleeper Scrap due to the momentum both featherweights had, and Jackson ended up stopping Sabatani with strikes in just over a minute to snap the 32-year-old’s six-fight win streak and hand him his first UFC loss.
Jackson is now set to kick off 2023 with a matchup against Dan Ige, who is currently the UFC’s #13-ranked featherweight. The 34-year-old will be looking for his fifth-straight win and to break into the UFC rankings, but “Action” recently told MMA News’ own Curtis Calhoun that the road to his second stint in the promotion was far from a sure thing.
[embedded content]
“I started early into the UFC. When I got into the UFC I was a year and a half into my pro career,” Jackson said. “So I wasn’t really ready to fight anyone that was at that high of a level, like very well-rounded. So, just getting my second chance to come in and to prove to everyone that I deserve to be here and I’m not just a wrestler and just things like that. It’s nice man, it really is.
“Everybody is like, “Oh, hard work always pays off,” but you work so hard for so many years and nothing really happens, and it’s just so frustrating. To get opportunities is something that is great, but then taking advantage of them and getting these wins from it is like the coolest thing in the world…All those years that I’ve had [people] kind of bullshit, they sit there and say “Keep working hard, keep working hard. You’re the hard worker.” People saying that all the time, and you’re just kind of like “It doesn’t work like that.” People get these opportunities that don’t deserve it, so why am I not getting it?”
“It’s Really Cool To See The Evolution Of MMA”
Jackson first joined the UFC in 2014, but a three-fight run that included a loss, a No Contest and a Majority Draw forced him to return to the regional scene to develop his skills.
“Action” ended up joining the then-fledgling Legacy Fighting Alliance and eventually became the promotion’s interim featherweight champion to cap off a five-fight win streak where he finished every opponent. A 2019 opportunity in PFL resulted in a 10-second knockout loss and return to LFA in 2020, but later that year Jackson finally returned to the UFC and submitted Mirsad Bekti? in the third round.
A knockout loss to Ilia Topuria followed his win over Bekti?, but Jackson took nearly a year off before embarking on the current four-fight win streak that has set him up for an opportunity against Ige. “Action” feels he’s only getting better at this point in his career, and he knows that he’s a completely different fighter now than when he first joined the UFC in 2014.
“It’s just nice to be the guy that is getting the opportunities and getting to go out there and have some success and to really just you know, learn. I’ve learned so much, man, like for this last like six camps that I’ve had. Fighting these higher-level fighters, fighting these tough fights. I’ve learned so much from it, and it’s just really cool to see the evolution of MMA from when I started to where I’m at now and to evolve with it and to be this far into my career and still be evolving is really cool.”
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
“Action” most recently appeared when he took on Pat Sabatini last September. That bout was highlighted as a Sleeper Scrap due to the momentum both featherweights had, and Jackson ended up stopping Sabatani with strikes in just over a minute to snap the 32-year-old’s six-fight win streak and hand him his first UFC loss.
Jackson is now set to kick off 2023 with a matchup against Dan Ige, who is currently the UFC’s #13-ranked featherweight. The 34-year-old will be looking for his fifth-straight win and to break into the UFC rankings, but “Action” recently told MMA News’ own Curtis Calhoun that the road to his second stint in the promotion was far from a sure thing.
“I started early into the UFC. When I got into the UFC I was a year and a half into my pro career,” Jackson said. “So I wasn’t really ready to fight anyone that was at that high of a level, like very well-rounded. So, just getting my second chance to come in and to prove to everyone that I deserve to be here and I’m not just a wrestler and just things like that. It’s nice man, it really is.
“Everybody is like, “Oh, hard work always pays off,” but you work so hard for so many years and nothing really happens, and it’s just so frustrating. To get opportunities is something that is great, but then taking advantage of them and getting these wins from it is like the coolest thing in the world…All those years that I’ve had [people] kind of bullshit, they sit there and say “Keep working hard, keep working hard. You’re the hard worker.” People saying that all the time, and you’re just kind of like “It doesn’t work like that.” People get these opportunities that don’t deserve it, so why am I not getting it?”
“It’s Really Cool To See The Evolution Of MMA”
Jackson first joined the UFC in 2014, but a three-fight run that included a loss, a No Contest and a Majority Draw forced him to return to the regional scene to develop his skills.
“Action” ended up joining the then-fledgling Legacy Fighting Alliance and eventually became the promotion’s interim featherweight champion to cap off a five-fight win streak where he finished every opponent. A 2019 opportunity in PFL resulted in a 10-second knockout loss and return to LFA in 2020, but later that year Jackson finally returned to the UFC and submitted Mirsad Bekti? in the third round.
A knockout loss to Ilia Topuria followed his win over Bekti?, but Jackson took nearly a year off before embarking on the current four-fight win streak that has set him up for an opportunity against Ige. “Action” feels he’s only getting better at this point in his career, and he knows that he’s a completely different fighter now than when he first joined the UFC in 2014.
“It’s just nice to be the guy that is getting the opportunities and getting to go out there and have some success and to really just you know, learn. I’ve learned so much, man, like for this last like six camps that I’ve had. Fighting these higher-level fighters, fighting these tough fights. I’ve learned so much from it, and it’s just really cool to see the evolution of MMA from when I started to where I’m at now and to evolve with it and to be this far into my career and still be evolving is really cool.”
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
