Jan 22, 2016
Jackson heads to UFC looking for a knockout
Sometimes it’s best to tackle the most monumental task with the simplest approach possible. Such is the plan Mike Jackson will take into his UFC debut against similarly debuting Mickey Gall.
Sometimes it’s best to tackle the most monumental task with the simplest approach possible. Such is the plan Mike Jackson will take into his UFC debut against similarly debuting Mickey Gall.
“I’m going to be a fighter going in there to knock Mickey Gall’s head off,” Jackson told TSN.ca
It could be possible that there has never been as much at stake between two fighters contesting their first bouts in the UFC than will be on the line when Gall and Jackson square off in the prelims at UFC 196.
After making an impactful appearance on Dana White: Lookin' for a Fight, Gall called out CM Punk angling to face the former WWE star in his long awaited promotional debut. He has been granted that fight with one condition; he must first beat Jackson to earn the spot.
Jackson has no such promise in hand, so he’s heading into the bout looking to make an impact.
“I’m going in there to get the win and to keep my winning knockout streak intact,” said Jackson. “As a professional fighter, all of my wins have come by knockout and I want to keep that streak alive, whether it be from a local promotion, in the second best organization in the world Legacy or the great show in the UFC.”
“My goal has always been the same, to knock him out; nothing changes here, just the prize at the end.”
Jackson’s road to the Octagon is even more remarkable when you take into account that along with being an amateur turned professional fighter, he’s also an MMA journalist on his website www.mikethetruth.com. An interview he conducted with Dana White earlier in 2015 even started making the rounds after the fight was announced.
The Houston native believes his time covering professional MMA will help him not get overwhelmed by the moment.
“I’ve covered UFC, I’ve covered Legacy out here in Texas so I’ve been in front of the lights from the opposite side,” said Jackson. “For me it’s really another day at the office. Maybe that will change come fight night and maybe it won’t, but I’m definitely looking forward to the experience.”
Like anyone else in the MMA media business, Jackson has followed and covered the CM Punk to UFC story, making multiple posts about it on his site. One thing that the 30-year-old was not expecting was to become a major player in one of the UFC’s most anticipated stories both of last year and of 2016.
“That is wild, I remember when I posted the original post about him coming I never at one point thought that my name would be in that conversation,” said Jackson. “Now deep down inside I was thinking, ‘man, CM Punk is coming he has no professional fights, I would love to get in there’ but dude around the corner is probably thinking the same thing. That part is more surreal than actually competing in the UFC.”
Jackson will thankfully not just rely on his ability to write and post stories online to prepare for Gall, he is preparing for the fight with former UFC fighters (Derrick Lewis, Daniel Pineda and Andrew Craig as Jackson told UFC.ca), which he hopes combined with what he’s learned from being in the cage himself will be enough to earn that first victory and all that comes along with that achievement.
“I have teammates and training partners that are in the UFC and have been in the UFC so I know what the experience itself is like from that perspective,” said Jackson. “I don’t know what it’s like to fight in the UFC octagon but I know what it’s like being a fighter with that kind of spotlight and those eyes on you.”