Damon Jackson is excited to throw down with Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 67.
After Jackson scored a first-round knockout over Pat Sabatini, the hope was to get a top-15 guy. The Fortis MMA product says he messaged several fighters including Ige to ask for the fight and the Hawaiian was one of the only fighters to message back and show interest in the fight.
“I actually messaged him and said I didn’t want to talk smack but would love to fight him and have nothing but respect for him but would love the matchup,” Jackson said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “He was like, I was on a streak and definitely deserve a top-15 shot. We were trying to line it up for December it just didn’t work out but it’s nice to get everything finalized and fight early in the year.”
Although Jackson wanted to fight Ige, he says it is not because he thinks the Hawaiian is bad or anything. Instead, even though Ige is on a three-fight losing streak, he says he knows how good Ige is and isn’t putting any of the losses on him but is confident he has the tools to exploit Ige.
“I’m not going to sit here and say he’s down or out, Josh Emmett fighting for a title, Korean Zombie fought for a title, Movsar, he’s going to be fighting for a title soon, these guys are tough as hell. I don’t hold that against him,” Jackson explained. “I think there are things I can take advantage of but he’s a killer.”
Against Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 67, Damon Jackson is expecting a very fun fight for the fans. He is expecting a war and the potential for this to be the Fight of the Year but does expect to be the first person to finish Ige in the UFC.
“He’s a killer for sure, he headhunts and throws heavy punches, but I think he doesn’t do that against me because he knows I’ll take him down and I beat him on the ground,” Jackson said. “It’s a tough fight but I’m ready to go… Man, it’s going to be a scrap which is why I’m telling people this fight could’ve been a main event. It’s going to be the Fight of the Year. I want to go in there and get a finish, he wants to come back and make people forget about his losing streak.”
If Jackson does get his hand raised against Ige on Saturday, he isn’t sure what will be next for him. Instead, he says the goal is to just continue his winning streak and work his way up the featherweight ranks.
“I’m not the matchmaker, I don’t make the rankings, my job is to fight. Hopefully going in there and taking care of business will get me a top-15 spot and move forward with a big matchup,” Jackson concluded.
Do you think Damon Jackson will finish Dan Ige at UFC Vegas 67?