By TXMMA Staff // Mike Calimbas // Photo by Charles Nguyen
Octagon MMA’s featherweight champion ready to shine and bring his win streak past 9 at UFC 177
9 days. That’s all the time “The Leech” Damon Jackson has had to prepare for his UFC debut. To put this in perspective, most people need a two week notice to prepare for a new employer. But Damon, he only needed a moment to make a decision and join the toughest employer in his profession, in the entire world.
Damon Jackson (9-0) will make his debut this Saturday, at UFC 177 in Sacramento, CA. A rarity for a debuting fighter, he will debut on the pay-per-view main card opposite Brazilian Yancy Medeiros (9-2). He’ll take the cage as one of two Texans fighting that night, with Pharr’s Carlos Diego Ferreira also fighting on the same card headlined by bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw taking on Renan Barao. In short, it’s a high profile fight card and a chance for Jackson to make an immediate splash on the largest stage in the world.
Looking at the matchup objectively it’s an interesting one. Take a consensus look at the odds and bookmakers have this one slotted as a pick-em bout, with neither fighter favored above the other. Yancy “The Kid” Medeiros has the advantage of UFC experience on his side but then again he’s never won in the octagon, losing to contenders Rustam Khabilov and Jim Miller while picking up a no contest against Yves Edwards. Set that aside and he won his first 9 bouts as a pro including 2 in Strikeforce before making his debut. Now Damon is in the exact same position as Medeiros was in. With 9 days to go and 9 wins with 9 finishes on record, Damon took the fight and he’s confident it will be a good one. This is his time to shine.
Now 9 days has turned to 2 and Jackson will walk into UFC 177 this Saturday with the momentum of his Legacy FC title win over Leonard Garcia this past summer, the first time “Bad Boy” had been finished in three years. Not that it’s related but he’s also following the momentum of three other Dallas-Fort Worth fighters who experienced success in the UFC last week with Chas Skelly, James Vick, and Matt Hobar all winning at UFC Fight Night 49.
Now it’s the Leech’s turn. And he’s ready for his time to shine.