Athletes
Montel Jackson Is Not Here To Waste Time
Looking To Notch His Sixth Consecutive Win, Montel Jackson Is Always Going To Let His Fighting Do The Talking
For someone ranked 15th in the bantamweight division and sporting a five-fight winning streak that includes three knockouts and back-to-back Performance of the Night bonuses, Montel Jackson doesn’t make a lot of noise.
Throughout the years, that’s been the Milwaukee native’s style. But many have wondered if he would have a higher profile if he lit up microphones and social media like some of his peers. Jackson has heard such talk.
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“Everybody is like, ‘Man, Montel, you got to be more vocal; you got to call these guys out,’” he said. “And I say, what am I getting for calling somebody out? The only thing I'm doing is promoting them. I'm giving these guys free promotion. I'm calling 'em out for what? For them to turn me down, for them to say, ‘I'm injured,’ or ‘I'm already booked.’ People got to realize the days of fighters just fighting to fight or fighting for the glory, are gone. It all comes down to money.”
Jackson may just be 33 years old, but as an old soul, he remembers those days.
“I was fighting for free early on,” he said. “I would tell people, do whatever you need to do to make this fight happen. If he needs my purse, give him my purse. I will pay my corner on my own. But I need this fight.”
So it was for the love of the game, then?
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“Early on, you hear the saying that hard work pays off,” Jackson said. “That's cliche. You don't really know if it's going to pay off or not. You don't really know. You just got an idea that nine times out of 10, if you work hard, you're going to get the outcome you're looking for. And early on, I’d say I’ll fight whoever. I'll fight the toughest. Go get the baddest mother**ker you can find in town. I'm going to fight him. Only thing I’d ask is to get one of my teammates on the card with me. That's it.”
Thanks to that approach, it only took five pro fights for Jackson to get a call to Dana White’s Contender Series, and while he beat Rico DiSciullo in June of 2018, he didn’t get a UFC contract. That would come two months later, and while he lost his Octagon debut to Ricky Simon, he never looked back, winning eight of is next nine. Back-to-back knockouts of Rani Yahya and Da’Mon Blackshear, the latter ending in 18 seconds, landed him in the rankings.
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Now he wants more, starting with Saturday’s bout against unbeaten prospect Daniel Marcos. It’s another dangerous test, but Jackson isn’t shying away from such moments. He just wants to fight, and he’s happy that someone stepped up because there is not a line of bantamweights asking to fight him. Some would take that as a compliment. Jackson is not one of those people.
“Man, they around here playing,” said Jackson. “They’re wasting everybody's time. We don't got time, and everybody’s wasting time. Just go on, get the L and get out the way.”
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Figueiredo took place live from Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa on May 3, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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