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Montel Jackson: 'Enough Is Enough'
Bantamweight Montel Jackson Believes A Win Over Da'Mon Blackshear At UFC Denver Finally Takes Him To The Next Level
Having your first fight in over a year delayed for three weeks is never a good thing.
But when it saves you a 19-hour trip to Saudi Arabia for a much more reasonable sub-three-hour flight to Denver, Montel Jackson won’t be complaining. Then again, the bantamweight up and comer would have fought on the moon if he had to in order to get back in the Octagon.
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“You’ve got to go where the fight's at,” said Jackson, who faces Da’Mon Blackshear this Saturday in Denver. It’s his first bout since a Performance of the Night knockout of Rani Yahya in April of 2023, and while there have been proposed fights against Chris Gutierrez, Said Nurmagomedov and Farid Basharat, none came together, and when you couple those cancellations with the always dicey prospect of perfect timing, the Milwaukee native has had to sit tight and wait for a phone call.
“My manager (Jason House) told me that the guys I was probably lining up the fight had already fought or had fights booked already. So the timing was off.”
Not ideal for a fighter on a four-fight winning streak and on the verge of a Top 15 ranking, but the ultra-cool Jackson hasn’t been rattled.
“You just stay in shape and try to improve your Fight IQ,” he said. “You always want to come out and look better than you looked in your previous fight, because if you come out looking like that same guy on tape, it’s going to be inevitable that you're going to lose because you haven't improved.”
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He did look pretty good the last time, perhaps his best yet, in halting the veteran Yahya in less than four minutes.
“Yeah, but that's the last one.”
So he’s moved on to get ready for the always dangerous Blackshear, who returns to U.S. soil after a training camp with the Tiger Muay Thai squad in Thailand. He’s a quality foe, but is this the fight that puts Jackson to the next level should he win?
“Hopefully it is,” Jackson said. “Enough is enough.”
It’s frustrating, but Jackson, an old school fighter at the age of 32, understands why he hasn’t gotten the big fight he’s wanted.
“I think, for a lot of guys, the risk versus reward don't make sense for them,” he said. “And the second thing, a lot of them dudes, they ain't too keen on fighting back; they want to fight forward. They want to keep climbing the ladder, they don't want to fight back, especially for a dangerous fight. That don't make sense unless they just a dog.”
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Jackson’s got that fight in him, and he’s proving it against Blackshear. As for the 15 minutes or less in the Octagon this weekend, be aware that it’s not a sporting event for Milwaukee’s finest.
“It's a fight, man,” he said. “I tell people, be friends afterwards, but while it's happening, we’re fighting. We’re fighting for our livelihood. It’s either me or it's going to be you; it can't be both, and I don't know nobody that likes losing. If you like losing, this is not the thing for you.”
UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs Cortez took place live from Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on July 13, 2024. 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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