Montel Jackson

Montel Jackson (born April 24, 1992) is an American mixed martial artist, who currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Background
Jackson started training in wrestling at high school to get away from street life as most of his friends ended up in jail or dead. With good results in wrestling, Jackson set his goal to be an Olympic wrestler; however, he chose to stay back and take care of his sick grandparents and turned down the opportunity to wrestle in college. Jackson did an invitational wrestling match, Team USA vs. Team Japan and started training in the Olympic training center in Marquette, Michigan. His dream of becoming an Olympics wrestler would not materialize as in February 2013, International Olympic Committee (IOC) members voted to remove wrestling from the Olympic programme. During this time, one of his friends, Devondrick Bankston, was preparing for a fight against Raufeon Stots, and asked him to help on wrestling drills at Red Schafer MMA gym. At the gym, he met Gato, a Puerto Rican, who managed to talk him into competing in a Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament without a real class instructions. Eventually, Jackson gave up his Olympics dream and transitioned to mixed martial arts.

Early career
Jackson started his professional MMA career in 2017 and fought primarily on the regional circuit in the Midwest United States. He amassed a record of 6–0 before being signed by UFC.

Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series
Jackson faced Rico DiSciullo on June 12, 2018, at Dana White's Contender Series 9. He won the fight via technical knockout on round three.

Ultimate Fighting Championship
Two month after the win over DiSciullo, Jackson made his promotional debut on 11 day notice, replacing Benito Lopez, on August 4, 2018, against Ricky Simón at UFC 227. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Jackson was originally scheduled to face Brian Kelleher on November 3, 2018, at UFC 230, replacing injured Domingo Pilarte. At the weigh-ins, Kelleher weighed-in at 137 pounds, 1 pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136 pounds. He was fined 20 percent of his purse, which went to Jackson. On November 3, it was reported that Kelleher withdrew from the bout due to illness and thus the fight was cancelled. The pairing was left intact and rescheduled for December 29, 2018, at UFC 232. At the weigh-ins, Jackson weighed in at 137 lbs, 1 pound over the non-title fight bantamweight limit of 136 lbs. Jackson was fined 20 percent of his purse to Kelleher and the fight proceeded at catchweight. Jackson won the fight via submission in the first round.

Jackson faced Andre Soukhamthath on April 13, 2019, at UFC 236. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Jackson faced Felipe Colares on January 25, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 166. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Jackson faced Brett Johns on July 19, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 172. Despite knocking Johns down in the first round, Jackson lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Jackson faced Jesse Strader on March 20, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 21. At the weigh-ins, Strader weighed in at 137.5 pounds, one and a half pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Strader was fined 20% of his individual purse, which went his opponent Jackson. After knocking Strader down twice, Jackson won the bout via TKO in the first round.

Jackson was scheduled to face Danaa Batgerel on September 18, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 192. However, Batgerel was pulled from the event due to visa issues and he was replaced by JP Buys. Jackson won the fight by unanimous decision, setting the record for the most knockdowns in a bout in UFC Bantamweight history with four.

Jackson was scheduled to face Danaa Batgerel on March 26, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 205. However, Jackson had to pull out of the bout and was replaced by Chris Gutiérrez.

Jackson faced Julio Arce on November 12, 2022, at UFC 281. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Jackson faced Rani Yahya on April 22, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 222. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. This performance earned Jackson his first Performance Of The Night award.

Jackson was scheduled to face Chris Gutiérrez on October 7, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 229. However, Jackson withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reasons, and was replaced by Alateng Heili on four days notice.

Jackson was scheduled to face Said Nurmagomedov on June 22, 2024 at UFC on ABC 6. However, Nurmagomedov withdrew from the bout for unknown reasons and was replaced by Farid Basharat. The next month, it was reported that Basharat was unable to compete due to an injury, so the bout was scrapped.

Jackson faced Da'Mon Blackshear on July 13, 2024 at UFC on ESPN 59. He won the fight by knockout eighteen seconds into the first round. This fight earned him another Performance of the Night award.

Championships and accomplishments

 * Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * Performance of the Night (Two times) vs. Rani Yahya and Da'Mon Blackshear
 * Most knockdowns in UFC Bantamweight division history (11)
 * Tied (Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Josh Emmett & Cody Garbrandt) for most consecutive fights with a knockdown landed in UFC history (7)
 * Most knockdowns landed in a UFC Bantamweight bout (4) (vs. JP Buys)
 * Second most knockdowns-per-15-minutes in UFC Bantamweight division history (1.69)
 * Second fewest strikes absorbed-per-minute in UFC Bantamweight division history (1.38)
 * Highest takedown accuracy percentage in UFC Bantamweight division history (56.2%)
 * Fourth highest significant strike percentage in UFC Bantamweight division history (1.69)
 * Second fastest knockout/finish in UFC Bantamweight division history (0:18) (vs. Da'Mon Blackshear)