Issue 158

September 2017

UFC featherweight

Alias: The Kid,

Team: Alan Belcher,

MMA Club Record: 20-6-0.

Jason Knight is one of the most exciting young fighters in the UFC. ‘The Kid’ first displayed his ability to put on a show in the Octagon with a Fight of the Night outing against Jim Alers.

Since then, he’s racked up more wins, including back-to-back Performances of the Night against Alex Caceres and Chas Skelly. Now he’s banging on the door of the elite ranks at 145lb.

Though he’s mean and nasty in the cage, the 25-year-old from D’Iberville, Mississippi also has a sentimental side: It’s more important to him that he can show his grandkids what a badass he is rather than winning a UFC championship.

He also reveals what makes him fight like hell, how important his family is to him and what he makes of his ‘Hick Diaz’ nickname…

How did you begin your journey to becoming fighter you are today?

When I was 14, a guy who is now my brother in law, got me into fighting, just at little local venues. I was training in my back yard. I did that for six fights, went 6-0 as an amateur and then found out about Alan Belcher’s MMA Club.

I decided to sign up and thought since I was 6-0, I was a badass and would beat up everybody in the gym.

How quickly were you forced to change your attitude?

When I arrived, it was a big surprise. Everybody at the gym was better than me, even the scrawny guys who looked like I should be able to kick their ass. They were kicking my ass. Everybody I train with is an old-school guy. If you can’t check a leg kick, they will kick you until you fall down. If you’re not blocking punches, they will catch you until they drop you. If you aren’t blocking to the body, they are going to try to knock the wind out of you.

That has molded me into the fighter I am. You get tough or you get beat up all the time, so I got tough. I gave it hell until it got to the point where I was able to get back at the guys that were beating the hell out of me a bit.

I still might go out there and lose a fight, but I will be competition for anyone.

Who inspired your fan-friendly, go-for-broke style?

The fan-friendly attitude just comes from the way I was raised. I was brought up in the sticks, where everybody knows everybody.

You open doors for women, you say yes, ma’am and no, ma’am. I grew up that way. I’ll never change. It will be the same Jason Knight today until the day I retire.

How much has your brother Josh supported you in your career and throughout your life?

Josh is always one of my cornermen. I have to give most of the credit to him. He has beaten the hell out of me most of my life.

Since the beginning of my career, he made sure he stayed on top of me. He pushed me. He made sure I kept my ass in the gym. If I wasn’t, he would be calling me asking where I was.

He made sure I stayed focused and kept doing what I was supposed to be doing. If there was going to be a fair fight, my brother made sure I didn’t back down.

I had to get my ass out there and do what I had to do. And if I lost, he was also going to kick my ass afterwards. If a bigger guy wanted to fight, I didn’t back down. I looked at it as he might whoop my ass today, but my big brother was going to whoop my ass tomorrow. I had never been scared of anyone.

You might whoop my ass, but I’m not going to run from you. You aren’t going to be able to tell anybody that you punked me out. That’s the way I have always been.

Which fight has been your toughest?

I am most proud of my fight with Musa Khamanaev. It was the fight before my UFC debut in Titan FC and he was the M-1 champ. He beat the hell out of me for a round and a half, but I submitted him.

It was the greatest moment of my life at that time. I had to pull everything I had in me out. I took the fight on two weeks’ notice, so I proved a hell of a lot to myself. I wasn’t going to give up, no matter what. That was more rewarding, to win like that, than to just easily win.

Those tough battles are the ones you feel more proud of. It’s not how hard you can hit, it’s how hard you get hit and get back up. That has always been a big thing for me. His standup or ground game might be better, but he doesn’t want it more than I do.

I have more heart than they do. I want it more than they do. I am going to push until I find that moment. Once I find it, I will capitalize on it. I am going to try to find your breaking point and if you break before I do, it’s going to be a long ass night for you.

Is being recognized for your heart and ability more important than a title?

I would like to be champion one day, of course, but that’s not what it is all about for me.

I want to be the next BJ Penn, Forrest Griffin, Dan Henderson and all of those guys I looked up to my whole life.

I want to be one of those guys people are still talking about 50 years after I’m gone. I want it to be where kids who are five years old now, will be talking about how much of a badass I was when they are 25.

You dedicated your win against Alex Caceres to your late father. What emotions came over you on that night?

It sucks that I lost my dad and my grandma within a month of each other. They were two of my biggest supporters. They were just waiting for the day for me to make it to the big show. I knew my daddy was watching, so I couldn’t lose that fight.

Daddy, this is for you. There was no way Alex Caceres was going to beat me. I saw my brother crying. I was crying, walking to the cage.

People probably think that in that emotional state, you’re not in a good place to fight. I am the complete opposite. If I am upset, you’d better watch out. It brings out a better fighter in me. I walk through any damn thing that you throw at me. Something clicks and I am in the zone where I don’t give a damn what you do, you aren’t going to stop me.

Once I get in that place inside my head, then it’s a bad time to be my opponent across the cage. I feel like the Terminator – and you are not going to stop me.

What do you make of the ‘Hick Diaz’ nickname the MMA community has given you?

I like it. I have always been a big fan of the Diaz brothers, as they have always been some of the coolest guys out there. They are down to fight, regardless. They are going to fight their asses off every time.

That is definitely a compliment, because that’s the kind of style I want to fight with. I want to get out there, grit my teeth and give it everything I’ve got until I can give it no more, so Hick Diaz doesn’t bother me one bit. I am from the sticks. I grew up in the country.

You can call me a redneck, call me a hick, call me white trash. Whatever you want to call me, it doesn’t bother me. I am proud of where I come from. If it’s something you want to talk bad about, that’s your opinion.

I don’t give a s**t what anybody thinks. It doesn’t matter to me. I take ‘hick’ and ‘redneck’ as a compliment. I wear that badge proudly.