Damon Jackson is looking to add another win against a rising star to his resume.
Jackson faces the surging Chepe Mariscal this Saturday (August 10) at UFC Vegas 95 in a highly anticipated Featherweight bout.
Heading into his co-main event bout, Jackson spoke with the media. Jackson is no stranger to facing fast rising athletes, having done so numerous times throughout his UFC career. For ‘The Leech’, he sees a win against Mariscal as another big step towards securing a ranking in a stacked division.
"(He’s) the next big thing, I've heard this story over and over. Kamuela (Kirk), Pat (Sabatini), all these guys that are these big names. I'm like, Yeah, the kid, he's good, he's tough as hell, too and I know he's game to fight. I know this is going to be a great fight for the fans and definitely worthy of a co-main or main event spot.
“It's a tough fight I'm not looking past him in any way, but just mentally right now and physically right now, I'm just a different level and he can't handle me on the ground.”
At 36, Jackson feels he still has plenty of time left in the sport but want to remain as active as possible in order to climb up the rankings in a timely matter. He said:
“I think staying relevant and trying to break in that top 15, top ten, you have to you know, stay busy. So there's no time off and I just feel like at this point in my career, like, I'm gonna push it every day because I don't know how much longer this is going to happen.
“I just feel so healthy and I feel so good, so I'm going to push as hard as I can for as long as I can, it just, it makes me happy that it's a good opportunity.”
Having spent a decade with the UFC, Jackson has witnessed many athletes come and go through the promotion. At present, there is an abundance of rising stars on the brink of breaking into the rankings. Although he respects the next generation of athletes coming through the promotion, he does not feel they are being as tested as much as past prospects.
"Well, I think you have to respect that, you can't look past it for sure. I think that a lot of these guys are getting their hype, but they're not fighting the tough dogs of the division. They get tested with these tough fights and most of the time they're not winning all of them and they're not winning with hype. So when someone wins with hype and they win and they keep going through these guys, you got to give them respect.”
