Dan Ige scores a vicious left hook in KO against Damon Jackson
Dan Ige compiled a six-fight winning streak. It began with a TKO against Mike Santiago at UFC 225 in June 2018, and continued until May 16, 2020, when he defeated Edson barboza.
Those six wins helped him overcome the doubts and the whispers that he wasn’t good enough, and it moved him into the upper echelons of the UFC’s featherweight division.
In his last five fights, however, it’s been a struggle and the toll it took on him was obvious on Saturday after he ended a three-fight losing skein by knocking out Damon Jackson at Apex in Las Vegas with a counter left hook at 4:13 of the second. Jackson fell to the floor and Ige walked away. He knew Jackson was finished. Ige lost his streak of losing four out five in the win. It ended in a resounding manner.
Ige, a classy and elegant fighter, dedicated the win to Victoria Lee, a champion for the ONE Championship. who tragically died on Dec. 26, 2022, at only 18.
He admitted that it was hard to go for as long as he did without a win and that he wanted a positive outlook. He had written “$50K” on his hand wraps as a way to motivate himself to gun for one of the UFC’s post-fight bonuses.
He did it big.
“It’s been almost two years without a win and you know, I dedicate my entire life to this sport,” Ige said in the Octagon after the fight. “My identity’s lied in winning for a long time. You see, without anyone, my depression and anxiety were all my own. [and] Doing everything possible to win for my family and my son [Bam].
“I just want to be a good role model and you know, when you don’t get it, it sucks, but you’ve just got to keep getting up over and over and over again.”
Ige was in most of the fights he lost and they were against some of the elite in the world, so it’s not like he was losing to tomato cans.
Jackson was his opponent, so he accepted the losses and kept pushing himself to win.
Ige’s power was making a difference throughout the fight. Although he was outboxing Jackson mainly, it was evident that his flush landings were having an effect on Jackson. Jackson had sent Ige a direct message to arrange the fight.
The final left hook was the most impactful, however. Jackson threw an elbow at Ige. He was able to clearly read it. He dodged the uppercut and retorted with the hook, which landed on Ige’s jaw. That instantly ended both the fight and Ige’s losing streak.
It was a result of practicing it at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, Ige stated.
“It’s repetition,” Ige said. “I have great coaches … “I have an incredible team around. This team is what I rely on to keep me going. I have ‘$50K,’ written on my hand wraps. You guys don’t see it, but I knew I was going to land it one day or another.”