Damon Jackson knew he couldn’t pull out of his fight after his brother passed, eyes Julian Erosa after TKO win over Pat Sabatini

Damon Jackson knew he wasn’t going to pull out of his UFC Vegas 60 fight against Pat Sabatini.

As Jackson was in Las Vegas getting ready for his fight against Sabatini, he found out his older brother passed away. Immediately, he told his coach he was going to fight and informed the UFC of the news but remained adamant he was going to compete.

“During my fight week when I found out my brother passed, I told everyone just don’t involve me in any of this until my fight is over,” Jackson said to BJPENN.com. “I just told them I’ll do whatever I had to do and once I decided to take the fight, I knew all my focus had to be on Pat because he was a tough opponent and was considered the next big thing. Once it got to fight time, I was there and ready and it worked out great.”

Part of the reason why Jackson wanted to fight was to take his mind off things and due to the fact he already put a full camp in on Sabatini. He was confident throughout the camp he would derail the hype of Sabatini which is what he did as he landed a front kick and then finished him via ground and pound.

“I did expect to land that front kick and it’s a hole we saw in his game just with the way he moves,” Jackson said. “The plan was to either throw the front kick or knee when he was setting up the takedown and I expected to rock him and then get a choke but I got the TKO win and it was perfect. My dad was back home watching and my mom was there and I knew that they wouldn’t want to see me in a bloody, three-round slugfest so I knew I had to get in there and get him out quickly.”

Once the ref jumped in to stop the fight, Damon Jackson got emotional and started crying after looking up to his mom and family. He said it finally hit him that his brother passed away after holding the emotions in all week he finally let everything out.

“I’m not a super emotional dude so holding it in all week was rough and then when the fight was over I realized I didn’t have to hold it in anymore,” Jackson said. “I looked up and saw my mom in the stands and I knew the fight was over and could finally process what was going on.”

With the win, Jackson extended his win streak to four and is hoping to get one more fight this year. The goal for ‘Action’ is to face Julian Erosa in December with the winner getting a ranked opponent next.

“I was back in the gym on Tuesday working out. I’d love to get in there on December 3 or 10 because they are both in front of fans… I have been asking for a top-15 fight and I do want that, but a fight that makes the most sense is Julian Erosa. We are both coming off big wins, on a winning streak, and are next up to get a ranked guy,” Jackson concluded.

Would you like to see Damon Jackson vs. Julian Erosa next?