Jackson seeks British first in fighting for MMA title
The shy 33-year-old tells Gareth A Davies how love of combat led her to Saturday’s world decider
They say you should never judge a book by its cover. Kate Jackson, with her middle-class accent and shy demeanour, comes across as the unlikeliest of cage fighters. But she has spent 10 years and 15 fights transforming into a thorny, brutal competitor with flying fists, feet and elbows.
Once the 33-year-old from Newquay steps into a fight arena, she is a different beast. And after a decade of testing herself in the most unforgiving sport, she will make history in Hawaii on Saturday night as the first British woman to contest a world title in mixed martial arts.
“I wanted to know what happened when I got hit in the face,” says Jackson in an exclusive interview, as she prepares to meet the Bellator flyweight champion Ilima-lei Macfarlane in Honolulu. “It was through my fascination to test myself in combat. That’s the simplest way of putting it.
“I started karate and judo in my mid-teens, and it’s just been an evolution ever since then. It came about one stage at a time, with me adding more martial arts before I dived into the mixed martial arts world to fight.
“I wanted to find out what happens when you put two people in a small space and they’re allowed to use everything, within reason. I think everyone knows the answer to that now, given how much MMA has grown.
“It seems a weird thing to say nowadays because of the prevalence of MMA and fullcontact fighting, but 15 years ago that was a very real question to want to answer. What happens against someone who is trying to hurt you, just as you are trying to hurt them?”
In the time Jackson has been fighting, women’s MMA has mushroomed.
When her parents, Richard and Jackie, a rural land surveyor and school bursar respectively, found out about Jackson’s penchant for fighting, they backed her, as did her sister Rebecca, who has a Masters in American Literature, and her brother Robert, who is “very, very intelligent and specialises in genetics”, Jackson says.
There are always reasons why individuals choose to fight. Jackson had a desire to test herself physically. “I think it was something that made sense when I was a teenager. I love reading and have always read a lot, though I was dyslexic and it made academic stuff that much more of a struggle
Socially, as well, I was incredibly shy. Once I got a little older, the physical outlet drew me, and it helped me in so many ways, but helped me grow and grow in confidence.”
But here Jackson is now, looking to conquer the planet. Only two British men, Michael Bisping and Liam Mcgeary, have won world titles, in Bellator and the UFC respectively.
Jackson’s opportunity has come at a time when women in the sport are flourishing. “I keep thinking, like a lot of people, if only I was 10 years younger, but really I’ve got opportunities that a generation of fighters before me, especially females, just didn’t have,” she says. “When I started there was no thought it could be a full-time career. That’s a possibility now. You can train and fight full time as
‘I’ll stay focused round by round and try to push the fight my way and take her strengths away’
a woman. Ten years ago that was just inconceivable.”
Jackson has a record of 11 victories, three losses and one draw, and has fought two previous world champions, using her strong wrestling and striking game.
“I am grateful to be alive now and have the opportunities I have,” she says.
“I’ve had to fight abroad for the vast majority of my career. I ran out of opponents in the UK in 2012. But it’s wasn’t until Bellator invested in the UK and European market that I had the opportunity to fight in my home country again, which is amazing. I love fighting in London.”
Indeed, it was a victory in London in June, when Jackson crushed the Ukrainian Lena Ovchynnikova with cuts from elbow strikes using a mounted top position that earned her the world title shot.
Jackson remains the underdog. Macfarlane, a renowned grappler who studied at the Punahou High School in Honolulu attended by former US President Barack Obama and golfer Michelle Wie, defends her title for the fourth time at the sold-out venue for 9,000 fans.
Macfarlane has become a huge star in Hawaii. “It’ll be amazing. It’s an interesting environment to be fighting in, they’re definitely fight fans and I want to give them a good fight,” says Jackson, who has a deep respect for her rival.
“She has a wrestling background, so she’s really tenacious. She wants the fight on the floor and she keeps going until she gets it there,” she says, moving her shoulders as she apes moves.
“I want to be on the ground, but I’m not sure I want to be on the ground at all costs. I’d rather be dictating where the fight takes place.
“But if she takes me down, it’s not somewhere I’m afraid of being. Watching her previous fights, her submission game is definitely something to be careful of.
“It’s not going to be an easy fight. I don’t expect that at all. We’re preparing for it to potentially go the five-round distance. I’ll stay focused step by step and round by round, and try to push the fight my way and take her strengths away.”
What would it mean to become the first British woman to win a world title in mixed martial arts? “It would be amazing. You know, the truth is that I hadn’t even realised or considered that I was making history when I got the offer to fight Ilima. I was a bit surprised to get it at first. I thought I needed one more fight. But once I got my head round it, I jumped at the opportunity. Now I can really see if this 10-year experiment has worked – against the very best in the world. For me, it doesn’t get better than that.”
Ilima-lei Macfarlane v Kate Jackson for the Bellator Women’s Flyweight title is live on Sky Sports on Saturday night.