Jackson vows to fight back from his latest setback
MMA fighter/boxer believes he suffered a heart attack and stroke on Friday
This latest crushing setback, Maurice “The Hulk” Jackson said on Saturday from his hospital bed, won’t crush him — or set him back — for long.
“I’m a tough rascal,” the Albuquerque MMA middleweight fighter and cruiserweight boxer said by phone from Presbyterian Hospital, some 18 hours after collapsing in the shower Friday evening at his home. “I’ll beat this.”
Late Friday, Jackson, 36, posted on Facebook that he’d suffered a heart attack and a stroke. He said on Saturday that tests had been inconclusive, but that he’d vomited blood that morning.
“They’re keeping me here for now,” he said. Jackson said he previously had been diagnosed with extremely high blood pressure.
This health scare came just three days after the death from Crohn’s Disease of his younger brother, Martin Williams, in Chicago. Martin Williams’ death came a year minus one day after the death of his and Jackson’s sister, Marita Williams.
Jackson’s MMA career has not been without its troubles, as well. Though successful in the cage, with a 7-2 record, he’s had trouble getting fights — just nine in eight years since turning pro. He’s 2-1 as a boxer, having turned to the sport in part because of his difficulty getting MMA fights.
His most recent MMA fight was a victory by second-round TKO (punches) over UFC and Bellator veteran Melvin Guillard on a Spartan Combat League card in Denver on February 10, 2018.
On Nov. 1, 2019, as a boxer, he lost by four-round majority decision to Sadiah Parker on a Holmes Promotions card at the Marriott Pyramid North.
Jackson trains at Jackson-Wink MMA.
JONES-NGANNOU A NO GO: Albuquerque’s Jon Jones wants the fight. France’s Francis Ngannou wants it. Would MMA fans buy it? Of course.
UFC President Dana White, though, is saying no thanks.
“Obviously that’s a fight that people would love to see,” White said Friday in an interview with ESPN. “These guys are talking a lot of smack back and forth. I don’t see that fight happening. I don’t see that fight happening.”
White had no further comment, whether because he didn’t want to comment further or because an obvious follow-up question was not asked.
In any case, Jones, the UFC light heavyweight champion, says he doesn’t understand why White wouldn’t want to match him against Ngannou — a heavyweight and arguably the most destructive puncher in the sport — in a weight-division crossover fight that seemingly would be pay-per-view gold.
In an interview with John Morgan of mmajunkie.com, Jones (26-1) said the UFC had told him in the past they would adjust his contract accordingly were he to step up to heavyweight.
“Thursday I found out that that’s not happening,” he said, “and it’s upsetting. I feel like someone’s put a little bit of a limit on my ceiling.”
Ngannou (15-3), who’s coming off a stunning, first-round knockout of Jairzinho Rozenstruik, is equally put off.
“In my opinion, the UFC aren’t willing to make this Jon fight happens (sic) or at least for what it (sic) worth,” he tweeted.
So miffed is Jones that he’s willing (or so he tweets) to bypass upcoming proposed light heavyweight title defenses against Jan Blachowicz and/or Dominick Reyes.
“It’s been fun you guys, maybe I’ll see you in a year or two,” tweeted Jones, 32.
In a separate tweet: “Maybe when they’re willing to do better business I’ll come back, until then health fitness and family.”
UPCOMING: Jackson-Wink light heavyweight Devin Clark (11-4) is matched against Alonzo Menifield (9-0) on a UFC card scheduled for June 6.
The proposed site — with no fans in attendance — is the UFC’s Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, though the Nevada State Athletic Commission has yet to approve combat-sports events in light of coronavirus precautions.
Clark is coming off an impressive victory by unanimous decision over Dequan Townsend on the Feb. 15 UFC card at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho.
As previously reported by the Journal online, Albuquerque’s Jordan Espinosa (14-7) is booked for a bantamweight fight on a June 13 UFC card against Mark De La Rosa (11-4). UFC Apex is the proposed site.