In the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, time and tide waits for nobody. For those fighters without time on their side inactivity can make or break. This encapsulates 35-year-old Damon “The Leech” Jackson’s career who’s been without a fight since August 2023. The Oklahoma-born brawler was not to blame for the inactivity though. Self-proclaimed ‘Gym Rat’ Jackson put his name in the hat whenever possible, but the UFC had other plans.
At 35 years old and suffering a handful of brutal knockouts, it’s now or never for Jackson. It has been hard for Damon to find his feet amongst the Featherweight elite with 4 cancelled bouts since joining the UFC in 2020. Signed at 31 years old these disruptions took a considerable chunk from his already fleeting UFC championship hopes.
This weekend, at UFC Vegas 90, the wait is finally over after 8 months of spectating he faces Alexander “The Great Ape” Hernandez.
Alexander Hernandez: The Man in the Mirror?
Alexander Hernandez though stylisticly different has a career that somewhat reflects Jackson’s despite being in the UFC for 2 years longer. Hernandez has a record of 14 wins (6 KO-2 SUB-6 DEC) and 7 losses (3 KO-1 SUB-3 DEC). The symmetry of Alex’s wins and losses defines “The Great Ape’s” career, for every win there is a loss. Hernandez too has struggled to maintain a positive win trajectory taking one step forward and two steps back since joining the UFC in 2018.
Riding an immense wave of hype Alex had bounced around various promotions amassing a 6 fight win streak to earn himself a UFC contract. He kicked the doors in on his debut with an explosive first-round knockout of Beneil Dariush. Then displaying he can grind out decisions he got the nod from the judges in a dominant performance over Olivier Aubin-Mercier. Impressed with Hernandez the UFC matched him up against veteran Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone to test Alex against the elite. However, Hernandez overlooked the always-game Cerrone discrediting him for his age. Stoic Cerrone unphased by hype-train Hernandez dished out a timeless humbling on the youngster. A perfect high kick sat Alex Hernandez down for an impending swarm of ground and pound that ended the night.
Despite picking up some wins along the way a record of 4- 5 since he fought “Cowboy” summarised the Alex Hernandez story. The two fighters Hernandez and Jackson meet at the perfect time in their respective careers. Both are in their thirties, with great potential and falling short against the upper echelon. This fight is an opportunity to show their worth.
Damon Jackson’s Career to Date
Holding a record of 22 wins (4 KO-15 SUB-3 DEC) 6 losses (4 KO-1 SUB-1 DEC) and 1 no contest the Featherweight grappler belongs in the UFC. He tore through rivalling promotions with a stellar 7-1 record in the LFA. But can he display this same prowess at the highest level?
Jackson’s welcome to the UFC couldn’t have gone any better after submitting gruelling veteran Mirsad Bektic with a mounted guillotine choke in the third round. Displaying his dangerous submission game and endless cardio “The Leech” showed his thirst for blood. Despite coming out victorious a theme had emerged for Damon, victory despite a major striking differential. This theme of Jackson landing less than his opponents repeats itself, the only exception being his KO victory over Pat Sabatini.
After an impressive debut, Damon Jackson was keen to continue as left off when he was matched up against “El Matador” Ilia Topuria 3 months later. Ilia’s timing was on point meeting Damon’s one attempt at a level change with a feisty deterent of an uppercut. Topuria unleashed relentless body-head combinations crumbling Damon 2 minutes into the first round. In hindsight, the outcome of this result is no surprise. The loss has aged well for Damon Jackson as “El Matador” now holds Featherweight gold after sleeping arguably the Featherweight GOAT in the second round.
The Oklahoman then put together a 4 fight-win streak seemingly turning a corner in his career. Unfortunately, the oscillating success of Jackson returned when faced with a step up in competition in Dan “50K” Ige. What appeared to be an evenly matched fight on paper proved to come down to one thing, punching power. Ige lived up to his name being awarded the “50K” bonus for viciously finishing Jackson with a left hook. Then came Quarantillo to extend the losing streak to 2. The voluminous striker Billy Quarantillo chained combinations together till he saw his hand raised doubling Jackson’s strikes landed (169 Quarantillo – 75 Jackson). This left Jackson 5-3 in the UFC and without a fight until 8 months later.
“The Leech V “The Great Ape”
While this fight could be seen as a classic striker versus grappler match I believe it to be much more. There is no doubt that Jackson will be looking for the submission. He is not known for chaining takedowns and dominating top control though. Furthermore, Hernandez has a 60% takedown defence while Jackson has a 34% takedown success rate. Having only lost once by submission Hernandez calls the shots. The likelihood of Damon Jackson landing a submission lies in the hands of Hernandez. If “The Great Ape” shoots he’s walking into “The Leech’s” trap. Whilst lacking finishing power Jackson has shown that he has the stamina to compete for 15 minutes.
A telling metric worth noting is that both men have squared off against Billy Quarantillo, and both have lost. Jackson by decision, Hernandez by standing TKO in the second round. No two fights are the same but I believe that Jackson’s toughness cannot be ignored. Jackson does not know the word quit. It is safe to say Alex Hernandez has the edge in punching power but he has been slightly more gun-shy in recent years. This fight comes down to who is the more well rounded, and who has the greater experience. Jackson has been in more fights, but the level of competition faced by Hernandez is much greater. For example, Donald Cerrone, Renato Moicano, Drew Dober and Thiago Moises to name a few.
I feel it’s quality over quantity and that Alex Hernandez will nullify Jackson’s grappling and strike his way to a decision.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
