Dustin Jacoby (18-5-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) kept his ranking in the light heavyweight division with a knockout of Da Un Jung (15-3-1 MMA, 4-1-1 UFC) at UFC on ABC 3 on Long Island on July 16.
“It feels really good,” Jacoby told MMASucka. “I said post-fight that I was really happy about that one. I thought it was one of the better nights of my career. I had a lot of fun. The crowd was awesome. They really welcomed ‘The Hanyak’ with open arms. Yeah man, it was risky going in there and defending my spot against an up-and-coming prospect doing really well. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and because of that, I know that I was more nervous than usual, but because of that, I knew I was going to be really sharp and on point, and I sure was.”
Jacoby said he was going with the flow in the Octagon when he realized Jung was going to try to have a straight kickboxing affair with him.
“He had me up against the fence, I thought for sure he was going to try and come in for a takedown,” Jacoby said. “I just felt really comfortable in there, and he didn’t. I knew ‘OK, the longer you kickbox with me, it plays in my favor.’”
Jacoby is a former Glory kickboxer who made a run in the kickboxing world between UFC stints.
When Jacoby caught Jung with a check hook he catches a lot of opponents with, “The Hanyak” smelled blood in the water.
“I saw his eyes roll a little bit. That’s when I said, ‘Gotta go,’ fired off that one-two, and the two hit him flush. Once again, I saw his eyes roll and I knew it was over, man. I started walking off.”
Jung’s quick recovery from the knockout put a scare into Jacoby’s corner.
“I hit him with that two, I saw his eyes roll, I saw him go down. I put my hands up, and I start walking to my coach. My corner, they went from screaming and pumped up, and my coach had a concerned look on his face and just pointed. I turned around super quick. I saw Jung had got to his feet, but the first step he took, he wobbled a little bit. I knew he was done, man. I’ve been there before. His mind and warrior spirit were telling him to fight on, and he was trying to fight on, but his body would not have let him. The ref just saved him from further damage.”
Some fans on social media after the fight said the stoppage by referee Kevin MacDonald was early. Jacoby was adamant that was not the case.
“He would’ve taken some unnecessary punishment,” Jacoby said. “There’s no doubt about that. The same people who complain about early stoppages are the same ones who complain when the ref takes forever to stop it. I saw it in his eyes.”
Jacoby believes MacDonald saw the same thing he saw.
“When [Jung] got up, he got to his feet fairly quick; a lot quicker than what it seemed like in real life. Rewatching the tape, he got up quick, but his arms were also stuck down by his side. He just would’ve taken unnecessary punishment. There’s no doubt in my mind I would have been punching him until he went out cold. I just knew it wasn’t necessary. I knew it was over. I could see the look in his eye. Like I’ve said, I’ve been there before: He wanted to fight on, he thought he could’ve fought on, but his body would not have allowed him to intelligently defend himself.”
Dustin Jacoby Knocks Out Da Un Jung!!! #UFCLongIsland pic.twitter.com/PapPxmfP5q
— Pure Finishes (@PureKnockouts) July 16, 2022
With Jung in the rear-view mirror, and Jacoby moving up to No. 14 in the UFC light heavyweight rankings, he already has an opponent in mind.
“I absolutely want to see Volkan Oezdemir. I’ve been thinking a lot about it. I know he had a big win over Paul Craig that was everything I had hoped for. I think I match up really well with him. He’s a former title challenger and he’s back in the win column. He should move up to No. 8 by beating Paul Craig. The ball’s in his court. We’ve made the callout, and the UFC likes the fight. It’s going to be whether he wants to take that risk or not.
“One thing I want to say to him is, I just did the same thing,” Jacoby continued. “I got into the top-15, I knew I had to defend my spot against an up-and-coming prospect who was really surging who had a 15-fight win-streak, 4-0 in the UFC with that one draw to Sam Alvey, but it was a dangerous fight. If I lose that fight, I go back down to 18, 19 [in the rankings] and Jung comes up takes my spot. I went in there and I defended it. I’m ready for the noise to get a little bit louder, and I want to see if Volkan Oezdemir is willing to defend his spot.”
Jacoby said he would “absolutely not” entertain any offer other than someone ranked ahead of him. After all, he is 6-0-1 since his return to the UFC.
Dustin Jacoby was resigned to the UFC in 2020 with an 0-2 record in the UFC and an 0-2 record in Bellator.
He is 6-0-1 in his current run in the UFC. pic.twitter.com/Q5lnu4aLkS
— 𝘾𝙊𝘼𝘾𝙃 𝙈𝘾𝙂𝙐𝙄𝙍𝙆 (@TheyCalIMeCoach) July 16, 2022
“Now, especially with that first-round knockout, I made a statement, and I’m going to the top, man. I’m pretty much demanding I fight with Volkan Oezdemir. I really want that fight. And again, the UFC likes that fight, too. I’ve been in talks with them. My manager [Jason House] has been in talks with them. They love that fight, and hopefully, Volkan does, too, and we get it on later this year.”
Oezdemir was not the only post-fight call-out Jacoby made.
He called out Daniel Cormier during his post-fight Octagon interview for a golf match. Nothing has been set in stone since the call-out.
“I think it would be entertaining for the fans,” Jacoby said. “We could set it up like ‘The Match’ with Tom Brady and whoever else, Phil Mickelson, whoever else gets out and plays. I would love to see DC on the course and get this game on.”
Jacoby proposed he teams up with his coach, Marc Montoya, and go against Cormier and a coach of his choice.
“I play golf with my coach weekly, and he’s not too shabby either. I think Marc Montoya, my coach, and I take on DC and whatever coach he wants.”
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