Uncasville, CT — Arguably one of the most intriguing fights on paper at Bellator 255, Jason Jackson vs. Neiman Gracie lived up to the hype. The #3 and #6 fighters in the welterweight division took center stage in what both considered a title eliminator. Jackson found himself in a tough position in round one, and an even weirder, grosser situation when his eye scraped the cage, causing him be temporarily blind in it.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen this,” Jackson told the media backstage. “I thought my eyeball was popping out, I couldn’t see nothing but blood. Everything came back to me in the third round, the secnd round I couldn’t see nothing,” Jackson continued. Even with the strange eye injury, Jackson wasn’t worried about the judges. “I knew I won that fight, I out grappled him.”
Previously ranked #6 in the division by the rankings committee, and defeating the #3 in the division (Gracie), many have to imagine a big fight, even a title fight, is on the horizon for Jackson. Although in Bellator CEO Scott Coker’s Media Scrum, he teased that a different fight will be announced soon for champ Douglas Lima, Jackson believes he should be next.
“The Champion is next, I’m the #1 contender,” Jackson stated proudly. “If anyone don’t like that, they know where to find me, right in the Bellator cage. I knew coming into this fight my wrestling, striking, footwork was far superior to his [Gracie].”
Jackson’s message for Douglas Lima was simple. “You’re Next.”
Watch the full Bellator 255 post-fight media scrum with Jason Jackson above.
