Despite suffering a horrendous cut in round three, Damon Jackson was able to survive en route to a decision victory over Charles Rosa.
Damon Jackson, two fights into his second UFC stint, was paired up with Charles Rosa early on the UFC Vegas 39 card.
The featherweight pairing featured two fighters with a combined 22 submission wins between them. Meaning both would have to be extra careful going to the ground.
Rosa and Jackson almost immediately got into some clinch work, as Jackson shot in after being clipped with a right hook by Rosa. Rosa defended the takedown, but then landed a knee that was a bit low for a brief halt in the action. Following the brief break, the two began trading and Jackson began to find a home for his kicks. However soon the fight once again hit the mat, and Rosa quickly looked for a heel hook. He nearly got the submission but Jackson was able to land some big right hands that got Rosa off of him before the round ended.
Round two saw more grappling to start, as Rosa rolled for a kneebar but Jackson instead ended up on his back. Rosa did a good job of fighting off submissions for a bit and even got back to his feet briefly before Jackson slammed him down and got the body triangle. Once Jackson slammed that on it got worse for Rosa, as Jackson began slamming down elbows and shots while Rosa just did his best to survive. Luckily for him, he was saved by the bell as Jackson was raining down blows.
SAVED BY THE BELL 🔔 as RD 1️⃣ comes to an end! #UFCVegas39 pic.twitter.com/vOBcRXySs1
— UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2021
Rosa badly busted Jackson open to start round three after a spinning back elbow, however, Jackson quickly took Rosa’s back and looked for the submission attempt. Rosa then fought out of the choke and was able to get back to the feet where the cut was inspected by the ringside doctor. Despite bleeding enough to cover both men, and various portions of the cage floor, the bout was allowed to continue. Jackson then went into survival mode for the rest of the fight, and he was able to wrestle his way to the scorecards.
Official Result: Damon Jackson def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 30-27)
