A very promising featherweight fight has been added to the first UFC card of 2023.
The bout will see Hawaii’s Dan Ige (15-6) take on Damon Jackson (22-4-1, 1NC) as part of the January 14, 2023 event. Jackson announced the booking on social media on Saturday.
Ige, 31, has lost three straight, albeit against the cream of the crop in The Korean Zombie, Josh Emmett (who was just booked into an interim title fight), and former M-1 champ Movsar Evloev. Still, 0-3 is not where “50K” wants to be, though he remains ranked at 145lbs, locking down the #12 spot in the promotion’s official rankings.
Prior to his current skid, Ige had won seven of his last eight fights, including a six fight win streak that had him looking like a potential contender in the weight class.
Jackson has racked up four consecutive victories, meanwhile, dating back to October of last year. Most recently, he finished Pat Sabatini this past September, earning a Performance of the Night bonus for the TKO finish, and handing Sabatini his first loss inside the octagon.
A former Bellator MMA and LFA athlete, Jackson is currently on his second stint with the UFC, after going 0-1-1, 1NC through three fights from 2014 to 2016. His return has seen “The Leech” fare much better, with a 5-1 record in six appearances.
The UFC’s January 14, 2023 Fight Night card is expected to take place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. No broadcast plan has been officially announced for the card, which thus far contains the following reported match-ups:
- Kelvin Gastelum vs. Nassourdine Imavov
- Jeff Molina vs. Jimmy Flick
- Allan Nascimento vs. Carlos Hernandez
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Geoff Neal
- Ketlen Vieira vs. Raquel Pennington
- Jarno Errens vs. David Onama
- Omar Morales vs. Mateusz Rębecki
- Daniel Argueta vs. Isaac Dulgarian
- Punahele Soriano vs. Roman Kopylov
- Dan Ige vs. Damon Jackson
