Las Vegas, NV – UFC featherweight Dan Ige badly needed a win at UFC Vegas 67 on Saturday night and he got it by scoring a walk-off KO victory over Damon Jackson.
“Yeah that was an emotional one for me. Get back into the win column. Been working really hard. Been working on myself, been working on my mind, been training harder than ever. So it felt really good for the work to pay off, because sometimes preparation and hard work doesn’t always pay off,” Ige told Cageside Press among other media at his post-fight scrum.
“Tonight it did so it felt good.”
Ige (14-6) got back into the win column in style with a highlight reel walk-off KO of Jackson that seemed almost too perfect.
50K IGE WITH THE WALK OFF 😳 #UFCVegas67 pic.twitter.com/46qPVQa1TY
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) January 15, 2023
“I was right in perfect range, and he dropped his right hand to throw the uppercut, and I knew if I just threw the hook it was going to land. It landed perfectly, and I saw him fall backwards and his knees collapsed. I knew it was game over,” Ige said.
Ige showed restraint after Jackson went down opting to not land any more shots on his opponent.
“There’s no need to follow up, and do further damage. I’m a killer in there, but at the end of the day it’s like, if I know it’s over I don’t want to intentionally put more damage on a guy’s career. This guy has a family. I have to block that stuff out, but if I can land a clean punch and walk-off I think there’s nothing better than that,” he said.
“It’s f*cking cold. You land a good punch and walk-off like Mark Hunt….just sick.”
Recently the MMA world lost a special talent and person when ONE Championship’s Victoria Lee passed away at just 18-years-old. Ige knows the family well.
“Honestly, it’s super hard. I never knew Victoria. I know Christian, I know Angela, I know her husband. I know their dad. When that news came out, a girl being so young, 18, tons of potential, loved by so many, it’s just heartbreaking. Because that’s one of our own,” Ige said.
Many on social media have jumped onto posts about Victoria Lee’s passing posting theories about what may have happened to the young fighter. No cause of death has been released by the family.
“I pray that people give them the respect because on social media everyone wants to come up with the conspiracy. Was it the vaccine? Was it mental health? Was it this, was it that? Like give them freaking respect because that’s their tragedy. It’s their loss,” he said.
“Give them some respect. An 18-year-old girl passes, and they’re going to mourn that for the rest of their lives. We’re going to wake up Monday and f*cking read the newspaper ‘What’s next?’ They have to mourn that. It’s an absolute tragedy. They were definitely weighing on my heart, and the only thing you can do is pray for them.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Dan Ige above.
