UFC Pioneer Pat Miletich almost pulled off a win, but lousy cardio ended him.
Last night (Sat., Oct. 14, 2023) at Caged Aggression 36 inside River Center in Davenport, Iowa, Miletich lost former UFC fighter Mike Jackson in the main event after dominating him for two rounds – scoring 10-8 on most people’s scorecards. Miletich could not get off the stool entering the third and final round, crowning Jackson the winner via TKO.
Currently, there is no footage of the fight unless you bought the pay-per-view for $55; however, mixed martial arts (MMA) reporter Jason Hagholm covered the fight on social media.
Check out his round-by-round breakdown here and below.
Mike Jackson vs Pat Miletich happening now#CaggedAggression36 pic.twitter.com/fPoXFhifCA
— Jason Hagholm (@JHagholm1) October 15, 2023
Round 1: “10-8 Miletich. Miletich dropped Jackson with a big right hand and then was looking for a Kimura/Key Lock & then landed heavy ground & pound to the side of Jackson’s head.”
Round 2: “20-17 Miletich. Miletich was on top for the majority of the round and did drop Jackson twice, but Miletich is exhausted and can barely keep his hands up.”
Round 3: “IT’S OVER. Mike Jackson def. Pat Miletich via 2nd Round TKO as Miletich didn’t come out of the corner to start Round 3.”
After the fight, the pair of fighters were reportedly cordial with each other after all of the bad blood before the fight.
During Miletich’s post-fight interview, he revealed it was the first time in his life that he gassed out so bad that he could not breathe and that he would take time off to focus on his spiritual journey in the mountains of Arizona.
Post Fight Pat Miletich says that Mike Jackson fought a smart fight. Says he had something that never happened to him before in a fight and he was gassed where he couldn’t breathe. Miletich says the division in the United States needs to end and will take off to focus on his… pic.twitter.com/gzxLNNLfGl
— Jason Hagholm (@JHagholm1) October 15, 2023
Prior to last night, Miletich had not fought in MMA since 2008, when he knocked out Thomas Denny at Adrenaline MMA 2 and then retired. The UFC Hall of Famer made a surprising comeback in kickboxing in 2020 but lost a unanimous decision.
Jackson, 38, has had the strangest MMA career probably ever. He got submitted by Mickey Gall in his professional debut at UFC Fight Night: Hendricks vs. Thompson then had a no-contest with CM Punk, defeated Dean Barry via disqualification due to eye gauging, and then got flatlined by Pete Rodriguez in his final UFC fight. At least now he has a win over a UFC Hall of Famer.
Is Jackson vs. Jake Shields next?