While it’s safe to say the CM Punk experiment is over for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) after he suffered his second loss in as many tries at UFC 225 in Chicago, Ill., last weekend (Sat., June 9, 2018), the same could likely be said about Mike Jackson, the man who beat him up for 15 minutes.
That’s because UFC President Dana White wasn’t too thrilled with what he perceived to be showboating, declaring during the post-fight presser (see it), that perhaps “The Truth” should go back to where he came from if that’s how he’s going to conduct himself inside the cage.
Meanwhile, this temper tantrum still gets a pass.
During a recent appearance on “The MMA Hour,” Jackson talked about his performance against Punk and denies showboating or disrespecting his opponent, saying people are underestimating how tough Punk really is. He also didn’t understand the reason White let his feelings get the best of him after the fight.
“It was one of these things where I was confused because all I kept hearing about was that I was taunting him and showboating. That’s not my character, that’s not my style. Then I hear what Dana White was saying, he’s running his mouth,” he said. “Look, I know Dana is emotional, he’s like a little girl sometimes and he gets in his feelings. But, when you have a platform like that, you need to take a step back. I just didn’t understand it.”
According to Jackson, since he didn’t score the homerun out the gate, he decided to play it safer moving forward to avoid getting caught. And if White saw that as a sign of disrespect for Punk, Jackson wants to set him straight.
“What I think it is, it was sort of my style, it was a little bit different. I was going out there to get the first round knockout. And I told people beforehand, C.M. Punk, he’s a tough cat. I landed some solid shots, I rocked him. I landed some solid elbows and I hurt him but he never went to the ground,” he added. “For me, I am not going to run in and try to get a finish on someone, get caught with something silly and then I’m a meme forever in MMA. I played the smart role and I kept my distance. After the first round, he didn’t go down so I was like, well, I didn’t get the first-round knockout. Plan B was just to beat him up. And I told everybody before hand that alI wanted to do was to beat him up nice enough where he doesn’t want to do this anymore. I never wanted to hurt the guy.”
Afterward, Punk was taken to a local hospital to get treated for a busted up face. It’s something Jackson hated to hear, as he never wanted to hurt the former pro wrestler, which is why he didn’t lay the punishment on thick just to feed the savage fans and the brash president.
“What I learned is that Dana White and MMA fans, you guys are savages, man. It’s like, they wanted me to give this dude some sever CTE. And I was like, this guy has a family to feed, he has someone to go home to,” he added. “And I would feel bad, I sent him to the emergency room with just the cuts and bruises to his face. And they wanted me to give this dude severe brain damage. I’m not about that life. I guess fighting really isn’t for me, I don’t have that savageness like I used to when I was younger.”
While White has not officially cut Jackson at the time of this writing, the next few days and weeks will be interesting, as Jackson says he tried to reach out to his boss to see what exactly got him so hot and bothered.
His attempts, though, were unsuccessful.