The common goal among most up-and-coming regional (or international) mixed martial arts (MMA) prospects is to one day compete for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Other major promotions such as Bellator MMA, Professional Fighter’s Leagues, and ONE Championship are not far behind. Literally, countless prospects across the globe are all working toward the same career goal, making it difficult to stand out in the sea of competition. As often as possible, MMAmania.com will highlight a different combat sports prospect to keep your eyes on.
Jackson Glass
Age: 17
Height: 5’11
Weight class: Featherweight
Record: 0-0 (2-0 as an amateur)
Gym: Ambush Muay Thai/B-Team
As the sport of MMA matures, the fighters become younger. Jackson Glass, who is only 17 years old, is expected to meet high expectations.
Glass was born in New York but moved to Austin, Texas, where he currently resides. He has been training in some sort of combat sport since he can remember. He started out in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and became very good very quickly, but it was when he transitioned to Muay Thai that people started taking notice.
In 2022, he won a gold medal at the inaugural WBC Muay Thai World Youth Games and became a 14-year-old Muay Thai champion. While Jackson loved Muay Thai, he knew from when he was a toddler that he was going to fight MMA – and when he turned 17 this year, he was legally able to fight MMA in Texas.
Glass made his amateur MMA debut in September at Fury Amateur Series 54 and smoked his opponent in under two minutes via TKO.
Watch the entire fight below:
Glass wanted to get right back to action, and so he did. He fought at Fury Amateur Series 55 earlier this month on Nov. 17 and, again, smoked his opponent Ezekiel Cates in under two minutes.
With two amateur MMA fights under his belt, Glass has decided to go pro and will make his professional debut on Feb. 7, 2025.
Glass has his plan all mapped for next year.
“I want to fight three or four times next year,” Glass told MMAMania.com recently. “I still want to compete in jiu-jitsu, maybe do an ADCC trial or something. I want to end 2025 undefeated and then go into 2026 with the UFC matchmakers eyeing me to compete on Contender Series and then go from there.”
Yes, it is very early in Glass’s career to have a concrete opinion on how good he is, but with only being 17 and his skillset, the ceiling is very high.
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