To the surprise of no one, Mike Jackson has been released from the UFC.
Jackson, a MMA journalist who competes in MMA and boxing, among other competitive events, was brought in to the UFC under a unique set of circumstances.
After signing former WWE Superstar CM Punk, UFC had the issue of figuring out who to select as the opponent for a former pro wrestler who has never competed in MMA and has no significant competitive background to speak of in martial arts.
As a result, UFC brought in MMA prospect Mickey Gall, who impressively won his MMA debut and then called out Punk while Dana White was in attendance filming for his “Dana White: Lookin’ For A Fight” reality show. UFC then signed Gall and brought in Jackson to be his opponent in a UFC preliminary fight, where Gall would officially become Punk’s first UFC opponent if he got past Jackson.
The Gall-Jackson fight saw Gall floor Jackson and choke him out quickly in the first round, setting up the Gall-Punk fight, which has yet to happen due to Punk undergoing surgery.
Mike Jackson, who was officially released by the UFC this week, told MMAFighting.com the following:
“I was released few weeks ago. I wish they would have done it sooner, or gave me the Artem [Lobov] fight. But I’m getting back to boxing next month.”