It takes confidence to call yourself “The Ass Kicking Machine” and accept a fight on a big Bellator main card all the way across the country on just a few days’ notice.
But then, Jason Jackson sure looked confident in the cage Saturday night against Kiichi Kunimoto.
Jackson (11-4 MMA, 2-1 BMMA), a welterweight from Jamaica who is based out of the South Florida Hard Knocks camp, put on an impressive show in beating his veteran foe Saturday at Bellator 236. The judges’ scores were 30-27 across the board for Jackson.
Jackson made his intentions for the fight clear when he dropped Kunimoto (20-9-2 MMA, 0-2 BMMA) early with a huge right hand. He refused to go to the ground with Kunimoto, who has 10 of his 20 career wins via submission, and took it back to the feet. Kunimoto managed to make the round competitive from there, but Jackson punctuated things with a gigantic slam late.
In the second, Jackson’s striking continued to puzzle Kunimoto, who didn’t seem to have an answer. This continued in Round 3. Kunimoto managed to pull guard and briefly get Jackson into a guillotine, but Jackson popped out, and finished his performance with another slam.
Jackson, who has previously fought in Bellator, LFA, and on Dana White’s Contender Series, has won four of his past five. Kunimoto has lost two straight and four of his past six.
Jackson was a substitute for Neiman Gracie, who withdrew midweek due to an undisclosed injury.
The welterweight bout was part of the Bellator 236 main card at Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu. The main card streamed on DAZN following prelims on MMA Junkie.
Up-to-the-minute Bellator 236 results include:
- Jason Jackson def. Kiichi Kunimoto via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Juliana Velasquez def. Bruna Ellen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 20-26)
- Raufeon Stots def. Cheyden Leiloha via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Zach Zane def. Nainoa Dung via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Swayne Lunasco def. Kaylan Gorospe via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:29
- Ben Wilhelm def. Kealii Kanekoa via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:24
- Dustin Barca def. Brandon Pieper via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 0:58
- Kai Kamaka III def. Spencer Higa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Keoni Diggs def. Scotty Hao via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:23
