Mike Jackson may have defeated CM Punk at UFC 225 in dominant fashion this past weekend (Sat. June 9, 2018), but UFC President Dana White was nowhere near impressed.
In fact, the UFC boss was furious at Jackson for showboating and dragging the fight out longer than it needed to go. White feels that Jackson could’ve finished Punk a lot sooner than he did, before calling him a “complete f*cking idiot” and declaring he won’t be fighting in the UFC again (via MMA Fighting):
“Michael Jackson, I’m not happy with,” White said. “This guy was acting like a goofball tonight. You get this opportunity to fight CM Punk and you’re doing like bolo punches to the body on top? Never looked like he was trying to finish the fight ever, right?
“Looked like he could have finished the fight a few times. Never tried. I don’t know what that guy did for a living before we gave him this shot, but whatever it was he needs to go back and do that again. He’s 0-2 as far as I’m concerned.
“That’s it for his UFC career. I wouldn’t put that kid in the Contender Series. I got the sense that he’s a complete f*cking idiot and I couldn’t wait for that fight to end and I regretted not putting it on Fight Pass,” White said. “That’s how I felt about it.”
In an interview with MMA Junkie Radio, Jackson said he was taken aback by White’s comments, and suggested White may be frustrated because the UFC has an investment in him winning:
“I’m just like, ‘What?’” Jackson said. “I couldn’t even enjoy my pizza. I went out there and cooked his man. I don’t know if they had investment in him to win the fight, but look, he’s a cash cow. If he would have won, they would have given him another fight, and he would have made them a lot of money. And I ended that train. But I told people what I was going to do.”
Jackson then admitted to taking his time in the cage, wanting to give himself and Punk the most of their Octagon experience because there’s no guarantee either one of them will ever fight in the UFC again:
“I wasn’t showboating,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know how many more fights I was going to have in the UFC, so I wanted to go out there and cook him – and that’s what I did. I got all 15 minutes, and good for him.
“I hope this is going to be his last fight, so I wanted to go out there and maximize his experience, as well, and give him the most time. I gave him the most time, as well.
“People are savages, man. They want me to go out there and give this dude brain damage. I could have done a lot of damage to him, and I didn’t want to do that. I hit him, and he didn’t go out, and I was like, ‘All rright, he’s a tough cat.’ So let me not hit him with those same kind of shots anymore. I carried him for three rounds, and I cooked him. You saw his face. It looked chopped beef in there.”
After hearing how furious White was with him, Jackson said he reached out to the UFC President and is hoping to hear back from him soon so they can discuss the matter:
“I reached out,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, (White) gives me a call back or text this week and we can discuss this, because he used his platform to (expletive) on me, and it’s just not right.”
Do you think that White and Jackson will be able to resolve their issues?
