While he initially did not seem happy with how his first round TKO of Darren Stewart went at UFC Fight Night on August 28, looking back on the bout a couple days later, light-heavyweight Dustin Jacoby feels like it was a good performance.
The disparage in option came because Jacoby wanted to showcase more of what he’d been working on, but at the end of the day it’s hard to argue with a first round finish.
“I know inside the Octagon after the fight I said I wasn’t too happy with my performance, and I wish I could take that back,” Jacoby told MMAWeekly.com. “I’m extremely happy with my performance.
“What I meant was that I feel like I’ve been working so hard and getting so much better in so many places and I wasn’t able to completely show off my whole game. I feel like if that fight could have kept going I could have submitted Darren. I feel like I could have won any way I wanted to do. I’m very happy with the win and am ready to move on to the next opportunity.”
Following some time off during the first half of 2020 due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Jacoby has returned to fighting on a tear with four wins in five bouts the last 13 months.
“It’s been awesome,” said Jacoby. “I enjoy being active. Of course everything is easier when you’re winning and getting out of there relatively free.
“We take a lot of damage in the Octagon itself, but we take a ton of damage in training, in our preparation. I’ve been lucky this past year and I’m excited to keep the ball rolling.”
Nate Diaz weighs in on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s controversial ring girl comment
Jacoby gives all the credit for the success to the time he’s spent in the gym working on his game.
“We’ve been showing up and getting better every day,” Jacoby said. “I credit all my success to what’s done in the dark (in training) that eventually gets shown underneath those bright lights.”
Because he is healthy, Jacoby is looking to close out the year sooner than later then pick things back up in early 2022 after a break for the holidays.
“I’m feeling that I just need to keep the ball rolling,” said Jacoby. “I’m planning on fighting again this year, maybe in November or December, but I’d like to get something in the middle to end of October.
“I want to stay active, keep the ball rolling, so I can really enjoy the holidays with my family. It’s one of my favorite times of the year, chasing pheasants with my bird dog. So if I can do that and then get back at it in March, April or something, that’d be the ideal situation that I’ve got my eyes on right now.”