The GLORY middleweight and now Bellator light heavyweight looks to take advantage of a huge opportunity against Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal tonight (Sept. 5, 2014) at Bellator 123 in Uncasville, Conn., at Mohegan Sun Arena on Mashantucket Indian Reservation live on Spike TV.
After spending the last year and a half as a kickboxer under GLORY, and a carousel of opponent changes when Vinny Magalhaes withdrew with an injury, Dustin Jacoby made a triumphant return to the cage at Titan Fighting Championship 29. That's where he showcased his much-improved striking game by scoring a nasty head kick technical knockout victory over a former training partner, Luis Lopez, early in the first round.
Tonight, just two weeks later, the 10-3 light heavyweight will make his Bellator debut against Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal in the Spike TV co-main event of Bellator 123 from inside Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. It's a quick turnaround and a great opportunity for the Colorado-based fighter.
He says it has a lot to do with the "laws of attraction," because Lawal's former opponent, Marcus Sursa, who had to withdraw due to injury, was one of his training partners at the Factory X gym where he regularly trains.
"About three weeks ago he came to our gym for training camp," Jacoby told MMAmania.com. "He wanted to train with us for this fight. I didn't know him. I just met him, really nice guy. We were training and he actually injured his knee, a pre-existing injury that he already had and he injured his knee and I found out Monday morning -- I fought on Friday night -- and Monday morning I was back in the gym training and I found out he was injured. I talked to my coach and said, 'Well hell, they need someone to fight King Mo. I feel pretty good. Why don't you talk to Bellator and see what's up.' Sure enough, he reached out to Bellator and two hours later I had a contract in hand. It's so unpredictable and inconsistent. You just never know with injuries and people dropping out. You just have to be ready when opportunity strikes."
MMA was his first combat sport and Jacoby says he still has a "deep passion for it." His newfound career in kickboxing is something that "came out of nowhere" and although he has a losing record at 4-5, he won a one night, eight-man tournament at Road to GLORY to earn his spot in the promotion and has gained valuable stand-up experience with each fight and from the time spent training in Holland among the world's elite.
"You can tell it obviously paid off because my first fight in MMA, I get a head kick TKO. I'm pretty excited about it and happy to be in the position that I am," said Jacoby, who now holds a 10-3 record in MMA.
Standing in the way of his eleventh win is the inconsistent Lawal, who is 4-3 inside the Bellator promotion, losing two out of his last three fights including a unanimous decision defeat to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at Bellator 120 last May. "King Mo" has gone back to his wrestling roots ever since getting knocked out by an Emmanuel Newton spinning back fist back at Bellator 90, and he is still very formidable in that area.
Jacoby is well aware of Lawal's skill set, but as far as striking goes, he is "very confident" and believes that is where his advantages lie.
"Mo is a talented guy and former world champion and Olympic wrestler," he said. "Good ground and pound. Very dominant wrestler, power doubles, the singles. Very good guy. At the same time I feel I match up well. I've been taken down in MMA before. I've been on the ground before. I've fought good wrestlers. I've beaten national champion wrestlers in MMA before. I've got to be prepared for the takedowns. I think when I stuff a couple of them or say he gets me down and I scramble back to my feet and I just kind of wear him out, I think that's when I will be able to pick him apart on the feet."
"I think it's a great match up. I'm going to be coming to fight my heart out. I'm definitely not scared of him. I think King Mo has been kind of shaky and up and down in his last few fights. I look for him to kind of go back to his roots and put in his mindset that he really needs to win, so he is going to come out and do anything at all costs and that's probably going to be shooting the double and trying to control me. I'm prepared for that. We have been training for it and I've been having excellent workouts. I'm ready for it. I can't wait."
A win over Lawal, and Jacoby becomes an instant player in the Bellator 205-pound division and he has plans to continue in kickboxing as well, saying a return to the GLORY ring will happen "sooner or later." GLORY, of course, has been on hiatus since the end of June after GLORY 17 and "Last Man Standing." Jacoby lost a controversial decision to Mike Lemaire on an non-televised tournament reserve match on that card.
Whether it be MMA or kickboxing, you have to respect the 26-year-old's work ethic. He is out there grinding away and working hard to improve in two sports. He realizes -- as many fighters do -- that a career in combat sports can often be a short one. His hard work has put him in the right place at the right time and the laws of attraction, as he alluded to, have gotten him a huge fight against Lawal. Now he is looking to make the most of it.
"You only have a short time in the sport and a small window for opportunity," he said. "I'm just trying to make sure I am doing the right things every day and taking advantage of the opportunities that are given to me."
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