To say Dana White was upset with Mike Jackson after UFC 225 would be an understatement.
Jackson defeated CM Punk on Saturday night at the United Center via unanimous decision. White made clear after the fight that it should mark the end of Punk’s UFC career, but the UFC president was even more critical of Jackson’s performance despite the victory.
“Michael Jackson, I’m not happy with,” White said at the UFC 225 post-fight press conference, per MMAFighting.com. “This guy was acting like a goofball (Saturday). 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.”
Jackson by no means is a star in UFC. He, like Punk, entered the bout with an 0-1 professional MMA record, losing his only other fight to Mickey Gall, who then defeated Punk at UFC 203 in September 2016. But clearly White expected more from the 33-year-old, especially once it became obvious he would have no problem beating Punk in front of the former WWE superstar’s hometown crowd in Chicago on Saturday night.
“I got the sense that he’s a complete f—ing 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.”
So, Punk’s time with UFC likely is over. What about Jackson?
“That’s it for his UFC career,” White said. “I wouldn’t put that kid in the Contender Series.”
Ouch.
