Preview: UFC Fight Night 217 ‘Strickland vs. Imavov’

Featherweights

Dan Ige (15-6) vs. Damon Jackson (22-4-1, 1 NC)
Odds: Ige (-130), Jackson (+110)

Damon Jackson's success has gone quite under the radar, so it's nice to see him get a big opportunity here. Jackson had an extremely forgettable first UFC run spanning 2014 through 2016, getting the late-notice call early in his career and going three fights without a win. But Jackson put together enough regional success to get another UFC shot during the pandemic and cashed in on the chance, scoring an impressive upset over Mirsad Bektic with a third-round guillotine choke. Jackson's always been a high-effort fighter than any sort of standout athlete, so when Ilia Topuria ran through Jackson shortly after the Bektic fight, it seemed to establish Jackson as a low-ceiling fighter that would hang around as a tough journeyman. That news apparently didn't get to Jackson, however, who's now riding a four-fight win streak; after three grimy wins, Jackson had what might be the most impressive performance of his career this past September, fighting in memory of his recently deceased brother and knocking out highly touted prospect Pat Sabatini in just 69 seconds. Honestly, while Jackson's never felt like a top prospect, a look at his record shows that it takes an elite talent to actually stop him, which makes this fight against Dan Ige quite interesting.

A standout on the very first season of the Contender Series in 2017, Ige didn't immediately get a contract but was signed as a late replacement shortly thereafter, dropping a fun debut against Julio Arce early in 2018. But Ige reeled off six straight wins from there, scoring some quick knockouts against the lower reaches of the featherweight division and then eking out decisions over Bektic and Edson Barboza as part of a breakout 2020. That's gotten Ige into some big spots which have mostly served to show his ceiling, as he's lost four out of his last five - but those losses have all come against top-ranked competition, and that lone win was a 22-second starching of Gavin Tucker that reminded exactly what Ige can be capable of. Ige's good at what he does, looking to trade before mixing in his wrestling, and he's solved some of the pacing issues that plagued earlier parts of his UFC career - so while a run to title contention appears unlikely at this point, he's likely to keep building a strong resume as a gatekeeper to the elite. Jackson's size advantage makes this interesting as he's likely to pursue a lot of aggressive wrestling and grappling, but that tendency to swarm could just march him into danger here, particularly if he can't out-scramble Ige; in a shot-for-shot exchange in close quarters, Ige should be the much harder hitter and has the better chance at a knockout, particularly with Ige's historical indestructibility. Add in that Ige looks to have the cardio advantage at this point, and this looks like a matchup he can win either early or late. Jackson's few losses have seen him get sparked and that's usually how Ige gets his best wins, so the call is for things to unfold on the quicker side; this is a more interesting pairing than it's ever been, but the pick is Ige via first-round knockout.

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Strickland vs. Imavov
Ige vs. Jackson
Soriano vs. Kopylov
Vieira vs. Pennington
Nurmagomedov vs. Barcelos
The Prelims