Dustin Jacoby Wants To Make The Long Journey Worth It

Originally scheduled to face Uran Satybaldiev before the prospect from Kyrgyzstan was forced to withdraw for undisclosed reasons, Jacoby now faces the promotional newcomer Muhammad Said instead, who arrives sporting a 9-0 record with eight finishes and not a ton of tape for the Factory X Muay Thai representative to study to prepare for their fight this weekend.

“This is my 18th walk to the UFC Octagon and this guy’s first, which you would think it’s gonna be a walk in the park, but fighting is not like that,” Jacoby said. “It’s very risky on my end: I’m giving up everything I’ve worked for on my end, everything I’ve worked for to get to where I am now. You look at the Meta rankings, I’m No. 11 in the world, and they’re based off performance, not hype or social media followers, things like that. I’m risking everything. It’s a risky position I’m taking, but I just have to go in there cool, calm, and collected.

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“I don’t really know much — there isn’t much film on this guy, but I do know he’s a pretty good kickboxer and he’s super-fast,” Jacoby said. “That’s something that’s gonna be a little different from my previous opponents, where these guys I have been fighting have been much bigger, cutting a lot of weight. I think this guy is not quite that big, in terms of mass; I think he’s closer to walking around what I do. I’m usually 218, 220 tops, not cutting a lot of weight, and I beat these guys with speed and cardio. This guy, I think, is gonna be pretty fast and a really good kickboxer.

“I just have to be on top of my game, use my experience and everything that has gotten me here,” he added. “Fight a smart fight, be focused, and be ready to go for the kill. I’m seeing things really well in there, and I’ve got a really good killer instinct, so when I’ve got him hurt, I’m definitely going to be going for the finish; I just have to be smart about it.”