Jason Jackson claims UFC is blocking his signing to protect Makhachev's welterweight reign

Former Bellator welterweight champion Jason Jackson has publicly called out the UFC for what he believes is a deliberate effort to keep him off the roster, arguing the promotion fears he would upend its welterweight hierarchy — starting with champion Islam Makhachev.

Jackson, 35, made the claim in a post on X, pointing to two specific pieces of evidence. First, he says he has sparred with Ian Garry and never struggled against the Irishman, while Makhachev was pushed to one of the toughest defences of his career before retaining the welterweight title against Garry at UFC 330. Second, Jackson is the only man to have defeated Yaroslav Amosov — handing the unbeaten Ukrainian his sole career loss — and rates Amosov as a better overall fighter than Makhachev.

“I want to go to the UFC. I’m not even gonna beat around the bush because I feel like I could beat Makhachev,” Jackson said. “And the reason why I said that is that he struggled with Ian. And no disrespect to Ian, I done put Ian down in the gym. I don’t struggle with him. And from what I did to Yaroslav, I think he is better than Makhachev. If I get into the UFC, I feel like that’s one that the UFC don’t want, is a guy my age coming from a different promotion, going there and just disrupting their whole pecking order. I feel like that’s why they are holding out on me getting in there.”

Jackson acknowledged that his age is likely a factor working against him in contract negotiations, suggesting the UFC is reluctant to invest in a 35-year-old outsider who could immediately threaten its marquee champion.

The Jamaican fighter holds a professional record of 20-6 and is 2-2 across his last four bouts. He most recently competed at Most Valuable Promotions’ inaugural MMA event in May, where he stopped his opponent in just 20 seconds.

Amosov, whom Jackson cites as his strongest credential, has gone on to finish both of his UFC appearances since joining the promotion, lending some weight to Jackson’s argument about the quality of opposition he has already faced. Whether the UFC moves to sign him remains to be seen, but Jackson has made clear he intends to keep applying public pressure.