This past Saturday in the main event of Bellator 301, the welterweight title was on the line. In the final fight for the promotion as we know it, Yaroslav Amosov (27-1) was looking to keep his perfect record while fending off the surging challenger Jason Jackson (17-4).
Entering this bout, all eyes were on the champion Amosov who was looking to move to a staggering 28-0. There were a lot of people, including myself, seemingly writing off Jason Jackson. Jackson lost a split decision to Ed Ruth back in 2019, but after that fight, he really started to take off.
Entering Bellator 301, Jackson had won six straight fights and had wins over former world champions Douglas Lima and Benson Henderson. While Jackson had never completely blown anyone away with those performances, you cannot argue the results.
When the fight started, I expected Amosov to control everything about the fight. Boy, was I wrong. From the opening bell, Jason Jackson was putting a ton of pressure on Amosov. Amosov couldn’t find his distance and Jackson was lighting him up on the feet. Amosov couldn’t land takedowns either and it was clear early that he was in trouble.
In the third round, Jackson really started upping the power and he was hurting Amosov. Then, he landed a ferocious combination that dropped Amosov. A few follow up shots sent him face first into the canvas and in the final Bellator bout, a new welterweight champion was crowned.
Bellator’s Heist
Jackson Jackson appeared on Dana White’s Contender Series and lost after suffering an injury. He won on the regional circuit after that and ended up getting a shot with Bellator. Now, as the promotion gets ready to close it’s doors at least as we know it, Jackson has emerged as a massive star.
You cannot tell me after Saturday night that Jason Jackson is not one of the best welterweights in the world. Jackson is a fighter that got away and if you ask the matchmakers in the UFC, I bet they’d tell you that. Just think of how exciting it would be to add the Bellator champion to the stacked welterweight roster.
Today, we are going to learn what the future of Bellator is. The expectation is that they will either fold into the PFL or run more events moving forward just with new ownership. Either way, the new ownership group has something in Jason Jackson. The man looks like he has superstar potential.