TUF 31: Who is Jason Knight?
By Jake Foley
TUF 31: Who is lightweight contestant Jason Knight?
Jason Knight hopes to complete his journey back to the UFC by winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 31. ‘The Kid’ has had a long fighting career, leading him to the newest season of TUF, which features a combination of UFC veterans and highly-touted prospects.
After dropping out of high school at sixteen, Knight made his professional MMA debut with an amateur record of 4-0. He started on the regional scene, winning his first five fights before joining Atlas Fights. The Mississippi native went 2-0 in the promotion before suffering his first loss in 2012.
Knight wouldn’t lose again for three and a half years. Knight won his next nine fights, including a unanimous decision against current UFC fighter Thiago Moises. In 2015, he was a well-respected prospect with a record of 16-1, earning an opportunity to compete in the UFC at The Ultimate Fighter Season 22 finale.
Although Knight lost his promotional debut against Tatsuya Kawajiri on short notice, the Mississippi native proved that he belonged in the UFC. He went on to win his next four fights, earning three performance bonuses, including a fight of the night against Jim Alers. Unfortunately for him, he lost four consecutive fights, putting his promotional record at 4-5 and leading to his departure from the roster.
Knight didn’t give up there. He bounced back with a bare-knuckle win against Artem Lobov in 2019. Since then, Knight beat Charles Bennett in bare-knuckle MMA at Gamebred Fighting Championship 1 and went 2-1 in professional MMA. He now looks to utilize his experience to emerge as the TUF 31 lightweight champion.
Jason Knight is the most experienced TUF 31 lightweight
Three other lightweights on TUF31 join Knight with UFC experience - Roosevelt Roberts (eight fights), Kurt Holobaugh (four fights), and Austin Hubbard (seven fights). Among those fighters, Knight has the most UFC fights, with nine. It’ll be intriguing to see if the 30-year-old can utilize his experience to help punch his ticket back into the promotion.
TUF 31 will be coached by former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor and the always-entertaining Michael Chandler.
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