Kevin Jackson

Kevin Andre Jackson (born November 25, 1964)[1] is an American retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, and mixed martial artist. Following his competitive career, Jackson would become a wrestling coach.

This article is about the wrestler. For other people called Kevin Jackson, see Kevin Jackson (disambiguation).

Kevin Jackson
Jackson in 2011
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
BornNovember 25, 1964 (1964-11-25) (age 58)[1]
Highland Falls, New York, U.S.[1]
High schoolLansing Eastern (MI)
State championships2 (Michigan)
CollegeIowa State University
NCAA championships1 Team Championship
StatusHead Development Coach at Olympic Training Center, Former Coach of Iowa State University
Martial arts career
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight199 lb (90 kg; 14.2 st)
Mixed martial arts record
Total6
Wins4
By knockout1
By submission3
Losses2
By submission2
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Medal record
Men's freestyle wrestling
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona 82 kg
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1991 Varna 82 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Atlanta 82 kg
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 1991 Havana 82 kg
Gold medal – first place 1995 Mar del Plata 82 kg
Collegiate Wrestling
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships
Representing the LSU Tigers
Bronze medal – third place1983 Norman & Stillwater158 lb
Bronze medal – third place1984 East Rutherford158 lb
Representing the Iowa State Cyclones
Silver medal – second place1987 College Park167 lb

During his international career, Jackson became an Olympic Gold medalist in 1992, a two-time World Champion (1991 and 1995), a three-time World Cup Gold medalist (1993, 1995 and 1997, bronze in 1994) a two-time Pan American Games Gold medalist (1991 and 1995) and a two-time Pan American Champion (1990 and 1991). In folkstyle, Jackson was a four-time NCAA Division I All-American, thrice for the LSU Tigers and once for the Iowa State Cyclones, after Louisiana State University dropped its wrestling program.[2] He also stepped into the UFC Octagon in four occasions, winning his first two bouts and losing the next two, all finishing via submission.[3] After spending the last four years as USA Wrestling's[4] National Freestyle Developmental Coach, Jackson made the move to Ann Arbor, MI to serve as an Assistant Wrestling Coach for the University of Michigan.[5]

Biography

High school

The native of Lansing, Michigan, won two state high school championships for Eastern High School before becoming a Junior National Greco-Roman wrestling champion.

College

As a college wrestler, he attended LSU and earned All-America honors three times before the school dropped the sport. He transferred to Iowa State for his senior year and captained the Cyclones’ last NCAA championship team (1987), earning another All-America award with an NCAA runner-up finish and registering a 30-3-1 record.

Career

In 1992 he won a gold medal in wrestling and was invited to join "Team Foxcatcher", but was let go the next year when John du Pont started getting paranoid delusions and did not want anything black in his estate, from cars to horses to people. Soon after, Jackson won two Pan American Games titles and was a member of World Championship teams for the United States in both 1993 and 1995. He won three U.S. National Titles and placed second five times. Jackson also became the first American to win the prestigious Takhti Cup (1998) in Tehran, Iran. During his post-collegiate competitive career, Jackson also assisted with the Cyclone Wrestling Club (1989–92) and volunteered with the Arizona State (1997) program.

Jackson participated in mixed martial arts in 1997, when he joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship to become only the 2nd Olympic Gold medalist wrestler to step in the octagon,[6] eventually winning the UFC 14 Light Heavyweight tournament. He fought Frank Shamrock for the inaugural UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC Japan, but lost via armbar submission. He retired from MMA competition in 1998 after six fights.

Jackson's success earned him a number of major awards, including the 1995 John Smith Award as National Freestyle Wrestler of the Year, 1992 Amateur Wrestling News Man of the Year and 1991 USA Wrestling and USOC Wrestler of the Year. Jackson is a member of the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame (as a Distinguished Member) and the Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame. In October of 2019, Jackson was inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame and is the only wrestler to be inducted.

Jackson has worked extensively as a wrestling coach. He was head coach of the Sunkist youth development program, National Freestyle coach for USA Wrestling for eight years (2001–08) and the freestyle wrestling coach for two United States' teams at the Olympics. Jackson was the freestyle coach at the Olympic Training Center and head coach for the U.S. Army team at Fort Carson (1998–2001).[7][8] Jackson served as head coach of Iowa State Cyclones from 2010-2017 where he coached 4 NCAA champions, 14 All-Americans, and 9 Big-12 Champions.[5] In June 2017 Kevin went back to the Olympic Training Center as a US National Team Freestyle development coach and launched the Elite Accelerated Program (EAP).

Mixed martial arts record
Professional record breakdown
6 matches 4 wins 2 losses
By knockout 1 0
By submission 3 2
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win 4–2 Sam Adkins Submission (armbar) Extreme Challenge 18 May 15, 1998 1 4:21 Davenport, Iowa, United States
Loss 3–2 Jerry Bohlander Technical Submission (armbar) UFC 16 March 13, 1998 1 10:23 Kenner, Louisiana, United States Fight of the Year (1998).
Loss 3–1 Frank Shamrock Submission (armbar) UFC Japan December 21, 1997 1 0:16 Yokohama, Japan For the inaugural UFC Light Heavyweight Championship.
Win 3–0 Tony Fryklund Submission (rear-naked choke) UFC 14 July 27, 1997 1 0:44 Birmingham, Alabama, United States Won the UFC 14 Light Heavyweight Tournament.
Win 2–0 Todd Butler TKO (submission to punches) 1 1:27
Win 1–0 John Lober Submission (arm-triangle choke) Extreme Fighting 4 March 28, 1997 2 1:12 Des Moines, Iowa, United States

Championships and awards

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Kevin Jackson". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  2. "Kevin Jackson | National Wrestling Hall of Fame". Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  3. Fighting, M. M. A. (May 1, 2009). "UFC 14 winner Kevin Jackson to coach at Iowa State". MMA Fighting. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  4. "Kevin Jackson's Freestyle Wrestling Fundamentals - Wrestling -- Championship Productions, Inc". www.championshipproductions.com. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  5. "Kevin Jackson - Assistant Coach - Staff Directory". University of Michigan Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
  6. "UFC Olympic Gold Medalist wrestlers". Retrieved August 28, 2014.
  7. "Kevin Jackson Named ISU Head Wrestling Coach – Iowa State University Athletics Official Web Site – www.CYCLONES.com – The home of Iowa State Cyclone Sports". www.CYCLONES.com. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  8. "Kevin Jackson - Wrestling Coach". Iowa State University Athletics.


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