Mike Jackson Denies He Was Showboating Against CM Punk

Mike Jackson said in a new interview with MMAjunkie that despite what Dana White said, he was not showboating against CM Punk at UFC 225. Highlights are below:

On his initial reaction to Dana White’s criticism of his performance: “I’m just like, ‘What?’ I couldn’t even enjoy my pizza.”

On why he thinks White may have criticized him: “I went out there and cooked his man. I don’t know if they had investment in him to win the fight, but look, he’s a cash cow. If he would have won, they would have given him another fight, and he would have made them a lot of money. And I ended that train. But I told people what I was going to do.”

On White’s claims he was showboating: “I wasn’t showboating. I didn’t know how many more fights I was going to have in the UFC, so I wanted to go out there and cook him – and that’s what I did. I got all 15 minutes, and good for him. I hope this is going to be his last fight, so I wanted to go out there and maximize his experience, as well, and give him the most time. I gave him the most time, as well. People are savages, man. They want me to go out there and give this dude brain damage. I could have done a lot of damage to him, and I didn’t want to do that. I hit him, and he didn’t go out, and I was like, ‘All rright, he’s a tough cat.’ So let me not hit him with those same kind of shots anymore. I carried him for three rounds, and I cooked him. You saw his face. It looked chopped beef in there.”

On his performance: “I was like, well, if I’m throwing punches when I’m not looking and they’re landing, and I look at him and he’s defending those, how about I just not look and hit him?…[The wind-up punches] landed because he didn’t know where they were going, and that was the objective. I’m an efficient striker. I’m not sitting here and trying to punch myself out…When did not looking at someone and hitting them in the face become disrespectful? Look, we’re fighting. I punched you in the face. Is that not disrespectful enough?”

On reaching out to White: “I reached out. Hopefully, (White) gives me a call back or text this week and we can discuss this, because he used his platform to (expletive) on me, and it’s just not right.”