Dustin Jacoby Finds New Life with a Career in Kickboxing, but Plans MMA Return in 2014

Although he won three of his last four MMA fights, former UFC and World Series of Fighting participant Dustin Jacoby was looking for something to inject new life into his career. He found it as part of the kickboxing promotion Glory.

Over the course of February and March, Jacoby won The Road to Glory USA tournament, defeating three fighters in one night, in addition to picking up his first MMA win of the year in the Capital City Cage Wars promotion.

“Kickboxing is a completely different sport and should not be taken lightly because I feel the striking is much better in kickboxing and the technique is much different, but my transition went smoothly,” Jacoby told MMAWeekly.com.

As for fighting in a single night tournament, Jacoby found it a difficult, yet rewarding experience.

“Things went pretty natural,” he said. “When I was in there, I was looking at it as I was getting paid to spar and if I sparred well, then I would go on to the next guy. I just went in there, did my thing, and ended up winning.

“It was a very unique experience. It’s different than fighting one time. You’re warming your body up and then cooling it down, warming your body up and cooling it down again (between fights). It’s different. I don’t think a lot of people can do it.”

Having switched exclusively to kickboxing over the last several months, Jacoby has racked up a 4-2 record and is looking to close out the year with a win over veteran Makoto Uehara at Glory 13 on Dec. 21 in Tokyo.

“Makoto has fought very legit competition, he’s fought at a high level, and he’s Japan’s champion, so I’m looking forward to a tough fight,” said Jacoby. “I’ve been working with Mark Montoya of Factory X Muay Thai in Englewood, Colo., and he’s been watching tape on Makoto and we’ve been working on the things he sees and that he feels will win us the fight.

“I’ve competed in Glory enough now to know the ins and outs. I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. I’m just going to go in there and have fun and come out with the victory.”

After having spent much of this year focusing on kickboxing, Jacoby is looking to return to MMA next year and hopefully strike a good balance between the two sports in 2014.

“When I came into 2013, I was looking to continue MMA and climb the ladder in the sport, and kickboxing came out of nowhere and has taken care of me and given me a lot of opportunism,” he said. “Hopefully I can continue to climb the ranks in Glory.

“I feel like I have unfinished business in MMA left to do. My contract with WSOF is up in April, so I anticipate some doors opening for me in MMA as well. I’m just taking it one day at a time, train hard and continue to master my craft and skills and hopefully 2014 will be better than 2013.”

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