Jason High has a fight coming up Saturday in his native Kansas City, Missouri, against a dangerous submission artist. If he can notch a victory, he has a pretty airtight case to compete for World Series of Fighting's lightweight title in his next contest.
But that’s not what he’s being asked about, at least not exclusively. Instead of talking about World Series of Fighting 33 and his opponent there, the dangerous submission artist Joao Zeferino (20-8), and instead of talking about his place in the lightweight title picture, High (20-5) is instead answering questions about a fighter in a whole different weight class and a whole different promotion.
In 2014, High, for years a popular fighter with the public, was released from the UFC for shoving a referee immediately after the conclusion of a bout with Rafael Dos Anjos. The New Mexico State Athletic Commission also suspended High for one year.
In the wake of that incident, White said in explaining his release of High that "if you touch the referee, [you are] done. ... You don't put your hands on the referee. Ever." He also added that the decision was "a no-brainer."
Fast-forward three years and you have heavyweight Roy Nelson, who after his September knockout of Antonio Silva softly kicked referee John McCarthy's backside to register frustration with what he viewed as an unnecessarily late stoppage.
In the wake of that incident, White called the incident "despicable" but has not released Nelson, suggesting he is content to let Brazil's athletic commission take the disciplinary lead. (That commission, known as CABMMA, is reviewing the incident now.)
High has always maintained he holds no grudge about the decision and never thinks about it until some media type poses another question about it. Like it or not, though, a new volley of inquiry on the topic came flying toward High in the wake of Nelson’s butt-kicking.
“I’d never call for [Nelson] to be banished or whatever,” High said in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report. “I thought my suspension was unfair, so that’s where I’ll leave it. Everybody I talked to thought it was unfair.”
High gives the sense he wouldn’t take much pleasure in any potential Nelson punishment, which may still occur, but apparently at the hands of the commission, not the UFC, at least initially. He would, however, like to see the UFC use a more orderly and transparent process to handle such incidents.
“I would like to see some consistency,” High said. “I’d like to see some due process for the fighters who are in this situation. But you need to ask [UFC President] Dana White these questions. I don’t have a direct line to Dana White.”
You don’t get the sense it’s derailing High too much either way. Saturday marks his fourth pro bout in the lightweight division and third under the WSOF banner, where he is 2-0 thus far.
Interestingly, and most likely not coincidentally, lightweight champ Justin Gaethje defends his title one bout after High when he takes on rugged finisher Ozzy Dugulubgov in the WSOF 33 main event.
High doesn’t want to look past Zeferino, a submission specialist with 15 wins by submission. Should he prevail, though, his path to Gaethje, and probably the biggest bout WSOF could make right now, is clearly blazed.
High doesn’t miss an opportunity to stake his claim on the matchup, either.
“I think that would definitely be a big fight,” High said. “Justin Gaethje needs me more than I need him at this point. … He’s the one looking for legitimacy. I’m proven. He doesn’t have the kind of record I have. He hasn’t fought the kind of opposition I have. I think he wants to fight out his contract and get to the UFC. That road goes through me.”
As for High, despite his well-documented issues with the UFC, he seems content with his place at the top of the WSOF 155-pound division. Beating Zeferino gets him one more step—maybe the final step—toward competing for gold.
“He’s a tough fighter, obviously he likes leg locks and is good at submissions,” High said. “You have to not let him get into those positions. … I’ve been doing some situations [during training] to get comfortable in those positions, but really I’m just trying to get better everywhere. I’m trying to be a better me.”
Scott Harris covers MMA for Bleacher Report. For more, follow Scott on Twitter. All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
