Kevin Andre Jackson (born November 25, 1964) is an American retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. Following his competitive career, Jackson would become a

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

coach. During his international career, Jackson became an Olympic Gold medalist in 1992, a two-time World Champion (

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

), a three-time

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

Gold medalist (1993, 1995 and 1997, bronze in 1994) a two-time

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

Gold medalist (

and

) and a two-time Pan American Champion (1990 and 1991). In folkstyle, Jackson was a four-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, thrice for the LSU Tigers and once for the Iowa State Cyclones, after

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

dropped its wrestling program. He also stepped into the UFC Octagon in four occasions, winning his first two bouts and losing the next two, all finishing via submission. After spending the last four years as USA Wrestling's National Freestyle Developmental Coach, Jackson made the move to Ann Arbor, MI to serve as an Assistant Wrestling Coach for the University of Michigan.

Biography

High school

The native of

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, won two state high school championships for Eastern High School before becoming a Junior National

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

champion.

College

As a college wrestler, he attended

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

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 an Olympic 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

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 Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. 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 Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

in 1997, when he joined the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

to become only the 2nd Olympic Gold medalist wrestler to step in the octagon, eventually winning the '' UFC 14'' Light Heavyweight tournament. He fought

Frank Shamrock Frank Shamrock (born Frank Alisio Juarez III; December 8, 1972) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold the UFC Middleweight Championship (later renamed the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship) ...

for the inaugural

UFC Light Heavyweight Championship Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. Historical notes At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was not sanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight clas ...

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 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 the freestyle coach at the

Olympic Training Center Olympic Training Center may refer to: *United States Olympic Training Center * Olympic Training Center (Rio de Janeiro) *Olympic Training Center Velodrome The Olympic Training Center Velodrome, also known as the 7-11 Velodrome, is a velodrome in ...

and head coach for the U.S. Army team at

Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo County, Colorado, Pueblo, Fremont County, Colorado, Fremont, and Huerfano County, Colorado, Huerfano counties, Color ...

(1998–2001) and was head coach of the Sunkist youth development program, National Freestyle coach for

USA Wrestling USA Wrestling (formerly known as the United States Wrestling Federation and as the United States Wrestling Association) is the organization that currently governs freestyle wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling in the United States. USA Wrestling ...

for eight years (2001–08) and the freestyle wrestling coach for two United States' teams at the Olympics. Jackson served as head coach of Iowa State Cyclones from 2010 to 2017 where he coached 4 NCAA champions, 14 All-Americans, and 9 Big-12 Champions. In June 2017 Kevin went back to the

as a US National Team Freestyle development coach and launched the Elite Accelerated Program (EAP).

Championships and awards

** UFC 14 Middleweight tournament winner ** UFC Encyclopedia Awards *** Submission of the Night (One time) *

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

** Fight of the Year (1998) vs. Jerry Bohlander on March 13

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center , 4–2 , Sam Adkins , Submission (armbar) , Extreme Challenge 18 , , align=center , 1 , align=center , 4:21 ,

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, United States , , - , Loss , align=center , 3–2 ,

Jerry Bohlander Jerry Bohlander (born February 12, 1974) is an American former mixed martial artist. He is most notable for his UFC appearances and was a former UFC champion, winning the first lightweight (under 200 lb) tournament at '' UFC 12''. He was a memb ...

, Technical Submission (armbar) ,

UFC 16 ''UFC 16: Battle in the Bayou'' was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on March 13, 1998, in Kenner, Louisiana. The event was seen live on pay per view in the United States, and later released on home video. Hi ...

, , align=center , 1 , align=center , 10:23 ,

Kenner, Louisiana Kenner is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the most populous city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, Jefferson Parish, and is the largest incorporated suburban city of New Orleans. The population was 66,448 at the 2020 United States cen ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center , 3–1 ,

, Submission (armbar) , UFC Japan , , align=center , 1 , align=center , 0:16 ,

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center , 3–0 ,

Tony Fryklund Anthony James Fryklund (born March 26, 1971) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor from 1997 until 2013, he competed for the UFC, the WEC, Bellator, S ...

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , rowspan=2, UFC 14 , rowspan=2, , align=center , 1 , align=center , 0:44 , rowspan=2,

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center , 2–0 , Todd Butler , TKO (submission to punches) , align=center , 1 , align=center , 1:27 , , - , Win , align=center , 1–0 , John Lober , Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Extreme Fighting 4 , , align=center , 2 , align=center , 1:12 ,

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, United States ,

References

External links

* *
Kevin Jackson at the National Wrestling Hall of Fame Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Kevin 1964 births Living people American wrestling coaches Iowa State Cyclones wrestlers Iowa State Cyclones wrestling coaches LSU Tigers wrestlers Wrestlers at the 1992 Summer Olympics American male sport wrestlers Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Martial artists from Phoenix, Arizona J Mixed martial artists utilizing freestyle wrestling Mixed martial artists utilizing Greco-Roman wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists Wrestlers at the 1991 Pan American Games Wrestlers at the 1995 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in wrestling Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters 20th-century American sportsmen