14 Facts About Kevin Jackson

Kevin Andre Jackson was born on November 25,1964 and is an American retired freestyle and folkstyle wrestler, and mixed martial artist.

In folkstyle, Kevin 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.

Kevin Jackson stepped into the UFC Octagon in four occasions, winning his first two bouts and losing the next two, all finishing via submission.

Kevin Jackson won three US National Titles and placed second five times.

Kevin Jackson became the first American to win the prestigious Takhti Cup in Tehran, Iran.

Kevin 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, eventually winning the UFC 14 Light Heavyweight tournament.

Kevin Jackson fought Frank Shamrock for the inaugural UFC Light Heavyweight Championship at UFC Japan, but lost via armbar submission.

Kevin Jackson retired from MMA competition in 1998 after six fights.

Kevin 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.

Kevin Jackson is a member of the FILA International Wrestling Hall of Fame, the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame.

In October 2019, Kevin Jackson was inducted into the LSU Hall of Fame and is the only wrestler to be inducted.

Kevin Jackson was the freestyle coach at the Olympic Training Center and head coach for the US Army team at Fort Carson and was head coach of the Sunkist youth development program, National Freestyle coach for USA Wrestling for eight years and the freestyle wrestling coach for two United States' teams at the Olympics.

Kevin 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 Jackson went back to the Olympic Training Center as a US National Team Freestyle development coach and launched the Elite Accelerated Program.