Originally scheduled to face Uran Satybaldiev before the Kyrgyz prospect was forced to pull out for undisclosed reasons, Jacoby now instead faces promotional newcomer Muhammad Said, who arrives with a 9-0 record with eight finishes and without a ton of tape for the Factory X Muay Thai representative to study and prepare for this weekend’s fight.
“This is my 18th time in the UFC and this guy’s first, and you would think it would be a walk in the park, but fighting is not,” Jacoby said. “It’s very risky on my part, I’m giving up everything I’ve worked for, everything I’ve worked for to get to where I am. Look at the meta rankings, I’m No. 11 in the world, and they’re based on performance, not on hype or social media followers or anything like that. I’m risking everything. I’m taking a risky position, but I just have to go out there cool, calm and collected.
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“I don’t really know much—there haven’t been a lot of movies on this guy, but I know he’s a pretty good kickboxer and super fast,” Jacoby said. “It’s something that’s going to be a little different from my previous opponents, where the guys I’ve fought have been a lot bigger, cutting a lot of weight. I think this guy isn’t that big in terms of mass; I think he’s closer to what I do. I usually top out at 218, 220, I don’t cut a lot of weight, and I beat these guys with speed and cardio. This guy I think is going to be pretty fast and a really good kickboxer.
“I just need to rise to the occasion, use my experience and everything that brought me here,” he added. “Fight smart, be focused and ready to go for the kill. I have a really good eye for the situation and I have a really good killer instinct, so when I hurt him, I’m definitely going to get the finish; I just have to be smart.”