| Kevin Jackson | |
|---|---|
| College | Iowa State University |
| Olympic team | United States of America |
| Olympic medal | Gold |
| Status | Coach of Iowa State University |
| Kevin Jackson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1965 [1] Phoenix, Arizona [2] |
| Other names | "Lightning" |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 199 lb (90 kg; 14.2 st) |
| Style | Freestyle wrestling |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 6 |
| Wins | 4 |
| By knockout | 0 |
| By submission | 4 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog | |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men's freestyle wrestling | ||
| Gold | 1992 Barcelona | 82 kg |
| Men's Wrestling | ||
| Competitor for the United States | ||
| World Championships | ||
| Competitor for the United States | ||
| Gold | 1991 | 82 kg |
| Gold | 1995 | 82 kg |
| Pan American Games | ||
| Gold | 1991 Havana | Freestyle (– 82 kg) |
| Gold | 1995 Mar del Plata | Freestyle (– 82 kg) |
Kevin Andre Jackson is the head wrestling coach at Iowa State University, having been hired in 2009 when Cael Sanderson quit the post and moved to Penn State University. Before joining Iowa State, Jackson was a four-time All-American, first for Louisiana State and then for Iowa State, where he was the NCAA runner-up in 1987.
As a wrestler, he was an Olympic gold medalist freestyle wrestler, and a former mixed martial arts fighter. He won a gold medal in Freestyle wrestling at the 1992 Summer Olympics. After retiring from competition, in 2001, Jackson became the U.S. national freestyle coach, based at the Olympic training center in Colorado Springs.
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The native of Lansing, Mich., won two state high school championships for Eastern High School before becoming a Junior National Greco-Roman wrestling champion.
As a college wrestler, he attended LSU 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.
After college, Jackson won two Pan American Games 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, Iran. 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, when he joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship and won the UFC 14 Middleweight tournament. He fought Frank Shamrock for the Middleweight title at UFC Japan, but lost by armbar. 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 United States National Wrestling Hall of Fame (as a distinguished member) and the Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame.
Jackson has worked extensively as a wrestling coach. He was head coach of the Sunkist youth development program, National Freestyle coach for USA Wrestling for eight years (2001–08) and the freestyle wrestling coach for two United States' teams at the Olympics. Jackson was the freestyle coach at the Olympic Training Center and head coach for the U.S. Army team at Fort Carson (1998–2001).[3]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
| 4 Wins (4 submissions), 2 Losses (2 submissions). | ||||||
| Date | Outcome | Opponent | Event | Details | Round, Time | Notes |
| 5/15/1998 | Won | Sam Adkins | EC 18 - Extreme Challenge 18 | Submission (Armbar) | Round 1, 4:21 | |
| 3/13/1998 | Loss | Jerry Bohlander | UFC 16 - Battle in the Bayou | Technical Submission (Armbar) | Round 1, 10:23 | |
| 12/21/1997 | Loss | Frank Shamrock | UFC Japan - Ultimate Japan | Submission (Armbar) | Round 1, 0:16 | For UFC Middleweight Championship (up to 200lbs) |
| 7/27/1997 | Won | Tony Fryklund | UFC 14 - Showdown | Submission (Choke) | Round 1, 0:44 | Won UFC 14 Middleweight Tournament |
| 7/27/1997 | Won | Todd Butler | UFC 14 - Showdown | Submission (Strikes) | Round 1, 1:27 | |
| 3/28/1997 | Won | John Lober | EF 4 - Extreme Fighting 4 | Submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) | Round 2, 1:12 | |