Montel Jackson Avenges 2018 Loss With Second-Round TKO of Ricky Simon
Montel Jackson closed an eight-year loop on Saturday, stopping Ricky Simon by TKO at 2:39 of Round 2 in a bantamweight rematch at UFC Fight Night: Rosas Jr. vs. Barcelos.
The finish came at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas and ended a two-fight slide for Jackson. He moved to 16-4. Simon fell to 22-8-1.
Their first meeting was Jackson’s UFC debut at UFC 227 in August 2018. Simon won that one by unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, after a short-notice booking for the Milwaukee southpaw.
The rematch looked nothing like that grind. Jackson dropped Simon in the first round, then finished him in the second with a left hand that put Simon on the canvas and kept him there.
Official stats backed the eye test. Jackson landed 31 of 56 significant strikes at 55.4 percent and scored both of the fight’s knockdowns. Simon connected on 13 of 43 significant strikes at 30.2 percent.
Simon did find the wrestling that defined the first fight, completing 2 of 3 takedowns and spending time on the fence. Jackson answered with range, a 75-inch reach, and the same one-shot power that has followed him through the division.
He went 0-for-1 on his own takedown and attempted one submission. Once the fight returned to the feet, the size and timing gap showed.
Jackson entered off consecutive split-decision losses to Deiveson Figueiredo in October 2025 and Raoni Barcelos this past April. Those two results had stopped a six-fight winning run that included knockouts of Rani Yahya and Da’Mon Blackshear.
Simon’s recent stretch was uneven in a different way. He knocked out Javid Basharat in February 2025 and beat Cameron Smotherman by decision that June, then lost a decision to Barcelos and fought to a majority draw with Adrian Yanez in March.
Both men are 34. Jackson still hits like the taller man in the room. Simon still tries to close distance and wrestle. On Saturday, walking forward into that left hand was the problem.
Referee Jason Herzog waved it off at 2:39 of the second. Cageside Press and Sherdog listed the result as a TKO by punches. The broadcast graphic called it a KO/TKO at the same time.
The first knockdown arrived early enough that Simon had to spend the rest of Round 1 surviving. He made it to the stool. He did not make it through the next combination.
Jackson’s nickname is “Quik,” and the finish fit the name. He is 5-foot-10 in a 135-pound division that is full of compact wrestlers, and nights like this are why matchmakers keep putting him on Apex cards.
The result also changes the memory of 2018. Simon’s wrestling won that debut. Jackson’s power won the sequel. Eight years is a long time in this sport, and both records show the wear.
For Simon, the loss is his third knockout defeat and another setback in a stretch that now reads loss, draw, knockout. He trains out of American Top Team Portland and has long been a volume wrestler first.
Jackson has never been finished as a professional. All four of his losses have come on the scorecards. That detail matters after two close splits, because a highlight finish is the cleanest way to reset the conversation.
Barcelos, the man who beat Jackson in April, is still on this card. He meets Raul Rosas Jr. in the five-round main event later Saturday night.
The prelims had already delivered a 62-second stoppage from Yazmin Jauregui and a split decision for Alatengheili over John Castaneda. Jackson’s knockout was the loudest moment of the early fights.
A win like this usually puts Jackson back in the middle of the bantamweight pile, where a ranked name or another veteran with wrestling is the realistic next step. Simon will have to show he can close distance without walking into the same left hand again.