Japan-based super-heavyweight pro wrestler Hartley Jackson, 43, has reiterated his desire to compete in MMA.
The Adelaide, Australia native - a 25-year veteran of the squared circle - is best known for grappling in Japan either side of a stint as a WWE Performance Centre coach in Florida, USA, from 2018-2019.
Jackson made the surprising leap to fight in the International Lethwei Federation Japan in 2017 when he fought similarly sized Japanese brute Hidehira Yabu under the organisation’s Burmese bareknuckle boxing rules.
The brutal bout, which included a string of headbutts from Jackson to his foe’s temple, aired on FITE TV and the Korakuen Hall crowd lapped up the violence produced by the company’s first heavyweight (-100kg) fight.
Jackson (below - left) lost in the third round via TKO but earned many admirers for the fighting spirit he showed in his first taste of full contact fighting.
The popular powerhouse wrestles for a host of promotions including GLEAT which also runs MMA fights with pro wrestling and MMA legend Kiyoshi Tamura serving as an Executive Director.
“I am aiming for a fight in GLEAT MMA,” Jackson told AsiaFighting.
“I also want to fight under Lethwei rules again, for sure.”
Jackson also revealed that he was due to fight the late Katsuya Kitamura, himself a former pro wrestler for New Japan Pro Wrestling, in RIZIN FF in Japan.
The fight didn’t materialise due to Jackson’s pro wrestling contract at the time but he now works as a freelancer and is open to all offers.
Former standout amateur wrestler Kitamura, who lost to Bobby Ologun in his only MMA fight at RIZIN 32, died in 2022 aged just 36.
“I’m walking around at 132kg now but I’d get down to 115 or 100kg to fight," said Jackson who won a heavyweight gold medal in a state no-gi competition in 2010.
"I'm competing for GLEAT under UWF rules in Osaka on 21 January and I'm hoping that will be a gateway into MMA in GLEAT or in RIZIN.
"I used the catch wrestling taught to me by Antonio Inoki and my original trainer, who was an old school wrestling shooter, named Col Dervaney, in no-gi grappling events in Australia."
The 2020 ZERO-1 Pro Wrestling Fire Festival tournament winner frequently trains at Natural 9 dojo in Tokyo alongside the likes of Shooto vet Wataru Miki (above) and all-time great Kazushi Sakuraba.
The last Lethwei event in Japan, dubbed LETHWEI×UNBEATABLE HOKURIKU, took place in July 2022 after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Nice dude, I trained with him a few times